I was a 10-year-old with anorexia who craved control. It almost killed me.

I was a 10-year-old with anorexia who craved control. It almost killed me.

Posted on January 12, 2022

In an opinion piece, NAMI Youth Ambassador Alaina Stanisci shares her personal experience and perspective on youth mental health issues. Alaina wrote: Seemingly out of nowhere, when I was 10 years old, I developed severe anorexia nervosa that almost killed me, and my whole world was flipped upside down. So many of my peers have told me that they also felt as if they had to shield their emotions from everybody else and continue going through the motions of life as if nothing was ever wrong. However, whether it's anxiety, depression, anorexia, bipolar disorder or anything else, we have seen that bottling up these emotions will lead to more collateral damage in the end. When somebody breaks their arm, they are treated with empathy and kindness and do not feel that they have to hide their injury. Why does somebody with mental illness not feel that they deserve this same empathy and kindness? I believe that the key to ending the mental health epidemic among teens is to normalize the struggle, educate those around us and be vulnerable about our struggles.”