Holding my Key

  Wednesday 27th January is Holocaust Memorial Day. On this day we remember the murder of six million Jews, and 11 million innocent people overall. As a Jew, I have had the privilege growing up to hear many heroic stories of survival from those who were there to witness the atrocities, including my very own grandparents, who had to flee Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Whilst my blog might be focused on Eating Disorders, I wanted to write on a slightly different topic that means a lot to me. I find it simultaneously fascinating and shocking to learn about the horrors that occurred during the Holocaust, especially how peoples' minds were manipulated by the Nazis in a way that allowed them to commit the abominable crimes that they did. Since visiting Poland aged 16 and visiting numerous concentration camps, including Auschwitz, I have walked away confused. I am still dumb founded how humans, however deep their hatred of other groups may be, can be led to commit genocide, whilst having a de

  The news of a third Lockdown in the UK may be the path out of this Pandemic, but it does mean that the Mental Health crisis in the UK is only set to continue.  Now, when I say ‘Mental Health Crisis,’ I don’t just mean those with diagnosed conditions, I mean anyone whose mental state is not where it should be, such as loneliness, which has risen 63% among young people over the last 12 months. For many, this will most likely have manifested itself as Anxiety in some form or another, a condition which 5% of the UK population has been diagnosed with. Given the low levels of reporting mental health problems, and the lack of accessible treatment, it is likely that this number is far, far higher. It is also estimated that 1.1% have been diagnosed with OCD.  Both Anxiety and OCD invade peoples’ lives unnoticed, slowly becoming stronger until negative behaviours can become entrenched. For me, I have been affected with Anxiety since childhood, and, like many, I didn’t get help for my symptoms

   Eating disorders are often characterised by an intense desire to lose weight. Whilst valid, this statement is only true to an extent. It is true that, over the years, I have had a real urge to get the numbers that show up on the scales to drop. Even a menial fall in weight was a rush, and I felt like I had succeeded at attaining the personal goals I kept setting myself. It was almost like a rush each time. I know full well - as I have mentioned in previous posts - that these thoughts of success are lies, and that they are anything but the answer to my problems. When your goal is to be as thin as possible, the reactions of others can be frustrating, because their worries seem to fly in the face of everything you are thinking inside. They think: • Why can’t they just see that looking emaciating is anything but pretty?  • Why can’t they see that they are damaging their health?  • Why can’t they come to the realisation that they are ruining their life?  For the outside world, thes