A Shared story by Jessica from Pakistan

Hi everyone, I used to have an blog and forum where people where people participate. I read a story from a young girl  from Pakistan about her life with her eating disorder and recovery and her parents.

I thought that I would share her story with you today-
                                                          

My family knew about my ed ever since it existed, and i was bathed with  endless love and compassion, and understanding from my sisters. My parents  did not understand my ed at all, it was not "normal" to them. They thought  "pakistani people don't do this." they didn't even believe there was such a thing as an eating disorder. Now they do, but it took them a very long  time, and even when having to admit it to someone, they have a hard time  doing it, and do it with shame. They were not cruel parents, to say the  least. They loved and continue to love me unconditionally, and would do anything for me, but they simply could not grasp the concept of eating  disorders.

Where they grew up, food was scarce, and since they were denied it most of  the time, most children in those times and places did not even have the  opportunity to deny it, since it was almost rare and scarce. This is not to  say that people did not suffer from questioning of their self worth, they simply used different means with which to express their needs; for most of  them, starving wasn't it. So now it might be easier for you to understand  why my parents can't really understand about my eating disorder. It used to  anger me to no end that they didn't understand, i used to think they didn't  even try to understand, but now i know that they simply won't ever  understand, and that stressing over it for ever more is pointless because it won't change the unchangeable. But as parents, they saw that their daughter  wasn't eating, they saw that she was suffering, and as anyone would be, they  were glad, elated, when i told them that i wanted to go in to recovery. Of  course recovery means something entirely different to them than it does to  me, but I know that they are so encredibly thrilled that I want to be happy again, that I'll try to make my smiles real, and my laughter heard. 

By Jessica age 16