As an actress, ambassador and producer of our educational film Empty, it is my goal to inspire our audience to better understand the process of how eating disorders can affect individuals, their families and friends. I have a perspective that is unique because our family has struggled with eating disorders for almost a century. I wish I could say I am fully recovered. However, because of a recent health diagnosis I am currently fighting to remain strong and avoid a full relapse.

What I can say is without hesitation, I know exactly what my triggers are and have learned to co-exist in an environment while some triggers simply can’t be avoided. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that has forced me to look at life differently. With a fresh set of eyes and willingness to protect my 11-year-old daughter from living a life of isolation trapped behind the mask of anorexia and bulimia, I began reading a book called Mothers, Daughters & Body Image (Learning to Love Ourselves As WE Are) By Hillary L. McBride. Hillary shares stories about mothers and daughters and their relationship with their bodies. Hillary provides unique insights into how our relationships with our bodies are shaped by what we see around us and the specific things we can do to have healthier relationships with our appearance, and all the other parts of ourselves that make us women. I recommend this book to any family who has a family member with an eating disorder.

Hillary did some digging around to support the idea that media has a massive influence on how we feel about ourselves, particularly making us feel worse about ourselves. In 2012, Fernandez and Pritchard published and article, “Relationships between self-esteem, media influence and drive for thinness.” All this really means is that there is a direct correlation between how we feel about ourselves as women, our desire to be thinner, and the media we consume as women. Information was collected from 294 universities of both men and women. They found they had a stronger desire to be thin and had lower self-esteem based on the media’s expectation of what thin looks like. The bottom line is it is a vicious cycle of feeling frustrated until we are trapped behind the mask of a full-blown eating disorder. What we do as women our children will likely mirror.

Every day is a new opportunity to learn self-compassion. And for the future of our family and our children’s children there is no better time then to start educating yourself now on the how your family member developed an eating disorder to begin with…it is only then we can seek to find those answers by reaching out to the right people. It is then the healing will begin. Also, something important to keep in mind…one of the single most important things I have learned is forgiveness. Recovery is a process. Sometimes this process can take longer then we desire…be patient and keep your heart open! Have faith! Keep smiling!