James LaughlinHigh-performance leadership and executive coach. Covering all aspects of life and career.

battling bulimia and how one woman overcame it for good

14 Oct 2024 · 1 min

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0:50

First-person testimony in a YouTube video about one woman’s long struggle with bulimia and her path to a turning point. Speaker reports onset at age 14 while attending a competitive girls' prep school in Washington, DC, describes continuing the disorder through Harvard (graduating magna cum laude while hiding symptoms), athletic identity as a swimmer, marrying at age 21 (to the lacrosse team captain, one week after graduation), and hitting a final low point a few weeks after graduation — on her honeymoon — which prompted self-reflection.

Questions this video answers

Graduated magna cum laude

One week after graduating from Harvard

A couple weeks after graduation, on her honeymoon

Chapters

I fell headlong into this behavior at the age of 14 and it nearly killed me. And it was my secret. I was at this very competitive, fantastic girls prep school in dc. I love school, but this thing just took over my life and I was a shell of myself at the end of being at Harvard. I got into Harvard, graduated magna somehow. I was like a billboard walking towards you. I looked fine in the front, but there was nothing behind me. I was a swimmer. I was like a soulless human being looking for food all the time and private places to purge. Hit my last bottom a couple weeks after I graduated from Harvard. I got married at 21. I asked this guy to marry me. He's still my husband. He's the captain of the lacrosse team. We got married a week after I graduated. I hit my last bottom on our honeymoon because I remember looking in the mirror and thinking, what am I doing to myself?