(Char) Emily Writes

Trigger Warning: this piece mentions details about eating disorders.   Eating disorders take a lot of things away from you. They take your mind, your friends, your "normal" life. Something many people don't know is that they take away your money too. This is another aspect of eating disorders that is rarely spoken about. I'm not the first person to lose money because of my eating disorder and I won't be the last. It's taken me a while to realise that I'm not alone. Before I entered my most recent period of binging and purging, I was rather good with money. I knew how to budget for every week and save some back when needed. However, when you enter an episode of binging, your impulses run wild, you literally lose yourself. You enter a trance-like state that you have no control over. Partner this with money and you have a huge, uncontrollable spending spree on your hands.  During my worst months, I was so ashamed of my eating disorder and my weight gain that ...

  Last night (Saturday 14 November 2020), Enter Shikari fans joined a viewing party of the band's 2017 show at the Alexandra Palace, London aka the Ally Pally. Using the hashtag 'ShikariPallyParty', fans were able to tweet to each other and the band about the show. It was a moment of joy however it was also upsetting for those of us who are missing gigs.    This year has been difficult to say the least. Family gatherings have been cancelled, concerts have been cancelled... hell, life in general has been put on hold. Instead of enjoying what was supposed to be, for some of us, a fantastic year, everything has gone, well, to shit. There's no other way to say that.    What Shikari managed to succeed in last night is pulling together a community and giving them something to be a part of. I for one enjoyed sitting with a glass of gin, watching my favourite band play whilst interacting with them and people I don't usually speak to on Twitter. I felt a part of that ind...

  On Thursday 5th November, England went into a second national lockdown. Or, at least, what the government considers a lockdown. Keeping schools, colleges and universities open doesn't exactly scream "lockdown" to me.    Some of us are relieved, although somewhat annoyed that it's come this late. Some of us are fed up and don't believe this will work. Me? I'm scared. The future feels so uncertain and this is such a huge step back. I'm afraid we will never get back to normal, I don't see a way out. Whilst I want everyone to be safe and I want us to beat this virus, I also want my life back.   Of course, if we had followed in the steps of New Zealand, perhaps we would be in a better position right now. And before you scream at me about New Zealand having a smaller population, it's undeniable that their leader is far more competent and caring than who we have in the UK. But, hey, I'm not here to get political, I'm here to talk about mental he...