Topic: Recovery from anorexia – Hope Virgo
Resources: You can download the forum slides.
Session Summary:
‘I know how anorexia makes you feel: you think she is your friend, you think she can solve everything and make you feel amazing … but she will destroy you and everything around you, piece by piece.’ – Hope Virgo (Author of Stand Tall Little Girl)
For four years, Hope managed to keep it hidden, keeping dark secrets from her friends and family. But then, on 17th November 2007, her world changed forever. Hope was admitted to a mental health hospital. Her skin was yellowing; her heart was failing. She was barely recognizable. Forced to leave her family and friends, the hospital became her home. Over the next year, at her lowest ebb, Hope faced the biggest challenge of her life. She had to find the courage to beat her anorexia.
Hope will share her harrowing but inspiring story giving you an understanding of how she went from being in the grips of anorexia to gaining back control. She will tell you how she fought from rock bottom to beat the ‘friend’ that had controlled and nearly destroyed her life. She hopes that the story of her recovery will not only inspire countless others and give everyone hope that recovery is possible but it will help practitioners think about how to support people in this situation and break mental health stigma further.
The resilience framework is a fantastic tool to aid and maintain recovery, as well as preventing someone from getting unwell in the first place. Hope’s story lends itself nicely to the Resilience Framework in various ways and Hope will especially focus on the resilient moves under Coping and Core Self.
Biography: Hope Virgo is a survivor of anorexia, the author of Stand Tall Little Girl and an international advocate for people with eating disorders. She has run sessions with a wide range of organisations from private sector companies to NHS staff and schools.
Who might be most interested: Academics, practitioners, researchers, students, parents, carers, community workers, volunteers, public sector workers, young people, service users and people with lived experience of mental health problems.
Further Reading: You can read more about Hope at www.hopevirgo.com (external link) and https://www.facebook.com/Hopevirgoauthor/ (external link).
This event took place on Wednesday 16 January 2019.
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