Recovery Stories - Stacey's story

Hard work and getting the right tools led to recovery from her eating disorder

“There’s nothing crazy going on here. I just want to be skinny...”

Coming to Belmont was my first experience with any type of medical treatment.

I kept thinking:

“Why are you talking to me?”

“Why are you trying to ask me questions?”

“I have nothing to say. I’m not important. There’s nothing crazy going on here. I just want to be skinny.”

While I was sitting in the admittance office and waiting for them to check my vitals and tell me if I was going to be admitted and for how long – I just want to run away. I didn't want to have anything to do with this building. I didn't wanted to come here. I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to surrender to it.

But if you want to live, if you want to go on with your life, it is important to be here. It is important to do the work, as much as you don’t want to do it. For me, Belmont was the light bulb that went on – what inspired me to go on.

At this point, when you’re sitting in the depths of all your lows and you don’t think that there is a light – there is. I know that I was in that low spot. I was in a place where I thought I would never make it. I would never get over my eating disorder. I couldn’t imagine a life where I could sit and just eat a meal without analyzing every aspect of it, but I can now.

At Belmont, there was a lot of focus on family. Family therapy was huge and talk of family was big – even after 11:30 p.m., when I would get off the phone from a bad conversation with one of my parents. You know there is someone there to talk to you and there was. There were many nights I sat with an aide and talked.

Art therapy played a big role in my treatment at Belmont. Even after I left Belmont, when I was stressed, even when I started school again and my world was going crazy, I would sit down for an afternoon and draw or journal. And then of course there is music. My life revolves around music in every way. I think it is a big part of being in the moment. That is what I strive for; being in the moment and music helps me do that.

The process to recovery takes time and it takes work, and you need to have that foundation of going through it and doing the work to get there. You need to make the effort, participate in groups, and work through the things you struggle with to get to a better place. Belmont instills this. It doesn’t do the work for you and that is huge. It builds a sturdy foundation that you can soar from.