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Maja Engström was 16 years old when she suffered from an eating disorder. Today she has been healthy for more than ten years and helps other people with the disease. – It took me a long time to realize that I was sick, she says.
Maja Engström, who works for the national association Frisk och Fri, was 16 years old when she suffered from an eating disorder. Press the image.
In hindsight, it’s clear that the warning signs were there long before the disease broke out, says Maja Engström. She had already felt bad during high school, with low self-esteem, high performance demands, and grade anxiety.
But it was a summer job in the restaurant industry at home in Gotland, between first and second grade in high school, that became the trigger.
Long and irregular working hours prevented her from eating regularly and slowly but surely, total control over her food intake became a way for her to manage life.
– I noticed that I started to feel better. I focused a lot on what I had eaten and what I had not eaten and was able to put the notes and all other thoughts aside. I put everything in the food and felt like I was in control, says Maja Engström.
– From the beginning, it was never that I wanted to lose weight or change my body, but rather that I wanted to manage life in some way. But the eating behavior followed me until the fall when school started again and after about a year I was trapped in an eating disorder.
For a long time she herself did not understand that something was wrong. Eating disorders were something that only affected other girls, right? However, eventually the situation became untenable and, with the help of a teacher, she finally got in touch with Bup (child and adolescent psychiatry).
The return trip would be long. But in the end, after five years of illness and several different treatments, Maja Engström recovered.
Today she works as a digital communicator in the national association against eating disorders, Saludable y Libre.
– I noticed that there is so much prejudice and ignorance about eating disorders and somewhere the desire to get involved and change and influence was awakened. It continues to be a great driving force for me.
TT: What is the most important advice you would give someone who suffers from an eating disorder?
– Ask for help and don’t expect too much. To take seriously when you notice that “I don’t feel well now.” It can be with a school counselor, coach, choir leader, or other adult close to you.
– You can also, anonymously, contact us or any other organization. For many, this disease is a great shame, no matter what eating disorder it is. But talking to other people who understand is also quite liberating.
