Understand
By: Erin
To understand an Eating Disorder
It is more than you will ever read in a book
It is more than you can ever understand from a look
It is more than you can even grasp through spoken word
No matter how often or how loud it is heard
To understand this illness, disease, addiction and obsession
You must first know, relate to, feel and touch the
underlying pain and depression
To understand the control, perfection, and deep
self-dissatisfaction
Your brain must distort the general principles of attraction
Beauty is everywhere
Except in the mirror as I stare
I will disappear, control what I can, chase perfection with
all that is in me
In the hope that when looking in the mirror it is no longer
I that I see
To know an eating disorder, what it means, and how it feels
You have to be one of the sufferers; one of the people who
deals
To understand its implications and major affects
You have to be the ones with whom the sufferer lives with
and connects
No book will tell you of the true pain in my soul
Or how desperate my attempt was to be in control
No movie will teach you the damage I did
As I checked out of life and constantly hid
No testimony can explain to you how hard it is to get your
life back
Searching and seeking to get your life on the right track
It is more complicated than anyone could possibly fully
understand
Unless an eating disorder took over your life unplanned
Everyone has their story and struggles too
Though not the same, equally troublesome and true
But please don’t act like you understand this horrible
disease
Because you’ve read books, seen movies, or taken classes
with ease
If you want to be a therapist, doctor or some other
treatment provider
Do an internship working with the people who suffer to make
your eyes wider
And whatever you do or say to someone who is in the midst of
dealing
If you don’t get it; don’t you dare say “I know how you’re
feeling.”
