Thank you, PTC, Shh and Jan. These stories are powerful and grouped together I believe have a healing force for others. Here's mine: I didn't know I had an eating disorder until I was a psychology student at UCLA. I received a flyer inviting me to a lecture where the discovery of a new illness, bulimia, would be discussed. OMG. I was terrified to go. I felt that I would have a B on my forehead and everyone would know. I didn't feel relief that what I did had a name. I only felt fear of exposure. sigh. Eating disorders create such tragedy. Sometimes I believe that getting on the recovery path is more difficult than the actual recovery work. My first sense of hope came when I heard Jane Fonda say on television that she suffered with bulimia. I believe she was the first person to go public with the illness. I know now that her revelation sent me into an altered state of consciousness, but some of what she said got through. I saw that at least one person could reveal her condition and remain intact. It was a start, although I didn't begin my committed recovery work for another three years.