These drawings show what it’s really like to have an eating disorder

These drawings show what it’s really like to have an eating disorder

meandmyed.art/Instagram

Christie Begnell's drawings show what having and recovering from eating disorders is really like.

The INSIDER Summary:

• Christie Begnell developed anorexia at age 20.
• She started drawing to express what living with and recovering from an eating disorder is like.
• She shares her art on Instagram and in her new book, "Me and My ED," to destigmatize the disease.

When Christie Begnell began sharing her drawings on Instagram, she realized how helpful they could be in explaining the reality of what is often a misunderstood disease.

Having developed anorexia at 20 years old, she used art to illustrate her relationship with "Ana." Now 24, she's compiled more than 60 of her drawings into a book called "Me and My ED" to show what having and recovering from an eating disorder is really like.

Begnell spoke to INSIDER via email about her journey.

"I became obsessed with exercise and finding ways to lose weight," she said. "It became a way of distracting from all the pain and loneliness and it gave me a purpose again ... I got a high off setting myself goals and achieving them."

"I HAD to follow these rules or the eating disorder voice would hurl abuse at me and I would be tormented with feelings of failure, worthlessness, and hopelessness," she said.

"I learned to express myself through weight loss and a skeletal body, which was killing me slowly," she said. "Expressing myself through my drawings has been the safer way to communicate my fears and emotions with people."

"If I'm upset about something, I'll draw it out and share it with my followers, therapists, and my loved ones," she said. "I then use their feedback about the drawings as a way to gain insight and to fight Ana."

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