Recovered & reaching out I BEAT ANOREXIA

CHRISTINE’S NOW HELPING OTHER SUFFERERS

- Leena Tailor

After experiencing chunks of hair falling out, plummeting weight and her nails turning blue, it took one life-changing university doctor for Christine Deacon to get the help she needed – after six years of suffering anorexia.

Now, the Vancouver-based Kiwi is hoping her new service, Canopy Eating Disorder Support Services, will help connect New Zealanders with such crucial support. And, while recounting her own struggles isn’t easy, the 29-year-old also hopes to illustrate how such illnesses can impact anyone.

“People think eating disorders affect rich, white, young girls, so having a different ethnicity represented is a powerful message. Asian communities suffer a lot from eating disorders, but they generally don’t speak up about it. There’s a stigma.”

While the illness is commonly perceived as a means of weight loss, Christine developed unhealthy eating habits while attempting to gain control through her tumultuous teenage years. At home she faced “bicultural clashes” from being the daughter of Chinese immigrants, while at school she felt the need to excel at everything.

“I couldn’t control my parents, my friends or the amount of schoolwork, but I could control how much I ate,” she tells. “At 16, I started throwing out my lunch and stopped enjoying food. It felt like a nuisance to eat while I was trying to achieve, achieve, achieve.”

Remaining active in dance, sports and running, Christine’s grades flourished, which only convinced her she was on the right path. But while studying law at the University of Auckland, her eating patterns worsened.