By: Camille J., Renfrew Alumna
My eating disorder started when I was fifteen years old. I had struggled with my weight, body-image, depression, and anxiety for as long as I could remember – it felt like I was born with something “wrong” with my brain.
I kept it under shrouds for a long time, but it wasn’t until I was in graduate school that I finally sought treatment at the request of my outpatient treatment team. I found myself in and out of treatment several times, hopping back and forth between relapse and recovery.
I found Renfrew as I was finishing up my Master’s degree at Georgia Tech. I was reluctant to use my skills for a long time and found myself again bouncing through levels of care. Everything finally clicked for me in 2019, at twenty-seven, when I realized that my every-day choices and ultimate recovery had to be my decisions, and no one else’s. I am eternally grateful for the patience and guidance that my treatment team at Renfrew afforded me. I have finally scaled the Mt. Everest that was my eating disorder, a long and arduous journey that lasted more than a decade.
I have to use my skills that I learned at Renfrew every day, which can be challenging some days more than others. I have found that sharing my struggles and success with my friends and others in recovery has been extremely powerful, presenting me with more support than I ever thought I would receive.
Camille J. is twenty-seven years old and an alumna of The Renfrew Centers of Coconut Creek, FL and Atlanta, GA. She has lived in Atlanta her whole life, and went to Georgia Tech for her undergrad and graduate studies. She enjoys spending time with her cat and dog, Lucy and Linus.
