Recovery is always possible: Dominique's story

Dominique’s experience with anorexia began when she was studying for her A-Levels. ‘I believe it was all the pressure of doing well at school,’ she says. She began restricting her food, and things quickly became unmanageable.

She started to lose friends, and her family became increasingly concerned for her well-being. ‘Deep down I knew there was a problem, but I had no strength left.’ Things came to a head when her family took her to hospital, and Dominique’s journey of recovery started.

Over the next three years, Dominique would receive treatment in both inpatient and outpatient care, but never fully recovered. It was a deeply difficult time for both her and her family. Eventually, she was sectioned for eight months, and that was her final inpatient stay.

‘When I was sectioned, that’s when I really hit rock bottom. I knew something had to happen or I was going to either die or live my life in hospitals,’ she says,

Seeing her siblings and friends live normal lives made Dominique even more determined to recover. She decided that she was going to put everything she had into recovering, so she could live out her dreams.

‘When you’re [unwell], your mind is just not with it. You cannot think further than your eating disorder because it absolutely consumes you. But as you get healthier and you feel a lot better in yourself, you can see the way forward.’

She found the strength to engage with treatment and things improved, one step at a time. ‘Month by month, I started to get control back,’ she says. After she was discharged, she worked with outpatient care teams and eventually got to a point where she was fully recovered.

Now with two beautiful children and a wonderful career, Dominique wants to raise awareness of what it’s like to live with an eating disorder and show those who are currently unwell that recovery is always possible. She says her eating disorder feels like ‘another lifetime’ to her.

‘Recovering really is the hardest thing you will ever do. But it’s also the best thing because you’re released from that voice in your head.’