This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Lexie Kirwan-Jones. Lexie is a psychology student at Durham University, an eating disorder peer support worker, and someone involved in research relating to eating disorders and neurodivergence.
As Lexie shares, her university experience hasn't been a straight line, but is one that might sound similar to those who have been navigating an eating disorder at university. After taking a year out of her costume design degree due to her eating disorder, she re-evaluated her career plans and returned to university in 2024 to study psychology to pursue a career in clinical psychology.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Lexie's honest account of living with bulimia and disordered eating
- Why bulimia and binge-purge cycles can feel worse than restrictive eating disorders, despite looking "healthy" on the outside
- How weight-focused feedback in eating disorder treatment can reinforce disordered behaviours
- Understanding binge eating disorder: what a binge actually feels like, and why it isn't about willpower
- The turning point in Lexie's eating disorder recovery
- Why the right GP can make all the difference in accessing eating disorder treatment
- How university stress and perfectionism fuelled Lexie's eating disorder
- Taking a year out of university for eating disorder recovery, and the fear of judgement
- Lexie's advice for navigating university with an eating disorder
⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, including restriction, binge eating and bulimia, and disordered eating behaviours. Please take care while listening.
**Connect with us:**
- Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
- Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
- Check out our website
- Listen on YouTube
