Eating Disorder Poems

Published: February 2020

Poems About Having An Eating Disorder

We are all bombarded with messages about how we should look and how much we should weigh. Many people struggle with eating disorder tendencies. For some people, they binge and purge. Others significantly restrict their consumption of food and over-exercise. It’s all in pursuit of the “perfect” body. What can begin as a desire to be healthier can quickly turn into a paralyzing obsession. It feels as though the number on the scale is never good enough. The figure seen in the mirror is severely distorted in the mind of someone with an eating disorder. As with any other mental illness, it’s important to seek help from professionals who are trained to bring healing and restoration.

Every year, National Eating Disorders Awareness Week is held during the last week in February. It's a time to raise awareness about these disorders and offer resources and support to those who are facing these struggles. If you would like to know more about eating disorders, use a screening tool for yourself or a loved one, or find out how to get the necessary help, check out National Eating Disorders Association.

8 Poems About Having An Eating Disorder

  1. Now You've Recovered

    • By Charles A Cino
    • Published by Family Friend Poems November 2016 with permission of the Author.

    I have written a poem about recovery from mental illness. It touches upon the fact that someone who has recovered is now living a brand new life, and they must answer the question, "Now that you've recovered, what will you do?"

    in Mental Illness Poems

    When you recover, what will you do?
    When you recover, will you still be you?
    Will you be stronger, will you be new,
    When you recover from what you've been through?

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    I've been to hell and back, as a survivor of CSA. Your poem inspired me in such a deep way; the healing process strips us of our former identities and we stand empty and alone, trying to...

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  2. My Not-Addiction

    • By Sydney W.
    • Published by Family Friend Poems February 2014 with permission of the Author.

    For a really long time, 2 years ago, I felt like no matter what I did, it was never good enough. Those girls still made fun of me. To cope with that, I stopped eating. I wanted to be thin enough, pretty enough, perfect enough. But I realized I was only hurting myself. It was never a full-blown addiction, but it still hurt like one. Anorexia was never something I thought I'd have to deal with, but I overcame it, and I hope all girls realize that the control, although nice to have, isn't worth it.

    in Drug Abuse Poems

    It's not an addiction,
    Really it's not.
    But that mirror,
    It's a source of affliction.

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    I have also struggled with my eating, and I loved the way you depicted anorexia through your imagery. I loved your stanzas about the scales and the mirror. With an eating disorder, no matter...

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  4. I'm Your Disease

    • By Jodi
    • Published by Family Friend Poems October 2008 with permission of the Author.

    I have been battling an eating disorder for 20 years. I have been unable to tell anyone about it because it has been my friend. I am slowly being able to face this disease, and writing helps me to express how I feel and how much control it has over me. Now having daughters of my own, I want to set an honest example of body image, but I am unable to until I deal with this myself. I fought a drug addiction. Now I have to fight an eating addiction.

    in Addiction Poems

    Sucked like a vacuum, I held my fear,
    built up anger you want to hold near.

    Shaking and trembling is what I feel,

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    I recently stumbled across this poem as I was looking for a literature analysis topic. I searched and read hundreds of poems, and this one pulled me in. Every time I read it, it grabs me in a...

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  5. Finding A Voice

    • By Emily E. Williams
    • Published by Family Friend Poems May 2020 with permission of the Author.

    This poem is about my experience with an eating disorder from when it took over my mind to when I recovered -- this was six years, from when I was 12 to 18. The poem is a raw depiction of some of the struggles that I had emotionally, in particular the scared child that I was, being controlled by the much stronger voice of my eating disorder. Being unable to talk about and express what was happening and how I felt was one of the worst things about it, so I have tried to express that through my poem.

    in Mental Illness Poems

    I scream, yet I am not heard.
    I try to talk, but my mouth won't open.
    I am not myself anymore,
    but I can tell that to no one.

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  7. The Lies She Told

    • By Mika Wright
    • Published by Family Friend Poems December 2013 with permission of the Author.

    in Hurting Poems by Teens

    When she smiles and laughs,
    It no longer sounds hollow,
    For she has learned
    To mask her sorrow.

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    Goodbye, my sweet Lori. Wishing you were still alive and in our family, hearts, and homes. On September 25, 2018, Lori Denise Gonzales was called home to heaven by the dear Lord, leaving...

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  8. Light As A Feather, Thin As A Rail

    • By Coral Leffew
    • Published by Family Friend Poems April 2011 with permission of the Author.

    We'll travel forever in the pursuit of ideals that we can never achieve. Ideals fed to us in corporate imagery, pulling emotional strings to teach us to subconsciously control our lives, so that we may live distracted, from the bigger picture of achievements.

    in Mental Illness Poems

    If one day, I could have a helium balloon,
    And be carried away with just one little bloom,
    The petals sweep around me, light enough to fly,
    So little to eat, surprised I did not die,

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    I have an eating disorder and it hurts inside. These poems really help

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  9. Eyes Shut To The Obvious

    • By Mona K
    • Published by Family Friend Poems August 2015 with permission of the Author.

    I wrote this at a time when food restriction had taken over my life, and although I am not anorexic, I feel that it accurately describes the obsession and destruction that comes with anorexia.

    in Mental Illness Poems

    It's what I think about every minute of the day,
    In the car, during physics; "It's dangerous," they say.
    In the morning, at school, in the bathroom, in bed,
    "You'll fail. You're a failure," is all my mind said.

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  10. The Truth

    • By Caley House
    • Published by Family Friend Poems November 2013 with permission of the Author.

    I have come up with this poem as I am in eating disorder recovery. This has given me the experience, and I really just needed to get my feeling out onto the page. But don't let that fool you; I also put a lot of work into it! Also, this was originally meant to be a read out lot poem.

    in Depression Poems by Teens

    Slippery, sweet, syrupy words sticking in my brain
    A lie
    They won't go away no matter how much I try to send them back to where they came from
    A lie

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