“It’s such a mix of emotions. It’s hard to explain. It’s like a volcano exploding inside of you. It’s a major kind of feeling. It’s anger, it’s madness, all those rolled up into one and you just want to scream and shout and explode nearly. And no matter how hard you try and cognitively think about it and rationalise your thoughts, you just can’t, until time passes and you eventually calm yourself down and fall asleep and just hope you wake up okay in the morning and that them thoughts will be gone”.
This is how Cora McEvoy describes her experience of anorexia, the subject of the new episode of Mental Wealth, Newstalk’s podcast series about people’s mental health experiences and the tools of recovery.
To listen to the full podcast, simply click on the above link.
Mental Wealth brings a fresh, candid and empathetic approach to mental health discussion in Ireland through intimate conversations with those who have experienced a variety of mental health disorders. It also provides an accessible and engaging platform to discuss difficult issues by using a variety of pop cultural sources in order to create an engaging programme for listeners.
Cora McEvoy, a yoga teacher and mother-of-three from Louth, sits down with host Simon Tierney for episode two of Mental Wealth. During the interview Cora discusses her experience with anorexia, from her admission to St Vincent’s Hospital with a critically low BMI to her journey to recovery and the tools she uses to maintain her positive mental health.
What is perhaps most enlightening about this month’s episode is that Cora reveals the often overlooked crux of anorexia for many people - control. In the beginning, Cora had wanted to tone up and engage in exercise but quickly any preoccupation with her own body image vanished and the anorexia was driven solely by her desire to have a sense of control over her life.
“You can control what goes into your body, what comes out of your body, how you exercise. You felt like everything else you couldn’t control in your life but that was the one small part of it that you could, and you felt safe being able to control that”.
During the interview Cora discusses the long road to breaking down these negative thought processes and regaining a positive sense of herself and her relationship with food. She also discusses how music, television and yoga have offered her respite during difficult times.
Follow Mental Wealth on Twitter with the hashtag #MentalWealth
Did you miss episode one of Mental Wealth? Listen back by clicking on the below link:
