Writing off anorexia

Andrew Mathieson
DOG in hand and walking shoes on, June Alexander casually strolls down a few Clifton Springs streets, stops at the Dell and gazes over Corio Bay’s panoramic views.
She takes a deep breath and starts to think life’s finally great as she approaches 60.
Life wasn’t always this way for the inspiring author.
The move to the Bellarine Peninsula seaside town coincided with overcoming mental demons, let alone their physical manifestations.
For that, June’s children proved to be the lifeline that saved her life.
When she was growing up, the country kid had little support from family.
Nestled among the sounds of milking cows, 11-year-old June was emotionally alone and spiraled into anorexia nervosa, the illness that nowadays comes across everyone’s lips but which is still misunderstood by most.
“It affected my relationships with my parents and my older sister,” June remembers.
“To this day they do not understand it. I grew up in a time where the illness wasn’t even acknowledged.”
Doctors told June’s parents it was just a phase, so the teenager continued to suffer in silence.
After finally consulting another doctor at 26, June says she was then totally misdiagnosed for the next six years.
The anorexia wasn’t under some sort of control until she finally found the right psychiatrist, who she now describes as her “rock”.
“I didn’t know I had an illness until my mid-20s,” she says.
“After I had my children I suffered deep depression – I was suicidal, actually.
“I thought I was going mad.
“That’s when I was really scared that my children could be taken from me.
“But it was actually my love for my children that pulled me through.”
Diet is one thing but family support, as June has experienced, makes all the difference.
Anxiety and sensitivity plagued June as she struggled with her illness.
People would tell her to eat but throwing back solids wasn’t so easy.
Overcoming anorexia proved to be a game of cat and mouse inside the mind, June explains.
“The most helpful thing that was said to me wasn’t until I was in my 40s,” she recounts.
“It was to separate my illness from my sense of self.
“Then I had to increase my self-awareness so I could catch the triggers that set me off.”
With a smile, the jovial mum of four is now happy to say she eats three meals a day, which was once a struggle.
June says writing kept her sane through the illness and accompanying bulimia.
After accepting a cadetship at a Bairnsdale newspaper, work as a journalist and editor masked June’s pain for nearly the next 40 years.
The long journey, as she calls it, led to her first book, My Kid is Back. She says the novel empowers parents to help their children beat anorexia.
The words offer valuable insight and inspiration from 10 Victorian families who “open up their hearts and souls” as they visit dark places.
“Parents felt like they were blamed when their child had anorexia,” June points out.
“Now they are an important part of the solution.
“This book I’ve written is about empowering parents.”
Another book is in the offing. This time she is writing her memoirs on her own battle.
The solitude of a multiple author, home alone, belting away on the keyboard, suits the anorexia survivor just fine now.
“I’ve probably lacked assertiveness but I expressed myself through my writing,” June laments.
“For many years, it (her personality) was something like 10 per cent me and 90 per cent the illness.
“Now I say I am 90 per cent me and 10 per cent the illness.”