Hi, I’m Alice 🤍

I’m a girl in my late twenties who has spent the last decade navigating Depression, Anxiety and an Eating Disorder — and learning, slowly and imperfectly, how to heal. More recently, I’ve also been finding my way through a PCOS diagnosis and Atypical Endometrial Hyperplasia.

This space is where I share that story.

Life took a turn for me when I moved to university at 18. What should have been an exciting first step into adulthood quietly became the beginning of a very different chapter.

Being away from home for the first time, autumn 2016 became a simmering pot for struggles I didn’t yet have the words for. By December, everything had boiled over. Depression at its highest, insomnia in full swing, overwhelming loneliness, and a complicated relationship with food that swung between bingeing and severe restriction — all while trying to maintain a “put together” appearance for the people around me.

I was studying a degree I felt completely disconnected from, confused about who I was and who I was meant to be. On the outside, I was coping. On the inside, things were falling apart.

I will always be grateful for the rainy Tuesday afternoon when my mum gently asked, “Are you sure you’re actually okay, Alice?”

Something shifted. The mask slipped. The curtains came down. I cried for days — but for the first time, I felt relief. I didn’t have to pretend anymore.

Moving home didn’t magically fix everything, although I desperately hoped it would. What I eventually realised was that university wasn’t the cause of my struggles — it was simply the catalyst that brought them to the surface.

The years that followed were heavy. I became withdrawn. Sleep was non-existent. Anxiety dictated my days. I lost weight and still couldn’t admit I had a problem with food. Eventually, I went to the doctor and received a full diagnosis. I was terrified walking into that first appointment.

Therapy was suggested — and I resisted it completely. I told myself I didn’t need it. That I was strong enough. That asking for help meant weakness.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Therapy became one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever given myself. I often compare it to Nanny McPhee — when I needed it most, I didn’t want to be there at all. And when I no longer needed it as frequently, I found myself genuinely looking forward to it. It gave me the tools to understand my patterns, challenge my thoughts, and slowly rebuild my relationship with myself.

In 2019, I moved to Leeds — a big shift from the French countryside where I grew up and had the most wonderful childhood. I wanted independence. I wanted growth. I wanted to take the city by storm.

Instead, the world shut down.

Lockdown meant bunkering down in a small but cosy studio apartment, watching what felt like pivotal years slip quietly past. Sometimes I can’t help but feel like I lost parts of my early adulthood to survival rather than living.

Since then, I’ve been learning how to reclaim those years in small, meaningful ways. Healing hasn’t been linear. It’s been slower and harder than I expected. It has meant grief, acceptance, uncomfortable growth, and allowing myself to feel emotions I once worked so hard to suppress.

And recently, receiving diagnoses of PCOS and Atypical Endometrial Hyperplasia has brought a new wave of fear, uncertainty and overwhelm. At times it has felt like a setback. But I’m beginning to understand that healing isn’t about moving backwards or forwards — it’s about continuing.

This blog is not written from a place of having it all figured out. It’s written from the middle. From someone still learning, still navigating, still growing.

If you’re here because you’re struggling, questioning, healing, or simply trying your best — you’re not alone.

This is a space for honesty, self love (the real kind), body image conversations, mental health, and the messy, beautiful process of becoming.

Thank you for being here.
Alice x