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June 21 – The Day I Needed

by Iulia, a teenage girl from Europe

For the past few months, I’ve been living in a quiet kind of pain. The kind that doesn’t always show. The kind that hides behind smiles and “I’m fine” and perfectly edited photos.

My name is Iulia, I’m a teenage girl from Europe, and I’ve been struggling with an eating disorder.

When it began, I didn’t even realize what was happening. I just wanted to feel in control. I started eating less. Then I started obsessing over food—measuring, counting, skipping. I started weighing myself constantly. I started seeing a body in the mirror that didn’t even feel like mine. And I believed that maybe, just maybe, if I got smaller, I’d feel enough. But what got smaller wasn’t just my body. It was my joy. My energy. My self-worth. My freedom. I cried in bathrooms . I canceled plans. I told myself I didn’t deserve love unless I “fixed” myself. I punished my body for being hungry, for being human. And even when I started recovery—when I gained weight back and began eating meals again—I felt something even scarier: guilt. Shame. I wondered if I had failed for getting better. That is how deep this disorder runs.

And yet, here I am. Writing this. Alive. Healing. And asking the world for one thing:

Let’s make  June 21  the official Eating Disorder Awareness Day

Why June 21?

Because it’s the longest day of the year.

A symbol that even the longest, darkest night eventually gives way to light.

EDs are isolating. They are misunderstood. And they are far too often glamorized, minimized, or ignored entirely. We need a day that says:

You are not too much or not sick enough to deserve help.
Recovery is not linear—but it is possible.
Weight is not worth.
Food is not the enemy.
Your body is not something to hate, it’s your home.