Hello, friend. This is an episode of Note to Self, but from when we used to be called New

Tech City. Same good content, just the old name. Enjoy.

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From WNYC, this is New Tech City. Where digital gets personal. I'm a new summer ody.

Well, it started when I was 14. That's 12 years ago now, almost 26. So at the time, you

know, it started because of family problems and my parents split up. We went through a lot

of transitions. And so it really sprang from that. I honestly don't even know why it occurred

to me that I thought I should skip a meal in order to deal with what I was feeling.

Bad days skipped meals. Joanna Kaye was in pain as a teenager growing up in suburban New Jersey.

She was lonely after her parents divorced. Her family wasn't bad to her or anything,

but they weren't the easiest to talk to either. So she turned inward and she became obsessed

with not eating. And then any other behaviors that came up were for the sake of losing more

weight, losing weight, a way to feel in control. It's pretty common. And Joanna looked online

for help to lose weight, also pretty common. When you're that isolated, you do go looking

for communities to try to relate to and find comfort in. And the internet is the best place

you're going to find communities. So I feel like I must have just searched for them or something

and came upon these sites. Pro eating disorder sites that portray eating disorders not as illnesses,

but as a lifestyle. And Joanna found them comforting and also useful. So I would just retreat

to my room and I had a computer in there. And you know, because no one was around, I just kind

...