“I hid food in my ears”: a Swiss woman who weighed 36 kg spoke about her struggle with anorexia.

Anorexia is a terrible disease that is not commonly discussed openly in society. However, people themselves who suffer from this type of eating disorder are reluctant to talk about the disease and pretend that everything is fine with them. However, recently, 24-year-old Swiss resident Julia Janssen, who was almost killed by the disease, decided to openly talk about her struggle and the difficult rehabilitation process.

Zurich resident Julia Janssen has been struggling with anorexia for almost ten years . Until recently, the girl’s weight was only 36 kilograms, and she was balancing on the brink of life and death. Doctors immediately warned Julia that her body might not be able to withstand it, because she fainted several times a day. Moreover, Janssen's hair began to fall out in clumps, her skin took on a sickly blue tint , and due to low blood pressure, she was constantly cold - even in warm weather, she wore woolen clothes.

“I knew my time was running out and I could die at any second,” Miss Janssen told The Daily Mail. It was at that moment that the Swiss decided that she would fight the disease, no matter what the cost.

Now Julia remembers with horror how she used to go days without eating anything at all because of her beliefs and constantly counted calories.

“My family made sure I ate my breakfast to make sure I wasn’t cheating on them. At such moments, I had to smear oil through my hair and hide other food in my ears. Food was everywhere: in my bag, in my pockets, behind the sofa. I had to ruin a lot of quality things,” admitted the Swiss woman.

Currently, Julia Janssen has learned to control anorexia . The girl tries not to skip meals and consumes 3,000 calories a day. Today she weighs 42 kilograms, but this is still very little, and she faces a long recovery. According to Julia, her physical well-being has improved significantly, but mentally she is still struggling. “Sometimes it seems to me that I will never be able to completely overcome the disease. I hope that over time I will still be able to find harmony,” said Janssen.

Julia admits that anorexia has ruined her life, but she is ready to do anything to make up for lost time. “I had dreams and plans. I wanted to go to university, study music, work. Instead, throughout my youth I was isolated from the entire world around me,” the girl said bitterly. Moreover, now she is ashamed of her behavior in front of her loved ones. Janssen worries that she has caused a lot of pain to her family.