One of NZ’s favourite artists comes out about Bulimia

One of NZ’s favourite artists comes out about Bulimia

Emma Wright, a successful NZ artist, wants to change a commonly held assumption that having an Eating Disorder comes from vanity or silliness. Wright, who is highly educated and now in her mid 40s, had Bulimia from age 14 to 37.

Rather than vanity or silliness, bulimia is more like an addiction. An addiction to the pain that eating and purging seemed to alleviate. It is an addictive behaviour that is not only tremendously hard to stop, but is accompanied by tormenting shame.

One of the hardest things to deal with in the healing process, she says, was the shame, because it fosters secrecy. It’s not something that was easy to share, because it is so misunderstood.

Healing from the behaviour and the shame took Wright years. She now wants to help others with Bulimia find freedom and peace from their addictive behaviour.

A few months ago, Wright wrote an article on her Artist blog about her experience with bulimia and was blown away by the response. People from all corners of the world approached her, some having never admitted to anyone before that they shared the same issue.

Wright was amazed by how exposing her secret resulted in her creativity deepening. “A layer of shame felt like it was washed off. One of the results being I’ve had greater access to my creative source. That’s been extraordinary. It’s something I’d like to share with others who might be in the same boat.”

Partly due to the overwhelming response from her coming out about Bulimia and partly due to the effect it’s had on her art practice, Wright has created a weekly blog series called Be Well Wednesday in order to help others heal. For more information visit emmawright.co.nz

ENDS

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