Marina Diamandis has opened up about her experience with bulimia and shared that shame should be taken away from the condition.
READ MORE: Five things we learned from our In Conversation video chat with Marina
In her new poetry book Eat The World the singer – formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds – used the form of literary art to tackle an assortment of topics such as relationships and their complexities, the good and bad of living in Los Angeles and how she dealt with bulimia during her 20s.
The first taster of her book came in the form of Aspartame, one of the poems in her book that chronicled Diamandis’ move to LA at 20 and trying to get the attention of a man while dealing with her condition. The poem described the singer as “rail thin in a polka dress” with “tooth enamel dissolved by stomach acid”.
Speaking to BBC about the poem, the ‘How To Be A Heartbreaker’ singer said: “This chapter in my life was like 15 years ago, so I feel very much moved on, and I’m able to talk about it and not feel any kind of shame or self-consciousness.”
“I think it’s really important to take that mystery or shame away from it,” she continued: “At the end of the day, it’s like any other mental illness or health issue, and it can be life-threatening, and most of all, for the majority of people, it makes your life a misery.
“I think with the subject of eating disorders, there’s so much secrecy around the illness itself, like in terms of maintaining it, or being allowed to exist doing what you’re doing without kind of commentary from other people, because it’s obviously such a harmful thing.”
She also added that the physical side effects of the illness are what encouraged her to get better. The damage caused to her throat made her realise that if she kept it up, she wouldn’t be able to achieve her dream of being a singer.
“I decided from then I was going to recover, and then I went through the thing of gaining weight and not feeling great about that, but it took a couple of years to even out,” she told the outlet. “A couple of years later, I got signed and my life started to improve, and other things became more important than that.”
Diamandis said that her recovery was “gradual” and revealed that it took her roughly 10 years to overcome it. She also addressed the assumption that eating disorders are due to people wanting to be thin or look a certain way and said: “It really is never that – that’s like the surface issue, but then below that are, there are family issues happening, there’s always self-esteem stuff going on.”
She also offered some words of advice for anyone struggling with an eating disorder and saying to try not to beat yourself up over it and shared that what helped her start overcoming it was “feeling more compassionate towards myself was maybe one of the first things that I would advise people, but also everyone that’s going to have their own journey.”
You can visit here to purchase a copy Eat The World.
In other news, earlier this summer, Diamandis confirmed that she is currently working on her upcoming sixth album which will be released next year.
Speaking to Attitude, the musician said: “I am working on a new record, and I am loving it. It will definitely be out next year.” Marina also hinted at new music with a tweet that simply read: “album six.”
For further help and advice on mental health:
“Am I depressed?” – Help and advice on mental health and what to do next
MITC – A collective of musician industry therapists
TONIC Rider – Bespoke training and support for music industry professionals
Help Musicians UK – Around the clock mental health support and advice for musicians
Music Support Org – Help and support for musicians struggling with alcoholism, addiction, or mental health issues
YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably
The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day
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