Victoria’s path to healing and helping

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[Victoria]

The way that I got through my freshman year of college was to begin coping with extreme food restriction and over exercise.

[Screen text] Victoria, Student Blue member

[Victoria]

One thing I learned about eating disorders is you can have them in any size body. I still struggle with it. I hadn't seen my mom, you know, I went away to college.

I hadn't seen my mom in a couple months, I came home, and I just remember her looking surprised and instantly worried. I was already pretty small and so I had no room to lose weight.

And I had lost, you know, pretty significant amount. When I went to treatment, my insurance at the time did not cover residential, which is what I needed according to all of my care providers.

Umm it also did not cover dietitians for eating disorders.

I'm a freshman in college. I can barely pay for anything. And now I'm supposed to pay for nutrition therapy and regular therapy.

That's a lot.

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It got to the point where if I didn't have the Student Blue coverage, I probably wouldn't be in grad school because it would be very expensive for me to get an insurance plan that would cover everything I need for my mental and physical health.

Student Blue makes it where it's affordable for me to do it, but it also has the amount of coverage that I need to stay in recovery.

I am here today because of some fantastically talented therapists, and dietitians.

I want to be able to give back in that way, because I think that the best thing you can do when you learn and get really good at something is share it with other people.

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[Screen text] Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

[Screen text] Learn more at StudentBlueNC.com

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[Screen text] If you or someone you know has an eating disorder and needs help, contact the National Alliance for Eating Disorders’ helpline at 866-662-1235.