“Music has been my recovery,” says Jennifer, a 20-year-old Abington resident who has struggled with both anorexia and bulimia. While in treatment at Friends Hospital in Philadelphia, Jennifer attended a music therapy group. Since her discharge, Jennifer has used music as both a tool to heal the issues that triggered her eating disorder, and as a way to cope.
“I think that the most important way I’ve used music is that while I was in therapy I talked my rape. I was finally able to write a song telling the boy who did it that he’d hurt me badly, but that I’d survive.” Jennifer is now enrolled in the Music Therapy program at Temple University.
Eating disorders often make it hard to verbalize thoughts and feelings. They are often a nonverbal expression of hurt and pain. Music speaks to us. It helps us to express things that we cannot express.
Music therapist Katrina McFerran, in writing about her work with teenagers with anorexia, states, “The use of song writing has been particularly effective in freeing patients to express themselves in a creative way that also articulates important aspects of their experience. It has also been a powerful medium for sharing difficult stories with family members and loved ones.”
Celebrities have used music to express their own struggles with eating disorders. For those who are actively battling eating issues, these songs can be particularly inspiring.
Silverchair’s Lead singer Daniel Johns wrote Ana’s Song about his fight with anorexia. In the song Johns writes, “Please die Ana. For as long as you're here we're not.” Alanis Morissette struggled with anorexia and bulimia between the ages of 14 and 18 when she was trying to break into the music business. She wrote the song Perfect, inspired by her recovery. Singer and songwriter Fiona Apple became anorexic after being sexually assaulted at the age of twelve. The melodic Paper Bag symbolizes this experience.
Top 10 songs on the Eating Disorder Playlist:
1. Ana’s Song (Open Fire): Silverchair
2. Perfect: Alanis Morissette
3. Tell Yourself: Natalie Merchant
4. Reflection: Christina Aguilera
5. Other Side of the World: KT Tunstall
6. She’s Falling Apart: Lisa Loeb
7. Beauty from Pain: Superchick
8. 32 Flavors: Ani DiFranco
9. Save Me: Aimee Mann
10. Paper Bag: Fiona Apple
Comments
Jenifer inspires me to keep going .. thank for your beautiful writings.
It really bothers me that even though this article is about eating disorders, there are an infinite amount of dieting ads surrounding it. Can we ever catch a break?
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