My name is Jennifer Wakefield. I’m a model who has had my own share of mental health challenges. So have my peers. In fact, when I was in college, I had several friends who suffered from eating disorders. I use the words “suffered from” on purpose. Because that’s exactly what happens. Like many other mental health problems, bulimia and anorexia are secret shames.
People sometimes live for years on end as bulimics and anorexics. Their family & closest friends might not even know they’re contending with these challenges.
And like all secret shames, bulimia and anorexia gain power the more we bury them in darkness, stay silent about them, refuse to admit that they’re pulling our strings.
Looking back, I just wish that all the people I knew who had eating disorders were given an outlet to talk about their feelings, their fears, and their thoughts about their condition.
This is why I wholeheartedly recommend the Transformative Plays by playwright Carl Stillitano. Carl’s work doesn’t beat around the bush with mental health issues, it plunges right into them, laughing and wailing.
This may sound madcap. In fact, it kind of is. But that’s the genius behind what Carl does. He gets people to live an experience together through the vehicle of drama.
When you read a play out loud in front of other people, there’s no way to run from the experience. And everything it brings up is suddenly set loose, both in the room and within yourself. This is how the healing process begins.
When we know we are not alone, we take strength from the fact that we can grow. We can heal.
If you or someone you love is suffering from an eating disorder, I urge you to buy Carl’s play “The Donut Shop.”
Get a group of people together—friends or strangers, it makes no difference—and read it out loud.
See what a difference it makes.
After you read the Transformative Plays, you’ll be able to hold conversations about your own mental health that you never had before.
Which can change your life.
Buy your transformative plays for your mental health support
Read the Mental Health Monologues
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