Looking Fine, Feeling Possessed: The Realities of Bingeing and Purging with Lexie Kirwan-Jones

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Lexie Kirwan-Jones. Lexie is a psychology student at Durham University, an eating disorder peer support worker, and someone involved in research relating to eating disorders and neurodivergence.As Lexie shares, her university experience hasn't been a straight line, but is one that might sound similar to those who have been navigating an eating disorder at university. After taking a year out of her costume design degree due to her eating disorder, she re-evaluated her career plans and returned to university in 2024 to study psychology to pursue a career in clinical psychology.In this episode, we discuss:Lexie's honest account of living with bulimia and disordered eatingWhy bulimia and binge-purge cycles can feel worse than restrictive eating disorders, despite looking "healthy" on the outsideHow weight-focused feedback in eating disorder treatment can reinforce disordered behavioursUnderstanding binge eating disorder: what a binge actually feels like, and why it isn't about willpowerThe turning point in Lexie's eating disorder recoveryWhy the right GP can make all the difference in accessing eating disorder treatmentHow university stress and perfectionism fuelled Lexie's eating disorderTaking a year out of university for eating disorder recovery, and the fear of judgementLexie's advice for navigating university with an eating disorder⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, including restriction, binge eating and bulimia, and disordered eating behaviours. Please take care while listening.Connect with us:Subscribe to the Full of Beans PodcastFollow Full of Beans on InstagramCheck out our websiteListen on YouTube