Warrington woman shares inspiring story of recovery from eating disorder struggles

A YOUNG woman who struggled with her mental health from the age of 13 and was hospitalised with an eating disorder in her teenage years has shared her story of recovery.

Molly Anderton, from Warrington, battled with anxiety and body image issues from a young age, which spiralled into an eating disorder and self-harm.

She is now an Expert by Experience for Cygnet Health Care, providing a ‘compassionate voice’ for those in need of support.

(Image: Supplied) The 23-year-old, who was only diagnosed with autism in adulthood, said: “I grew up as an undiagnosed autistic child and teenager.

“I always struggled with my mental health, I was an anxious child.”

The situation worsened for Molly when she transitioned from primary school to secondary school, which she described as overwhelming, and when her grandmother died when she was 13.

She said: “I really struggled with the transition from a small, friendly primary school into this huge, overwhelming high school where I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t really know how to make friends.

“I felt persistently overwhelmed with everything and my mental health really started to decline.”

Molly’s relationship with food, which was already disordered, worsened when she turned 13.

She said: “Within the space of three months, my life went from being difficult and me being able to mask most of my mental health struggles to things being completely unmanageable.

“I quite quickly declined into anorexia.”

Molly had to withdraw from school as she was too unwell and had to teach herself most of her GCSEs and A-levels, missing out on a large portion of her teenage years.

She said: “I do feel like I missed out on a massive chunk of my life because of the fact that I struggled with my mental health and because of the fact that the help wasn’t there when I needed it.

“That’s a real source of frustration for me.”

Molly sought help but found community outpatient services insufficient.

(Image: Supplied) She was admitted onto a CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) eating disorders unit in London, 200 miles away from home, at the age of 17.

She was a patient at the unit for nine months, after which she said she felt understood and supported for the first time.

However, after her discharge, the pandemic hit and her continuity of care was disrupted.

Molly experienced two further admissions onto acute wards, the last being in January 2023.

Despite her struggles, she went to university in 2021 with hopes of gaining a degree in medicine but had to withdraw because of her undiagnosed autism.

She said: “It was the one thing I’d always wanted to do, and the one thing that I’d worked really hard to get better for, and it had been taken away from me.”

Now, Molly is using her lived experience to work with patients at Cygnet services as an Expert by Experience.

She said: “Working as an Expert by Experience instantly reignited the passion I had previously for medicine.

“When I started working with Cygnet Health Care, spending time working directly with patients experiencing similar struggles to me, I knew it was so much more than just a job to me.”

(Image: Supplied) She is a strong advocate for early recognition of autism in children and ensuring mental health support in schools.

As part of Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week, she shared her advice to young people struggling with mental health issues.

She said: “There’s a life beyond mental illness.

“With hard work and dedication, recovery is possible.

“My life is so much more than the teenage Molly who was isolated and hopeless could ever have imagined.”

Molly continues to attend therapy regularly and is accepting that slip-ups and relapses happen, but believes that one day, her mental health and anorexia recovery won’t be a battle.

She said: “It will never be perfect but knowing I’m making someone else’s journey just slightly easier feels like a huge privilege.”