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When I was 10 years old, one day after dinner, my sister locked our bedroom door and began to cry. I was alarmed and confused about what might have happened. She began to tell me about how she was being bullied. An anonymous online character had begun body-shaming her. This went on for another 3 months until my parents found out and investigated for a while. The bully was exposed and she happened to be one of my sister's best friends. Fast-forward 9 months and one night my sister tells me that there was something wrong. She explained how the body-shaming had led her to believe she was fat and throw up every morsel of food she ate. She had been doing it for 9 months. She had started looking pale and sickly. My sister continued to tell me about how it was unstoppable now and how it was physically impossible for her to keep any food in her system. I was stressed, scared and honestly very confused about what to do. The only option was for me to tell my parents and that was the best decision I could have made. She was angry at me and didn't talk to me for some time but I was relieved. The situation was much more serious than I had expected and if she had continued, it would have led to throat cancer due to the amount of acid that would corrode her throat every day. We visited around 12 doctors, got several scans and tests done, she needed an endoscopy, was prescribed many medicines and now after 3 years, she is still slowly recovering. She had done severe damage to her system and the impact had been drastic. Over her time of recovery, she had begun to realize her self worth. She felt proud of who she was and accepted herself. The amount of stress and anxiety that I, as a 10-year-old girl went through was traumatic, but I learned so much about how body images can have serious consequences. Every single one of us deserves to look in the mirror and think about how good we look. Each one of us deserves to feel good about ourselves. Every single one of us deserves to have the confidence that allows us to be our best selves. I hope all of you soon realize your worth and feel great about who you are.
-Akshara