Roz Purcell posts powerful image of her body and the journey to self acceptance

"We have become completely blindsided by the fact our bodies are A LOT MORE THAN just for show."

As this week in the month of May is Mental Health Awareness Week, Roz Purcell has decided to share part of her challenging journey with eating disorders and self acceptance on Instagram in a hope to shed light on the topic for others. In two contrasting images of her body, Roz highlights the difference between aiming for a skinny physique and aiming for a happy, healthy body and mind. In one image, Roz looks frail and underweight, a body she once believed would bring her happiness while in the second picture, Roz looks healthier and happier in a snap from a recent holiday.

"For a lot of years I based my self-worth on my weight and believed reaching certain numbers would bring happiness and success - it doesn't work like that and I guess I had to live it to realise it."

Continuing, she added that she tackled her problem by talking. Realising that she had an issue with her weight and food and admitting that she had to do something about it for herself.

"Talking to my friends and family, mostly my family at the time because I feel ashamed but more than anything It gave me a responsibility to see it through and learn to manage it because I had let someone else in."

Roz also highlighted the fact that one must remember what they see online isn't always a true depiction of reality. We say it all the time but it's important to hammer home that Instagram is a highlights reel and often a fake perception of someone's "perfect life" or "perfect body". Speaking about Instagram, Roz added:

"In a world of beautiful strangers and comparison try remeber what this place is the highlight reel, that split second you see of someones day, that good angle or edited photo. That's all it is - nothing more."

And she's right, we can compare ourselves to people all day but at the end of the day, the only people we should really be looking out for is ourselves. Nuture your body and your mind, strive for a balanced diet and not to look like someone online and seek happiness in the real world not gratification from likes. You'll thank yourself in the long run. ******************************************************************************************************** If you know someone who you think might be suffering from an eating disorder, there are people here to help and provide a listening ear.  Here are some useful numbers  Bodywhys (eating disorders) - 1890 200 444 or click here.  Pieta House (suicide and self-harm) - 01 623 5606 or click here. Never feel alone, help is always here.