Glennon Doyle, mom and author of the wildly popular memoir Untamed, is opening up about a recent medical diagnosis that left her in denial and shock.
Glennon told listeners in the latest episode of her podcast, We Can Do Hard Things, that she has been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. The bestselling author has been open about her journey with bulimia, which she struggled with almost two decades ago.
"There is no way that I can explain to you the level of bafflement, shock, denial, confusion,” said Glennon about the diagnosis.
She cohosts the podcast with her wife, former soccer star Abby Wambach, and her sister, Amanda Doyle.
Glennon explained on the show that she sought help from a doctor because she believed she had relapsed in her bulimia journey. She wanted to learn “how to get these relapses of my bulimia under control so I can be less scared and freer and not in danger.”
To her surprise, Glennon’s doctor determined that based on her medical history and symptoms, she actually had anorexia.
The author, who had identified as bulimic for so long, was in denial when her doctor first discussed the diagnosis with her.
"Anorexia is a totally different thing," she said. "It’s like a different religion. It’s a different identity. It’s a different threat. It's a different way of thinking."
"It’s so confusing, and it shook me very deeply," she continued. "And I did not believe it."
She recalled her feeling of overall disbelief at the news: "I was like, 'That's just wrong.'"
Glennon explained that she waited for the doctor to finish explaining the diagnosis, and then she responded, "I do not think I am anorexic. I know anorexic people. I've seen what anorexia looks like. I don't feel like I look anorexic."
"And the doctor said, 'That is a very anorexic reaction to have,'" Glennon recalled.
Abby explained her experience of hearing Glennon’s diagnosis when she got home that day. She told Glennon that she couldn’t do the work of the healing for her and that Glennon would have to find that strength within herself.
"This was a hard thing for me to say," Abby recalled. "I had to say it — it had to be out loud — because you needed to take complete ownership over this process."
Glennon started reading more about anorexia and shared her shock over how much she related to the behaviors detailed in the books.
"I don’t know how to explain the feeling of reading things that you thought were part of your personality and who you were, and reading that they’re actually just a collection of symptoms of a… disease."
"It's humiliating on a level," she added. Glennon told listeners that she is beginning the journey of healing, one she says she should have started a while ago.
"I never, not once, went back and really figured out what happened to me," she says about her experience with bulimia. "I didn’t excavate. I didn’t look at things. I didn’t do the work."
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