The Pressure to Push Through: Eli Teel on Eating Disorder Recovery as a Trans College Student

About this episode

Eli Teel discusses his journey through eating disorder recovery as a trans college student with host Shannon Kopp.

Say It Brave On Campus, Episode 1 We chose to honor this year's National Eating Disorders Awareness Week by trying something new - our first ever mini-series. The topic? Real stories from the intersection of college life, mental health, and eating disorders. So, for the next few days you'll see three back-to-back episodes appear in your feeds, each taking a different angle on these pivotal years. You'll also have the chance to meet a new guest host, Shannon Kopp, who has spent years cultivating recovery-focused relationships on campuses around the country. For the first episode, Shannon talks with UC Davis graduate, Eli Teel, about navigating a mental and physical metamorphosis during college. He shares how academic pressure, gender dysphoria, and the shift to college contributed to the development of an eating disorder — and why coming out about it felt harder than coming out as trans. Shannon and Eli's conversation brings a personal perspective to the intersections of LGBTQ+ mental health and eating disorders, the role of different treatment levels - residential, IOP and PHP - and why multiple rounds of treatment can feel like failure, but is actually meaningful progress…

People in this episode

Host: Shannon Kopp

Guest: Eli Teel

Topics covered

• eating disorders
• mental health
• LGBTQ+ issues
• college life
• recovery
• gender dysphoria

Keywords

• eating disorder recovery
• trans college student
• mental health
• gender dysphoria
• college life
• LGBTQ+
• treatment levels

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: UC Davis, Eating Recovery Center, Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center, Mental Note Podcast

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