A TEENAGER who fought against anorexia is warning others of the dangers posed by eating disorders.

Zoe Yates, from Portland, spent five years battling anorexia and ended up being sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Her weight plummeted to under five stone as she refused to eat and spent prolonged periods in hospital.

Zoe, 19, is now well on her way to recovery and has used her savings to book an eight-week adventure in Southern India. She will be travelling with a friend who she met in hospital and together they will be going to volunteer in an orphanage.

She hopes her trip will inspire other anorexia sufferers and those with mental health issues and show them that anything is possible.

She said: “I just want to let people with mental health issues know you can get better and you can change and it’s not going to be bad forever.

“You can make it. A lot of people thought I’d never turn the corner and lots of people think there’s no help for them, but everyone is backing everyone.”

Nursing and caring for young children is Zoe’s dream job and she hopes to do some volunteering when she returns from her adventure.

The former Royal Manor School pupil has spent time in and out of different centres around the UK during her five-year battle, often being hospitalised. At her lowest point she weighed under five stone.

Of the picture of her at her lowest weight she said: “It just sums up how horrible the illness is, tiring, boring, sad, haunted and the down right horribleness.” Zoe now weighs over seven and a half stone.

“I think India will be a big eye-opener and make me appreciate things a bit more and maybe put my life into perspective and help in my full recovery.”

Zoe, the youngest of four children, said that her battle with food and how she felt about herself began at a young age. She said she struggled with communicating with other people and being out and about, often feeling very uncomfortable in crowds. When asked what advice she would give to her 12-year-old self, she said: “I’d say relax and don’t worry so much, not everyone’s looking at you.

“That sounds vain, like I thought everyone was looking at me, but now I know it’s not like that.”

Her mum, Maggie, said: “It’s not being vain, it’s self-consciousness. She was always very self-aware and self-conscious from a young age. We think she is amazing.

“Mental health issues get a bad press, people are ignorant. It’s a shame really.”

The turning point in Zoe’s recovery came when she was sectioned and taken back into hospital in the summer last year.

She said: “I had everything taken away from me. It was mid-summer and I was stuck in and couldn’t do anything I wanted to do and I just thought I don’t want this anymore.

“I was with my friend and I had a chocolate bar in my room and I said ‘I have to have it.’ I ate the whole thing and I’m a chocoholic now. I love it, it’s the best happy pill ever. I just wanted my freedom back.”

Zoe says that she still has a way to go to fully recover but is really positive and knows that she can get through it with the help of her family and the friends she made in hospital.

She is looking forward to enjoying her first summer at home in five years.

She said: “I just want to enjoy it and spend time with family and catching up with friends and maybe then go off volunteering again.”

Zoe is collecting pens, pencils and colouring books to take out to the orphaned children. If you would like to make a donation, call Zoe or Maggie Yates on 01305 824860.