Glennon Doyle Melton’s Lessons From A Mental Hospital

Glennon Doyle Melton began her online writing career in 2009, with the creation of her blog, Momastery. The funny, conversational and tell-all nature of her writing quickly gained popularity. Viral blog posts beginning with “2011 Lesson #2: Don’t Carpe Diem” led to the publication of her memoir, Carry On, Warrior and the growth of her social media audience. In 2013, Carry On, Warrior received the Books for a Better Life Best Relationship Award and was a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for “Best Memoir & Autobiography”. In 2014, Parents Magazine named Melton and Momastery the winner of its award for Best All-Around at Social Media.

Before all this success, however, Melton spent time in a mental hospital. It was this time that changed her and gave her the outlook on life she carries and spreads to others today.

According to Melton,

I binged and purged for the first time when I was 8 and I continued every single day for the next 18 years. It seems normal to me but you’re surprised.

Every single time that I got anxious or worried or angry, I thought something was wrong with me. And so I took that nervous energy to the kitchen and I stuffed it all down with food and then I panicked and I purged. And after all of that, I was laid out on the bathing floor and I was so exhausted and so numb that I never had to go back and deal with whatever it was that it made me uncomfortable in the first place. And that’s what I wanted. I did not want to deal with the discomfort and messiness of being a human being.

So when I was a senior in high school, I finally decided to tell the truth in the real world. I walked into my guidance counselor’s office and I said ”actually I’m not fine. Someone help me”. And I was sent to a mental hospital.