Today I am joined Jayne Nisbet. A 2014 commonwealth games finalist, Scottish record high-jump holder and author of ‘Free-Ed’ – a book written about her turbulent battle with bulimia.

Jayne was introduced to athletics as a teenager and was very rapidly applied into a highly competitive environment. This unfamiliar, high performance culture, and poor influence from fellow athletes, triggered the development of a perfectionist mindset and disordered tendencies towards food.

Her eating was controlling and restrictive. Working with a nutritionist further enforced her to overanalyse food, becoming concerningly analytical.

Transitioning to train full time in Loughborough University, she faced phenomenal pressures and massive performance expectations. She was young, vulnerable, and overwhelmed… understandably, this culture only exacerbated her downfall towards bulimia and poor relationship with her food, body and self-worth.

Thankfully, she formed a trustworthy relationship from her empathetic coaches. They provided constructive guidance, care and a new perspective… subsequently allowing her to flourish again as both an athlete and a young woman.

In this episode, Jayne also discusses her experience of receiving therapy and the value of truly uncovering the underlying psychological triggers and factors behind her battles. It was about re-establishing her purpose and rediscovering her identity - focusing on building a solid foundation, enabling her to constructively rewire her mindset.

We also discuss how sport organisations need to ensure the health of their athletes by consistently bringing awareness to coaches, providing proactive tools to allow the identification of mental health complications and overall creating a non-stigmatised environment…. enabling athletes to feel comfortable to vocalise their struggles.