Lawrence Smith developed an eating disorder called diabulimia when he was a teenager.
This is a condition in which a person with type 1 diabetes intentionally reduces their insulin intake in order to lose weight.
Ms Lawrence, a former student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said the “silos” of diabetes and mental health services had made it difficult for her to recover.
“When you have diabetes, there’s a lot of emphasis on numbers, like how much insulin you’re taking and how many carbohydrates you’re eating.
“Eating disorder services are basically saying, ‘Don’t read labels, don’t read food packaging,'” she says.
Now new guidelines published by the Scottish Care Improvement Agency aim to ensure people with both conditions receive better support.
Recommendations include urgent or early referral of people with diabetes to eating disorder services, which Lawrence supports.
“The dangerous thing about diabetes is that whereas with other diseases it’s the passage of time that causes problems, with diabetes things can very often deteriorate very quickly and catastrophically,” he said.
Returning to her former university and reflecting on the years she spent battling diabetic anorexia, Lawrence said she was “fortunate to be able to look back and see how far I’ve come in my recovery.”
He added that he hopes that talking about the disease will help others living with the same condition feel less alone.