During this period, Gorry “needed someone to sit there and listen”, but instead found people reluctant to discuss body image and eating disorders, something she believes comes down to a fear of not knowing how to respond.
Opening up on her own experience has helped Gorry to break down some of these barriers with both athletes and her family and friends, and she believes she now has the tools to initiate conversations with her fellow players and provide support before they enter the same spiral she encountered.
“It was really tough,” she said. “[People] could see I was going through things, but no-one wanted to ask the question, and I think maybe [that’s] because no-one knows how to respond.
“If someone says, ‘no, I’m actually not doing OK, and this is what I’m going through’ – how do I respond to this?
“I’m grateful for what I went through because I can share my experience with younger players and people around me to make sure they don’t go through something like that.
“Now that I went through that experience, I can see players going through it which is a good tool for me because I’m able to open up those conversations before I can see it spiralling into a bad place.”
England and Brighton midfielder Fran Kirby has previously raised issues on the “stigma”,, external around nutrition in women’s football and the pressure on players to deal with abuse about her body shape.
“It’s such an important thing to talk about – body image and the way that we respect our bodies,” added Gorry.
“As footballers, you think you can overcome anything and it’s something we don’t really talk about that much.
“[But] we still go through things off the field, and we need a space that we can be able to talk to each other, help each other, [and] be better footballers at the end of it.”
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