Raleigh woman shares eating disorder recovery story in new memoir

Johanna Scoglio lived with an eating disorder for decades after it began when she was 15, and she is using that recovery story to reach Wake County families who may not know where to turn. Her new memoir, When the Water Still Holds Me: Letters Through the Tides of a Long-Term Eating Disorder, traces illness, treatment and healing through a series of reflective letters.

The book leans on water and estuary imagery, a way of describing the push and pull between despair and hope in a non-linear recovery. Scoglio’s story also underscores a hard public-health reality. The National Institute of Mental Health describes eating disorders as serious and sometimes fatal illnesses, and the National Eating Disorders Association estimates a lifetime prevalence of 8.6% among females and 4.07% among males, with one eating-disorder-related death every 52 minutes.

Scoglio was scheduled to speak April 11 at the National Alliance for Eating Disorders’ NOT ONE MORE: Rally for Recovery at Cedar Fork District Park in Morrisville. Registration and check-in began at 9 a.m., and the rally ran from 9 to 11 a.m. at 228 Aviation Parkway. The event was designed to raise awareness and offer direct support to people with eating disorders and their loved ones in Raleigh and beyond.

That local setting matters in a county where mental health and recovery resources are often stretched. Scoglio says her recovery was not something she reached alone. Her treatment took many months, and she credits doctors, clinicians and loved ones who intervened as crucial to helping her heal.

The Alliance says it provides free, therapist-led support groups, a therapist-staffed helpline and low-cost training for health care providers. Its Raleigh fundraiser page showed a 2026 goal of $20,000, with more than $17,000 already raised when the page was checked. For families in Wake County trying to recognize a problem early, Scoglio’s message is direct: eating disorders can begin in adolescence, but recovery is still possible years later.