Esi

I take the new arrivals, which is my favourite job in the Circle. People turn up at their most overwhelmed — they have a pen in the fridge they are frightened of, a list of side effects they read at 2am, and usually a strong sense that everyone else already understands something they do not. Nobody understands it. That is the actual answer and it is enormously relieving to hear.

In first-twelve-weeks we go slowly and repetitively on purpose. The same five questions come round every fortnight — how do I do the injection, is this nausea normal, why am I so tired, what do I eat when nothing appeals, when do I tell my family — and we answer them again every time, because for the person asking it is the first time.

I run injection-anxiety with a fairly practical bent: needle phobia responds to graded, boring exposure and to somebody being on a call with you while you do it. We have done a lot of those calls. Nobody has ever been made to do anything.

My own start was in 2023 and it was a mess. I came off after nine weeks because of reflux I did not understand, restarted six months later at a quarter of the step size, and have been steady since. I mention that because "I stopped and came back" is a normal shape and nobody tells you.