How to recover from an Eating disorder
There are so many factors that can help you succeed in recovery. Below are just some that can help you on your journey.
Build a Strong Support Team
Like a sturdy stool requires three or four legs, a recovery plan thrives with a solid team. Your recovery team typically consists of a psychotherapist, a nutritionist, and a primary care physician. Specialists in eating disorder treatment are often recommended for therapy and nutrition. Effective communication among team members ensures you receive comprehensive treatment. First of all, weekly or fortnightly appointments with your therapist and nutritionist are advised, with medical visits as determined by your health needs. Finding the right fit in terms of treatment style is essential. Your recovery journey aims to reduce symptoms, enhance self-understanding, cultivate healthy coping strategies, and rebuild your relationship with food and your body.
Harness Your Motivation
Recovery motivations vary; it could be for a loved one, for your health, trying to conceive or something else entirely. Your personal motivation may evolve over time. Hope and motivation are intertwined and may fluctuate. Feeling ambivalent is common but doesn't hinder progress. Loneliness and disconnection may creep in, but reach out to your support team and community, not your eating disorder. If you're feeling depressed, seek help immediately.
Embrace Honesty
Openness with your team and loved ones is crucial. Holding back information, even when not asked, hinders your progress. Embarrassment, shame, or ambivalence may arise, but summon your courage and share what's happening. Remember, "secrets keep you sick." Others can't assist if they're unaware of your struggles.
Follow Your Team's Guidance
Your recovery team's recommendations come from their expertise and desire for your success. They're on your side, even when suggesting challenging steps. If you find it hard to follow their advice, communicate your struggles with them.
Prioritize Your Recovery
Establish weekly recovery goals with your therapist and nutritionist. This accountability helps you stay on course. Recovery is not a race but a lifelong journey. In tough times, when the urge to withdraw or skip therapy arises, practice "opposite to emotion action." Reach out to your support system and attend your appointments – these are the times you need your team the most.
Exercise Patience, especially around Body Image:
If negative body image is part of your eating disorder, know that relief often comes later in the recovery process. Healing may lag behind behavioural, emotional, and physical progress. Society bombards us with negative body messages, but remember they're not aimed at you but your wallet. Regardless of how you feel about your body, it does improve, with your team's guidance. Patience, self-compassion, and not letting body image dictate your food or exercise choices are crucial.
Ditch the Scale
Returning to weighing yourself during recovery can lead to increased relapse rates. It may briefly alleviate anxiety but intensifies preoccupation with numbers, food, and your body. Weighing ourselves wasn't a concern in the days of cave-dwellers, and it needn't be now. Human connections can reassure you of your intrinsic value; the scale cannot.
Be Kind to Yourself When You Stumble
Recovery isn't a linear path; it's filled with bumps, slips, and even relapses. Understand that this is part of many recovery journeys. Remind yourself that recovery is possible, and you deserve it. Don't entertain thoughts that it's not necessary or that others deserve it more. Your team can help you recognize your intrinsic worth and that you are lovable and significant. Even if you don't feel it now, you will in the future. Never give up and Keep Moving Forward.