Complete recovery is only possible when you are fully comfortable with who you are. This requires more than changing your eating habits. You also need to learn to cope with unpleasant emotions, identify feelings, recognize triggers, and accept yourself at each stage. Fortunately, you don’t need to complete these tasks alone. As you reach out to available resources, you’ll have more success in overcoming obstacles and reaching full recovery.
Choose a Trusted Companion For Support
Choose a friend, family member, or professional to confide in. Admitting to yourself and sharing with another person that you have an eating disorder can be scary. Choose someone who is supportive and who will work with you without judging. Give them some time and space to experience their own emotional reactions and share the specifics of how you want them to help you. This person can be with you while scheduling appointments with professionals or help you during grocery shopping. Your supportive friend should understand the dangers of focusing on weight instead of health.
Create a Team of Professionals
It’s important to get professional treatment for eating disorders. The symptoms of the disorder could have long-term consequences on your health, so it’s important that your recovery team includes a professional or a few professionals who understand the nutritional, medical, and emotional effects of your specific set of symptoms. A successful treatment plan addresses the underlying concerns (e.g. emotional triggers,) as well as your eating habits. Because of this, you may have a therapist, nutritionist, and medical doctor on your team.
Join a Group of People Who Understand Your Struggle
Look for a support group with an emphasis on eating disorders. Family and friends are important resources, and they play important roles in your success. A support group offers a different type of support, sometimes led by professionals and sometimes moderated by a qualified volunteer. Within these groups, you’ll meet others who are on recovery journeys similar to your own. Making friends who understand the specific struggles you face can help you learn effective recovery techniques. Your doctor, therapist, or local clinic could help you find a support group. If there isn’t a group available in your community, consider searching online for a chat room or similar group.
Connect With an Online Support Group
Take advantage of social media resources. For example, there are a few Eating Disorder Instagram that Support Recovery. Carefully choose resources that have a positive, healthy outlook and join those communities to receive daily messages of hope, learn techniques for responding to triggers, and get the support that’s available wherever you are and at any given moment. If you’re uncomfortable sharing your struggles with others in person, you may find that participation in an online group helps you until you are more comfortable.
Turn to a Higher Power
Look for spiritual support. Whether you believe in a higher power or simply find solace when spending time in nature, time spent in prayer, reflection, and meditation can strengthen your resolve, reduce anxiety, decrease pain, and offer several other physical and emotional benefits. It’s common for people suffering from eating disorders to feel inadequate and hopeless; wherever your source of spiritual support, it is a vital component of recovery.
You Don’t Have To Face Recovery Alone
Your recovery from an eating disorder may seem like a lonely journey, so it’s important to recognize sources of support and encouragement. When your mind is full of voices telling you that happiness is only possible at a certain weight or body size, you need to have friends and associates who can help you move past that belief. With friends, family, professionals, and supportive groups, you may find that it’s easier to overcome each obstacle along the path to recovery.
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