Eating Disorder Recovery — What It Actually Requires

Eating disorder recovery is frequently misunderstood — by the person experiencing it, by families, and sometimes by clinicians. It is not simply the restoration of normal eating. It is not the cessation of a behaviour. It is the construction of a different relationship with the self — one in which the eating disorder is no longer needed.

What is an Eating Disorder?

An eating disorder is a complex psychological condition in which a person’s relationship with food becomes a primary mechanism for managing emotional pain. The behaviour is not the problem. It is the solution the person found.

Types of eating disorder

Anorexia nervosa — A refusal to take in: food, nourishment, sometimes intimacy. As BMI falls, neurochemistry deteriorates and the brain becomes rigid, locked onto weight loss. The disorder creates the neurological conditions for its own continuation.