Discussion: Eating Disorders and Recovery
Family support systems are amazing -- but they dont always know how to help. What support do you have from your family/group?Welcome to our Eating Disorder Support Discussion on Eating Disorders and Recovery! We haven't had many dicussions in this subcommunity yet, but you might be familiar with our support discussions from other subcommunities. We want this to be an informative, engaging time for you. Lets remember to show kindness and support to each other. If you need support during this time, please visit the other support rooms, or connect with a listener in a 1-on-1 chat here. https://www.7cupsoftea.com/BrowseListeners/
I will be posting a new question or statement daily, and hopefully we can get some interesting discussion flowing! Feel free to comment on each other (in a respectful manner) or ask questions back.
All questions for one discussion will continued to be posted under the main forum thread that was created for the discussion in progress.
Eating disorders come in many shapes and forms, and are a chronic illness. While we encourage everyone to participate, I ask that you respect everyones experience with eating disorders. If you feel upset or triggered you can visit 7cups.com/BrowseListeners to connect 1-1.
Q1. Lets start today off with an icebreaker. What is one thing that you like to do for self care?
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Q.2 Very briefly, I would everyone like to sharing our diagnosis/disorder so we can be empathetic to the needs of all of the room. Feel free not to participate, but also know that there are people here to support you <3
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Q.3 What does recovery mean to you? Is it, for example, physical, emotional, spiritual
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Q.4 What makes you want to choose recovery?
~ Question.5 has now been posted to the thread
Q.5 What makes you continue to choose recovery?
~ Question.6 has now been posted to the thread
Q.6 When you are trying to recover from an eating disorder it can often feel impossible. Do you feel like you have enough support right now?
~ Question.7 has now been posted to the thread
Q.7 What are some other places you could reach out to for support?
~ Question.8 has now been posted to the thread
Q.8 Lets take a step back and be gentle for a moment. What is one thing you are grateful for about recovery?
~ Question.9 has now been posted to the thread
Q.9 Do you worry about relapses? How big of a concern is this for you?
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Q.10 Family support systems are amazing -- but they dont always know how to help. What support do you have from your family/group?
~ Question.11 has now been posted to the thread
Q.11 What type of support would you *want* from your family/group?
~ Question.12 has now been posted to the thread
Q.12 If there was one thing you could change today in your recovery journey what would it be?
Discussion completed! feel free to reply to the questions that were posted!
Alright, it's time for a new question (but feel free to stil reply to the older questions if you feel the need!)
What are some other places you could reach out to for support?
Please fill this form if you would like to be tagged in future ED forum Discussions
@Anomalia @Juniter @sujaypai @dancingrainbow45 @impartialplane @Leoneedsupport10 @Allycata @TheAsh @Snowflake321 @Laraland @dancingRainbow45 @KatieMoon1
@Laraland - Hmm...currently if I need support I reach out to a select group of friends or more frequently I go to the support group I used to go to more frequently. Other than those, I could technically reach out to my parents, but am hesitant to bring them into things. I need to start up therapy just because I think it's good for no matter where you stand in mental health. And there are resources like 7 Cups or other online things. Not sure what else :)
Alright, welcome back!
Let
I myself am very grateful not only for being able to build up my condition, enjoy any food, relax even when there is meat in food (although I am a vegetarian) and for knowing healthy coping tactics, but also for all the support I received while recovering. So many people reached out for me, stuck my me, showed their true colours and believed in me.
@Laraland Support from really good friends, although there were times when that support was not wanted or resented, but looking objectively their support for sure.
@Laraland I am greatful for all the awesome listeners I meet on my M account and now to have an L-L relationship without them even knowing its me 
Welcome back for today's question! Don't worry if you haven't answered previous questions yet, you can always go back and answer them!
Do you worry about relapses? How big of a concern is this for you?
Please fill this form if you would like to be tagged in future ED forum Discussions
@Anomalia @Juniter @sujaypai @dancingrainbow45 @impartialplane @Leoneedsupport10 @Allycata @TheAsh @Snowflake321 @Laraland
@Laraland I alway worry about relapse! Even though I have been doing really well for a while it's still in the back of my mind
@Laraland for me it's a huge concern, I'm new to even trying to recover and it feels like any misstep will put me back to where I started
@Laraland I think given how hard it is to shut the ED goblin up, and how hard you have to battle against it, I think to get to a point where the ED is more in the background is an achievement in itself. I think perhaps any life circumstance which causes enough stress, and feelings of not having control could be a worry of turning to old habits for relapse to be a possibility
@dancingRainbow45 I agree that it's a great achievement to even get the ED voice to go to the background.
In my eyes, an important part of recovering is learning healthy ways to cope with crisises, moments of no control and everyday stress.
In my case: I still recognize the moments that would once only be solved by ED behaviour, but I know more constructive ways to deal with it. I've had to practice that for a long time and with a lot of support, of course. And I can imagine that if you're less far down the recovery path, you may very well be recovered from the ED, but not practiced in new coping ways, for example.
@dancingRainbow45 I agree that it's a great achievement to even get the ED voice to go to the background.
In my eyes, an important part of recovering is learning healthy ways to cope with crisises, moments of no control and everyday stress.
In my case: I still recognize the moments that would once only be solved by ED behaviour, but I know more constructive ways to deal with it. I've had to practice that for a long time and with a lot of support, of course. And I can imagine that if you're less far down the recovery path, you may very well be recovered from the ED, but not practiced in new coping ways, for example.
It's already time for the next question! Thank you al for participating thus far. Don't be afraid to comment on other's thoughts, too!
Today we will talk about family and their recovery support.
Family support systems are amazing -- but they don
@Laraland Sadly my family has never been a really good support but places like here are like my family and everyone here is a great support! Even if I am a listener or a member!
So now we've learned what sort of support we're getting from our families:
What type of support would you *want* from your family/group?
Please fill this form if you would like to be tagged in future ED forum Discussions
@Anomalia @Juniter @sujaypai @dancingrainbow45 @impartialplane @Leoneedsupport10 @Allycata @TheAsh @Snowflake321 @Laraland
It's time for the last question! Thank you all so much for participating in this forum discussion, for being supportive and taking care of one another and for opening up.
Our last question is:
If there was one thing you could change today in your recovery journey what would it be?
Please fill this form if you would like to be tagged in future ED forum Discussions
@Anomalia @Juniter @sujaypai @dancingrainbow45 @impartialplane @Leoneedsupport10 @Allycata @TheAsh @Snowflake321 @Laraland
Feel free to reply to this post and give feedback for this discussion!
@Laraland - Hmmm...that's tough. There's a lot I wish I could change about my recovery journey to this point, but right now I'm reasonably happy with where it's at! I guess I would say I wish I did a better job of 'recovery maintenance' and going to my support group at least once a month just to keep checking in with myself. And that's something very in my control, so maybe I'll start :)
I want to get better but I sick at recovery. No one understands, I can't even tell my parents or boyfriend or family. I feel like I'm in this alone. I keep going through cycles of relapsing of I feel like I can't do it anymore.. I don't know, I guess I'm just frustrated
@Desie17 I am so sorry to hear that you're feeling so alone in recovery. It must be really difficult not to be able to talk about this with your loved ones freely. I hope you can talk a bit more easily here on 7 cups, so that at least you don't have to deal with it all alone. Recovery is a strenuous long road, and it's sometimes hard to imagine that it is worth it. Thank you for sharing your worries about it :)
@Laraland Thank you for responding :) I hope I'll be able to talk about I here more openly as well
I continue on because I'm so afraid of what I used to be, how I was scared even of myself. I have a long way to go but I'm proud of how far I've come in the past 8 years
@Aeg That's a beautiful way of putting it. It's awesome to hear that you've come so far 