Eating Disorders- What is scariest about your eating disorder?
That the day I get help, I will get fat.
But also if I continue, I could die.
It's scary that my ED will always be with me like a shadow and that if I will waver I can be overwhelmed by it.
I'm scared to let go of it, to have the responsibility of living healthy again, of exercising and eating regularly....despite this fear I have been beating it this last 15 days, have been eating more regular and went to my first exercise class yesterday. :)
@Hummingbird95, congratulations on doing so well with your eating and health the past 2 weeks, that's awesome! In my own experience, there will be setbacks periodically, but you've made the most important choice already, which is to say I am not my eating disorder! I can beat this, and let it go!
It scares me to see how sneaky my eating disorder is in tapping into my emotions. The ED gets so much stronger when it is able to manipulate my anxiety or make me feel depressed and hate myself. But I'm getting better at recognizing when this is starting to happen, and can remind myself that I am able to eat even when I feel bad emotionally.
@Ellejae18 It's great that you can recognize when your ED tries to came out. Sometimes I saw that too and I tried to stop the urge but after some day I felt. Can I ask you how do you try to manage it?
@Malinconia & @Chasingbutterflies, thank you! It was really helpful for me to do a food log each day and include the emotions I was feeling and thoughts I had with each meal. This helped me discover things like: lunch at work is the hardest meal for me, Mondays tend to be the worst day for my ED, I have some unspoken "food rules" about eating anything after dinner. Those are all really helpful things to know moving forward for me.
@Ellejae18 Thank you for sharing, It sounds like youre already making large strides by acknowledging signs of your Ed and its triggers. It sounds like youve developed positive tools to help fight your anxiety and therefore your eating disorder!
feel free to share these tools to help others if you wih :)<#
I have not realised that I wasn't eating enough until my sister realised it and brought me to my senses. My eating disorder was directly linked to depression, sort of a way to punish myself. By the time my sister started helping me, my heart was spontaneously palpating, I had dry spots on my skin and my hair was going bad. Not realising it and let it control me to that point was the scariest thing about it for me. I'm glad to have my sister help me so much and so kindly during my recovery.
The thing that scares me the most is that it gets bad when I don't feel well. Like when I feel depressed and with a personality disorder, that happens somewhat frequently. So my eating disorder is triggered whenever I go through inevitable mood swings.
@kailee316 - That is definitely scary, but I think it makes sense in some ways - your eating disorder is serving as a coping mechanism and you feel like you need it the most when other things are going poorly. That's why recovery is part about stopping the ED behaviors, but also part about finding alternate coping mechanisms to fill that same need.
What are some other things that help you feel better, calmer, or whatever else during those low times?
My eating disorder takes up all of my energy, time and money. My eating disorder is my life. That scares me.
@friendlyDeer - It is definitely scary when your disorder starts to take over everything else, but it doesn't have to stay that way. Recovery is an option. And at first, recovery also takes up a lot of your life, but as you continue, it takes less and less of your time and energy and it lets you reclaim your life. And that life can be whatever you want it to be. I truly believe you can do this.
i wont have anything to think about because im always counting and thinking about it. Or that someone i know will blame it on them if i ever get diagnosed
@jomgj - What would you like to spend your time thinking about instead of constant counting and worrying? There are a million things out there that are infinitely more interesting - I promise you that! What's a skill or a subject you could study instead with all that time?
As for people blaming it on themselves, that does happen, but it doesn't last. There are lots of great resources and support for family and friends and frankly, even just having honest conversations with them can help with that.
What scares me most is that I can't overcome it. I have no support and I just can't do it on my own. I don't even know where to start. I feel like it will be with me forever
@decisiveVase00 I am currently overcoming an eating disorder. I didn't have anyone either, but realized once I found one person to join my "recovery team," they were able to refer me to others. I started by reaching out to a free counselor that was sponsored by my school. It was super scary but the outcome was definitely worth it.
@Softballcuteee13 Thanks for the input. It definitely helps to hear that others are on the path to recovery and I wish all the best for you. But for me I don't think that will ever happen...
@decisiveVase00 - Why do you think that it can never happen for you? Why is your situation unique from everyone else who has been able to get on a path to recovery?
@Anomalia Because I'm completely alone. I have absolutely no one.
@decisiveVase00 what about trying an online support community?
@Notquiteanonymous I've been looking for one but I haven't found any. There's lots of resources out there on eating disorders but not really any good support (or at least that's what I found, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong :)
@decisiveVase00 - You have us here. And I absolutely want to help you if I can. You can feel free to PM me and we can figure out if there's any support I can give. <3
@decisiveVase00 Who is saying you don't qualify for an eating disorder due to weight