Living With Food: The Science Supporting Eating Disorder Treatment

Anyone who is ever been in treatment or has just begun treatment for an eating disorder will inevitably wonder, “When will I get better?”, “When will I stop having this eating disorder?”, “Is it truly possible to ever recover from an eating disorder?” These are very reasonable questions. When the eating disorder is with us it feels like it has engulfed our lives, it can seem like it is the only thing that exists. To imagine not having feelings, thoughts and behaviors which are that powerful and that have been present for most of your adult life may seem like an impossibility. That being said, one of the wonderful things we know about human growth and development is that we do undergo many significant, almost seismic, shifts on how we think feel and behave over the course of our lives. If you are 25 there are probably many things you feel differently about today than when you were 15. If you imagine your parents at your own age, it is likely there were significant differences in their thoughts feelings and behaviors as compared to now.

The eating disorder, although powerful in this moment, does not have to stay powerful forever. The essence of treatment is to find a path where change will occur because it is not preordained that you wont get better. Getting better is one possible outcome and moving into full recovery is the outcome that we seek. For most people motivation, commitment, effective treatment, a solid support system, and extended support throughout your community can lead to changes much greater than you may imagine possible. The first thing you have to do is be refed. The next thing you have to do is change the way you feel about yourself and your body. Next, you start to change the way you think. Each one of these steps may take months or even years. At some point it will become self evident that you would much rather be recovered from your eating disorder than have an eating disorder. The clarity and simplicity of the basic truth that life is better in recovery than in disorder is an important and challenging realization. Recovery eventually becomes the center of your life and the rock on which you build your relationships, your meaning, and an experience that you can be proud of.

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Contributions by Sarah Emerman