A Journey Through Eating Disorders Support & Recovery

The holiday season can be a joyful time filled with social gatherings, family traditions, and abundant food. However, for those living with an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, it can be a season of increased anxiety. Dinner parties, social pressure, and lack of routine can make it more difficult to manage your mental health and eating…

As the season changes to fall, our attention is drawn toward the upcoming holidays. Often marketed as the “most wonderful time of the year,” the holidays can be an especially challenging time for those dealing with disordered eating and eating disorders. Now is the time to prepare for this approaching holiday season so you can feel the greatest level of…

You cannot think your way into an eating disorder, nor can you think your way out of it. The progression of the illness, as well as the recovery process, requires action. Thanks to years of dedicated research in the field and the study of treatment outcomes, it has been shown that eating disorders are a result of multi-dimensional factors, including…

Sorority girls and frat boys. The words often evoke a visceral reaction. Whether it’s the media, those not involved in “Greek life,” or those who are or have been involved, there’s a reaction one way or the other that makes writing about these groups an interesting and delicate experience. Whatever side of the coin you fall on, the reality is…

Let me introduce myself: I’m Sandra. I am 27 years old, and I am currently in recovery from an eating disorder. This blog post won’t be about my struggles with an eating disorder, because I don’t believe that sharing the details of my illness helps anyone, but I’ll give a brief recap to provide some background. I was 16 years…

Eating disorder clinicians are guided by ethics to ensure the best for every patient that comes into their care. In general, ethics help clinicians determine appropriate clinical decisions and behavior. They provide a compass for what is “right” and what is “wrong,” although determining that is not usually so simple. Treatment providers will encounter a variety of moral dilemmas in…

Being serious mental health disorders that can have severe mental and physical health consequences, eating disorders often require extensive psychiatric treatment. This extends beyond the role of therapy; although psychologists and recovery coaches are essential parts of treatment, psychiatric intervention is common in eating disorder treatment. Treatment is also not limited to the stereotype of an eating disorder patient. Eating…

At the humane society where I worked in my 20s, I met a German Shepherd named Kayla who struggled with anxiety. She had been found as a stray on the streets of San Diego and was dropped off at the doors of the humane society by a good Samaritan. Every day, Kayla was terrified of walking down a particular hallway…

If you have a loved one with an eating disorder, navigating how to best support them can be challenging. You don’t want to say the wrong thing, but you also know that you have to address it and not ignore it. Eating disorders are complicated and, at their core, they are brain-based illnesses that no one would choose. While you…

Although it can happen, most mental health disorders don’t happen by themselves. There are usually one or more other disorders occurring at the same time, in a phenomenon known as a dual diagnosis. Eating disorders are no different; they are listed in the DSM-V with other forms of psychiatric illnesses, and they tend to appear in conjunction with disorders like…