|
By Megan Samuels, LMSW, Eating Disorder & Trauma Therapist  Living with a chronic illness and an eating disorder can be exhausting. From juggling numerous doctor’s appointments, to symptom flare ups, internalized (and external) ableism, grieving loss of abilities or the impact of chronic illness in your life-living with a chronic illness can be a lot to navigate. Living with an untreated eating disorder can also be tough. From anxiety and fear around food and weight gain (for some), to trying to resist urges to use eating disorder behaviors, to a voice in your head that may tell you that you are not “sick enough,” and spending a lot of time thinking about food and your body-living with an eating disorder is also tiring. As an eating disorder therapist in Rockville, Maryland, when working with clients, I often see an overlap between chronic illness and eating disorders. One study found that teenagers with a chronic illness were more at risk for disordered eating behaviors, than their peers without a chronic illness (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 1998). For those individuals who are navigating both a chronic illness and an eating disorder, food and body image may be a conversation that comes up frequently with healthcare providers. When we are physically sick, there tends to be a lot of conversation about food. For example, some doctors may recommend cutting out certain food groups if you have a stomach bug to alleviate GI symptoms. If you have a chronic illness, you are likely to have more doctors appointments and more times where you are not feeling well. Enter diet culture… Doctors are often well intended, and sometimes the societal standards that have perpetuated diet culture and fatphobia get in the way of inclusive and accessible medical care. For people struggling with chronic illness, they are often being bombarded by ways to manage the condition using food and movement. For people also struggling with an eating disorder, I would hope that providers would give more consideration to a patient before giving them advice that has to do with cutting out foods or food groups or increasing movement. However, unfortunately this is not always the case. One way to manage some of the pressure can be to find a team of clinicians who you can trust and who hold similar values to you. For example, if you are in recovery from an eating disorder and struggling with a chronic health illness, finding a health at every size aligned medical provider may be a crucial part of maintaining eating disorder recovery while managing a chronic illness. You may also consider choosing a medical provider who has experience with working with patients with eating disorders as well. Similarly, it may be helpful to find a therapist who has experience working both with eating disorders and chronic illnesses. It may also be helpful to ask a support person or loved one to accompany you to medical appointments. Doctors appointments may have triggers (such as being asked to be weighed, being asked about your eating patterns, and being asked about your movement patterns) so having someone there to support you and advocate on your behalf can be a way to navigate maintaining eating disorder recovery and also treating the chronic illness. Managing an eating disorder and a chronic illness can be exhausting. Our clinicians at The Eating Disorder Center can help support both your recovery from an eating disorder and coping with a co-current chronic illness, such as POTS, diabetes, Crohn’s disease, functional neurological disorder, etc. We also enjoy working alongside other therapists and allied health professionals-and will collaborate for your care. Reach out to us today to see how we can help. You don’t have to do this alone. Schedule a free 15 min consult for eating disorder therapy in our office in Rockville, Maryland or virtually in MD, VA, DC, NY, FL, or recovery coaching worldwide. Click here. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California. We provide eating disorder and EMDR trauma therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com
References: Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., Falkner, N. H., Beuhring, T., & Resnick, M. D. (1998). Disordered eating among adolescents with chronic illness and disability: the role of family and other social factors. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 152(9), 871–878. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.152.9.871 By Sarah Baginski, Eating Disorder Recovery Coach  If you are in recovery from an eating disorder or disordered eating, you will likely experience some resistance to letting go of the behaviors that are no longer serving you. The fear of change, the fear of the unknown, and the fear of letting go of the eating disorder are some of the most prominent fears of recovery. So often, we delay action because we don’t feel ready, and the fear of change keeps us stuck. The hard truth is that in recovery from an eating disorder (and life in general) action almost always has to precede readiness. The good news? The more you take action while scared, the less scared you will feel over time! Here are 4 tips for taking action and coping with the difficult emotions that accompany change, even if you don’t quite feel ready: 1. Commit to one, small change every day Recovery can feel overwhelming when we approach it from an all-or-nothing perspective. You don’t have to see the whole staircase to start, you just have to take the first step! This could look like pairing a fear food with a safe food or decreasing your amount of activity in a given day. Make a list of all of the eating disorder behaviors to be challenged, and start with a change that feels least scary. When it comes to behavior change in recovery, it’s important to remember that it feels bad because it is new, not because it is wrong! 2. Cope ahead Cope ahead is a DBT skill that can be used to prepare for the uncomfortable emotions that often follow action in recovery. There are 3 steps to coping ahead. The first step is to identify the situation or change you committed to making. The second step is to decide what strategies or coping skills you can utilize to tolerate the discomfort following the change. Remember- it will only feel uncomfortable for so long and then the feeling will pass. The third step is to practice ahead of time. So actually take time to imagine or visualize yourself in that challenging situation and coping with it well! I suggest writing all 3 steps down so you have a roadmap for navigating the discomfort once you’ve taken action! 3. Approach each change as an experiment This helped me tremendously in my own recovery! When we approach behavior change with curiosity, it feels less scary. I often urge clients to view behavior change as a mini experiment. If your eating disorder is harming you more than it’s helping you, there is not much to lose by trying something new and different, and SO much to gain! 4. Implement the necessary support for accountability Change is hard, and you don’t have to navigate it alone! Whether it be a therapist, coach, or both, ensuring you are adequately supported is like having a safety net in recovery. Your therapist or coach may even be willing to do food exposures with you! This is something I do with my clients, and it’s something that helped me in my own recovery! Remember that change is a process, and it won’t happen overnight! Be gentle with yourself as you navigate change and the emotions that follow action in recovery. I believe in you! A bit about my own past recovery for some additional motivation: When I think back to my life with an eating disorder I have such compassion for the past version of me that was struggling and terrified of recovery. I also have so much gratitude for the people who supported me along the way. I can think of countless examples of opportunities missed and occasions ruined by my eating disorder. I didn't even realize how small my life was until I began to recover. Recovery gave me back the brain space to invest in relationships, hobbies, hopes, and dreams far beyond the narrow confines of food and body. When my eating disorder went away, my whole world expanded, and I was able to reconnect to the things I loved. My own experience with an eating disorder is what inspired my passion for this work. I so deeply want the same freedom, joy, and spontaneity for you that I have found for myself in recovery! If you are struggling, know that full recovery is possible! Sarah has a background as a therapist and works with us providing eating disorder recovery coaching to teens and adults with eating disorders worldwide. She has immediate openings for new clients-click the link below to schedule a free 15 min phone call with Sarah! Click here to schedule a FREE consultation with Sarah. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California. We provide eating disorder and EMDR trauma therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com
|
The Eating Disorder CenterWe are a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center in Rockville, Maryland.
We also provide eating disorder recovery coaching to people worldwide via Zoom. Click here to book your free 15 minute phone consultation! Phone: 301-246-6856 Email: [email protected] Archives
December 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed