Eating disorders are life-threatening mental illnesses. Without intervention and treatment, eating disorders can claim a life, or create lifelong health problems. Supporting a loved one with an eating disorder is a challenge for any family member and friend. Take time to educate yourself more on what it means to have an eating disorder and what recovery is like.
You Shouldn’t Be Talking About How To Be Healthy
Your idea of healthy and your loved one’s idea of healthy are going to be very different. It isn’t just because they have an eating disorder. Creating a generalized, blanket idea of what health is and how health should look is harmful for everyone. The diet and exercise industry, as well as the wellness industry, push the “answer” and the “cure” for everyone to follow to be healthy. Each body is different. Everyone has a different metabolism, different genetics, different blood type, different thyroid type and so on. Trying to say what is healthy and not healthy can be damaging to the hard work your loved one is doing to define their healthy and work a program of eating disorder recovery which is right for them.
You Shouldn’t Be Talking About Weight Or Body Image
Why does the way you look or someone else look have to be a point of conversation? When a loved one has been living with an eating disorder for many years, it can be routine. Eating disorders, like most mental illnesses, become the focus of a household. You probably found yourself talking about weight and body perception more than you would have thought you might in your life. The obsessive focus on food, weight, and body image take over someone’s life when they have an eating disorder, which means it can take over the family’s life as well. Don’t comment on their progress according to their appearance- it’s such thinking that causes the problem. Reward, progress, and worth as a person is not defined by your outside, but your inside. Instead, focus on how well they are doing in their recovery based on how they report feeling, the tools they are learning, and the changes they are making in their life.
Eating disorder treatment can be difficult to find because of varying requirements. If you or a loved one are struggling and need help developing a plan for recovery, call Hired Power today. From intervention to personal recovery assistants, our recovery services are designed to keep you focused on healing while we handle the details. For more information, call 800-910-9299.
