Knowing Your Limits: When Not to Challenge Yourself in Recovery
A blogger friend and supporter, Tina Klaus (dontlivesmall.com), recently published an extraordinarily courageous and honest post revealing that she would be resuming treatment for her eating disorder—a true challenge for her, because it is not her first round. Following her lead, I’m also writing about my decision to return to treatment. I hope that, like Tina’s post did, it helps to allay the shame many of us feel when we admit to needing help (again). Pending insurance approval, I plan to begin an intensive outpatient program here in NYC as soon as possible. This particular...
Read MoreDispelling Eating Disorder Stereotypes
White teenage female. Private school student in an upper middle-class suburb. Inveterate perfectionist. Anorexic. At age 14, I typified the so-called eating disorder stereotype. These illnesses have long been associated with middle- to upper-class young white women, even among the most sympathetic professionals. (Hilde Bruch, a pioneering eating disorder practitioner, said in her 1978 book The Golden Cage: The Enigma of Anorexia Nervosa that anorexia primarily affects girls raised in “privileged, even luxurious circumstances.”) Unfortunately, stereotypes still prevail, in part because eating...
Read MoreThinspiration: The Most Supportive Online Community You Never Want to Join
TRIGGER WARNING: If pro-ana and pro-mia sites and thinspiration were part of your eating disorder experience, then this post may be triggering for you. As always, there is no mention of calories, weights, overly specific behaviors, etc. Even so, simply reading about these sites could evoke distressing memories. Please be mindful. Just in case a genetic predisposition, a thin-obsessed culture, and any number of life stressors weren’t enough to potentially spark a life-threatening eating disorder, thinspiration can help ensure such fates. The Internet is a mixed bag when it comes to eating...
Read More
I'm a writer, a mental health activist, and a 20-something in recovery from an eating disorder. This blog chronicles my journey through the middle ground toward full recovery.
