A Thanksgiving Survival Guide
It’s that time of year again: Thanksgiving, the most food-centric holiday on the calendar, is just a few days away. For most people, this means good food and time spent with family. But for those of us with eating disorders, Thanksgiving can be a nightmare. In the early stages of recovery, every day — every meal — counts. You might plan out each day as best you can to make sure you follow your meal plan and avoid any surprises that might cause stress and anxiety. Unfortunately, planning ahead is a lot harder to do amid the holiday hustle and bustle. The moment Aunt Mildred sweetly asks why...
Read MoreLeaving Treatment: Am I Ready?
I wrote in a recent post that after winning the battle against Blue Cross Blue Shield, I was given ten more days in intensive outpatient (IOP) treatment. These ten days were a gift. I’d been cut off so suddenly that I hadn’t had any time to make an after-care plan with my treatment team. Now, I had the opportunity to tie up loose ends and start thinking about life after treatment. And that’s what I opted to do. From the start, I decided to use my remaining days to transition out of treatment and back into my full-time. I have two days left and then, ready or not, I will...
Read MoreHow Stigma Keeps Us Sick
Stigma. It exists and it impacts all of us who are affected by mental illness. I’m sure this isn’t new information, but a reminder now and then about the dangers of stigma doesn’t hurt. Plus, I’m feeling rather irate after the week I’ve just had. As you might know from reading my last few posts, my battle against Blue Cross Blue Shield, thankfully, ended well. Ultimately, I got (mostly) what I needed: I was granted 10 more days in treatment. But it came at a cost. During my week without treatment, my eating disorder was constantly at my heels. In order to build my case...
Read More- Treatment Update 2: Hiatus -
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I returned to an intensive outpatient (IOP) treatment program at Monte Nido at the end of August. I had been starting to struggle again since finishing a different program at the end of June, so I felt I needed to return to an intensive program and pick up where I left off, rather than wait for things to get worse. It turns out that returning to IOP was exactly what I needed. The program at Monte Nido is phenomenal — the staff are genuine, the patients are motivated, and the environment as a whole is very positive and encouraging. One of the things I...
Read MoreWhat Does Recovery Feel Like?
“Recovery often seemed to us like the Polaris: We saw that it existed, and we kept our eyes fixed on its steady light, but no matter how long we trekked through the dark, it seemed to never draw closer.” It wasn’t the first time this worry had come up. On the verge of tears, Eileen confessed in group therapy this weekend that she was beginning to doubt she would ever recover from her long history of an eating disorder. She had been assured over and over again that recovery takes time, but all she felt was defeated. Much like the eating disorder, recovery is both a gradual...
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