Eating Disorder Recovery Is Not All About the Food

"Shame keeps people stuck. It tells them not to speak and convinces them others won't understand. Eating disorders thrive in secrecy. I've worked with many people whose partners, parents, or closest friends had no idea what was happening. And you can't always tell by looking. Not all eating disorders are visible."

"The behaviours are almost the outcome, a manifestation of what is happening underneath. These illnesses quietly shrink someone's world. Shame creeps in. Fear grows. People begin to believe painful things about themselves - that they are too much, not enough, or would be better if they looked a certain way. These beliefs underpin powerful feelings."

"If secrecy strengthens the illness, connection weakens it. When someone feels less alone, recovery becomes safer. Eating disorder recovery is rarely a solo journey; it is often about building a team. If there's one sentence I often say to patients, it's this: 'You don't have to do this on your own.'"

Eating disorders operate primarily through psychological mechanisms of shame, isolation, and fear rather than food-related issues. These conditions shrink a person's world by fostering beliefs of inadequacy and using disordered eating behaviors as coping mechanisms for underlying emotions. Secrecy enables the disorder to persist, often remaining invisible to loved ones. Recovery requires breaking isolation through communication and building supportive connections. Evidence-based approaches like CBT address the underlying emotional cycles and beliefs driving behaviors. Well-intentioned comments about appearance can inadvertently reinforce the disorder, making supportive responses crucial to recovery.

Read at Psychology Today