Your eating disorder lies to you. It does so out of fear and self-preservation, especially when it feels threatened.
The biggest lie your eating disorder tells you is that you are unique or different enough that proven recovery strategies and treatments don’t apply to you. They may apply to someone else who hasn’t experienced ________, but not to you.
It’s important to recognize that everyone’s story is different and there may be specific parts of your story that need to be understood by your treatment team as you all collaborate on a recovery plan. However, if you continue to believe your ED when it tells you that don’t need to do x, y, or z that your RD, therapist or physician is recommending… recovery will be unnecessarily delayed for you!
You may also put off assembling a treatment team because you don’t think they have the special skill set required to treat your specific concerns. I’d certainly encourage you to make sure you connect with each member of your treatment team and they feel like a good fit for your situation and personality, but I see people drag their feet for far too long because they don’t think anyone can really help them in their unique situation. Again, that unnecessarily delays treatment and recovery. There are excellent clinicians who will be able to handle your case just fine! Trust them.
The idea that there isn’t anyone who can help you is the biggest lie your eating disorder tells you, and the most destructive. But as you probably know, there are a lot of other lies it tells you! Here are some I see repeated most often:
- Hunger is a sign of weakness.
- Fullness is a sign of gluttony.
- Self-sacrifice makes you a better person.
- You have to earn the right to eat.
- If you give yourself permission, you’ll lose control.
- You can’t make decisions on your own, you need the eating disorder to make them for you.
- Eating disorder behaviors are the only thing that helps you calm down.
- Losing weight is good and gaining weight is bad.
- You need to be thin and eat perfectly in order to be happy.
- Your feelings and emotions are scary and unsafe, and you need to avoid them.
They are all LIES!
What lies does your eating disorder tell you? How do you challenge them? I’d love to hear in the comments!
