Everyone’s experience with an eating disorder is different, making it difficult to know when and how to seek help. You don’t need to “hit rock bottom” to ask for support. If you’re feeling shame about food, avoiding meals, experiencing “picky eating,” or having changes in mood – know that recovery is possible. If these symptoms are impacting your daily life, learn more about treatment options available to you.
Excerpt from Katie Bendel, LCSW:
Being in isolation (or keeping things to ourselves) while struggling with an eating disorder can feel scary and confusing. Not only can an eating disorder be difficult to address solely on our own, but the symptoms themselves can keep us from truly understanding or seeing the full picture of our own circumstances. Distorted body image, worsening mental health symptoms (like depression, anxiety, or OCD), and malnutrition can all contribute to our difficulty seeing a way through.
Here are a few (of many) possible signs that it may be time to ask for help:
- You suspect you might have an eating disorder, or you know you have an eating disorder, and you’re looking for an intensive, comprehensive care team to support your recovery.
- Eating disorder symptoms are getting in the way of the things you love (e.g., keeping you busy/preoccupied and away from family/friends, making it difficult to find energy for weekend plans or hobbies).
- Eating disorder symptoms are getting in the way of day-to-day tasks (like being able to go to school/work, being able to keep up with housework, being able to achieve necessary nutrition intake for your health).
- Eating disorder symptoms have become too much to manage by yourself and/or with your support network (family/friends and/or outpatient providers).
- Eating disorder symptoms are exacerbating or causing medical complications or medical instability.
Eating Recovery Center (ERC) could be a helpful resource for you (or your loved one).