A Journey Through Eating Disorders Support & Recovery

Eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder are serious health conditions that can have huge impacts on your physical, mental, and emotional health. An eating disorder can look a lot of different ways and can affect anyone, regardless of gender, body type, race, age, or demographic background. "Bigorexia", also known as muscle dysmorphia, is form of body dysmorphic disorder, commonly found…

The beginning of a new year often stirs a range of emotions. While many embark on setting resolutions, it's crucial to recognize that resolutions come in various forms. Losing weight by changing eating habits and increasing exercise is a common goal for the new year, but it doesn’t have to be yours. For individuals navigating eating disorders, seeing others focus…

Katherine Hill, MD, knows exactly when she first became interested in understanding the complexities of eating disorders: during her career as an athlete. Long before she joined Equip as VP of Medical Affairs, Hill was an NCAA Division I swimmer and pre-med college student. When the creator of a popular diet came to speak to her swim team about nutrition,…

"You don't have to learn how to love yourself. You just have to remember there was nothing wrong with you to begin with. You just have to come home." - Nayyirah Waheed   With the New Year quickly approaching, more promotions of “self-improvement” through dieting and weight loss are going to be popping up. Losing weight has been the most…

It’s no secret that the holidays can be an emotionally challenging time for anyone, and are often especially tough for families navigating eating disorder recovery. “The holidays are like a marathon of dealing with these culturally loaded interactions with food and bodies,” says licensed psychologist and gender therapist Sand Chang, PhD. “And they are also a time where a lot…

Traditionally, the consensus in the eating disorder (ED) field had been to avoid trauma work during intensive treatment, opting to address it later in outpatient settings. This approach may arise from concerns about exacerbating eating disorder symptoms or a lack of expertise in trauma assessment and treatment. However, recent research published in the Journal of Eating Disorders suggests that concurrent,…

Many people fit into a “gray area” when it comes to eating disorder behaviors. Perhaps they experience purging, but not bingeing. Or they show signs of bulimia, except their symptoms don’t occur as often. Or maybe they present with symptoms of multiple eating disorders, or they shift between diagnoses. If you’re noticing behaviors that don’t fit neatly into the commonly-known…

It’s not unusual to experience some selectiveness around food. Many people have allergies that limit their food choices, others are naturally drawn to certain flavors or textures, and most of us likely demonstrated a degree of pickiness in childhood. But what happens when these food preferences begin to erode your quality of life? When eating becomes increasingly narrowed in food…

An eating disorder can present in many seemingly unexpected ways and can have immense impacts on an individual's health and well-being. When an eating disorder co-occurs with a condition such as substance abuse, those negative health impacts can be amplified. It’s important to learn more about how eating disorders and alcohol use disorder interplay so you can see the signs…

There’s a significant treatment gap when it comes to adults with eating disorders: Nearly 30 million Americans will develop an eating disorder in their lifetime, but only about 20% will get treatment. It’s possible that many aren’t familiar with the treatment options. While Family-Based Treatment is the gold standard treatment for children and adolescents this method isn’t feasible or appealing…