A Journey Through Eating Disorders Support & Recovery

Sorority girls and frat boys. The words often evoke a visceral reaction. Whether it’s the media, those not involved in “Greek life,” or those who are or have been involved, there’s a reaction one way or the other that makes writing about these groups an interesting and delicate experience. Whatever side of the coin you fall on, the reality is…

Let me introduce myself: I’m Sandra. I am 27 years old, and I am currently in recovery from an eating disorder. This blog post won’t be about my struggles with an eating disorder, because I don’t believe that sharing the details of my illness helps anyone, but I’ll give a brief recap to provide some background. I was 16 years…

Eating disorder clinicians are guided by ethics to ensure the best for every patient that comes into their care. In general, ethics help clinicians determine appropriate clinical decisions and behavior. They provide a compass for what is “right” and what is “wrong,” although determining that is not usually so simple. Treatment providers will encounter a variety of moral dilemmas in…

Being serious mental health disorders that can have severe mental and physical health consequences, eating disorders often require extensive psychiatric treatment. This extends beyond the role of therapy; although psychologists and recovery coaches are essential parts of treatment, psychiatric intervention is common in eating disorder treatment. Treatment is also not limited to the stereotype of an eating disorder patient. Eating…

At the humane society where I worked in my 20s, I met a German Shepherd named Kayla who struggled with anxiety. She had been found as a stray on the streets of San Diego and was dropped off at the doors of the humane society by a good Samaritan. Every day, Kayla was terrified of walking down a particular hallway…

If you have a loved one with an eating disorder, navigating how to best support them can be challenging. You don’t want to say the wrong thing, but you also know that you have to address it and not ignore it. Eating disorders are complicated and, at their core, they are brain-based illnesses that no one would choose. While you…

Although it can happen, most mental health disorders don’t happen by themselves. There are usually one or more other disorders occurring at the same time, in a phenomenon known as a dual diagnosis. Eating disorders are no different; they are listed in the DSM-V with other forms of psychiatric illnesses, and they tend to appear in conjunction with disorders like…

Are you wondering if it’s possible to balance both school and outpatient treatment? The answer is yes! While college can be stressful, you don’t need to give up on getting the care that you need for your eating disorder. Understanding Outpatient Eating Disorder Treatment Outpatient treatment is offered to individuals who would like to proceed with eating disorder recovery without…

What is biofeedback? Biofeedback is a tool used to practice self-regulation and can help improve anxiety, stress, sleep, mood, and more. There are several kinds of biofeedback, and at Walden Behavioral Care, we use heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback that helps you learn from your own nervous system. It’s an exciting new tool to help learn self-regulation skills and develop…

Eating disorders are complex illnesses. Diverse and multifaceted, they are associated with biological, psychological, and social factors that themselves are complex and interact with one another in complex ways. One factor often overlooked in conversations about eating disorder development, illness, and recovery is food insecurity. Research about the link between food insecurity and eating disorders has emerged in recent years,…