After some time passes by, they will begin to realize that the imaginary benefits of becoming thin are not real and that they will not suddenly become happy once they reach a certain point.  Unhealthy and dangerous behaviors such as purging and starving are not the answer to achieving a meaningful and productive life.  When individuals reach this point of revelation, they start to search for other, healthier methods of obtaining their goals.  This is when they start to seriously consider entering into recovery.

The bad news is that even after deciding on recovery, there are still challenges to overcome.  Some (20%-30%) women that begin treatment drop out before they complete it and relapse.  Even if they complete treatment, some women fall back into old behaviors and relapse, causing them to feel like they are failures, demoralized, and discouraged.  Some women look for a quick and easy method to cure their eating disorder.  When they learn that it takes months or even years of hard work and determination to alter their destructive behavior and put them back into control of their lives, they more than often just give up.

For women that want to recover, they must keep in mind that it  requires major commitments to first: seek treatment; secondly: stay in treatment; thirdly: make the required lifestyle changes; and finally: positively alter the underlying emotional and psychological problems that were the catalysts in their purging, binge eating, and/or starving.

 

Is It Possible to Recover?

The answer is “yes”.  It is possible to recover from eating disorders.  They can be treated and many people have successfully recovered from them.  The important thing to keep in mind, however, is that recovery takes time and commitment.  It may take seven to ten years—maybe even longer.  Everyone is different and some recover quicker, while others slower.  Those that are most effective in their recovery are the ones that work with counselors and physicians that assist with the resolution of both their psychological and physical medical issues.  These problems result from, or contribute to, their eating disorder.  (International Journal of Eating Disorders, 1997; 22:339 and Eating Disorders, 2000; 8:189)

The good news is that approximately 80% of those who seek treatment for their eating disorder completely recover or make really great progress towards recovery.  Unfortunately for the remaining ones, they either chronically suffer, or even die from their illness.

What Is the Process of Recovery?

Recovery is not simply just the abandonment of stuffing or starving yourself.  At the very least, recovery includes:

  • Consistent preservation of “normal” weight or being near it
  • For women, it requires having regular menstrual periods with the use of medication
  • A diverse diet that includes normal foods and not just low-calorie, non-fat, or non-sugar foods
  • The eradication or major mitigation of irrational fear of food
  • Maintaining appropriate relationships with members of their family
  • Becoming aware that cultural demands for thinness are unrealistic and discovering ways of rejecting those demands
  • Forming at least one mutually fulfilling friendship with people who are healthy and free of eating disorders.  These are “normal” relationships that involve give-and-take from both sides and not one of caretaking or “parenting” from one side.
  • Interest in having romantic relationships (age-appropriate ones) with others and participating in them
  • An effective skill set in problem solving
  • Recreational activities or interests that do not pertain at all to appearance, weight, or food
  • Appreciation of the dynamic between choices and consequence
  • Having a sense of self, along with the creation of an achievable plan to reach personal goals.  Should be progressing towards a more satisfying, meaningful, and fulfilling life.
  • Learning to be kind to themselves as well as to other people, letting go of perfectionism, and examining flaws and turmoil with understanding and grace.  The individual will not drive him or herself through self-criticism and demands for severely difficult to achieve performance.

How Long Should You Expect Recovery to Take?


A small amount of those who never enter into a professional treatment program do recover eventually.  However, this may take them many years or even decades.  Most individuals however, can make little to no progress without professional assistance.  As much as 20% do not survive.

For those that do enter into treatment and make the effort to stay in it, they achieve much better results.  Approximately half of them completely recover.  About a quarter of individuals show considerable progress.  The remaining 25%, even though they receive treatment, still chronically suffer.  There are even a few that die due to their eating disorder.

For those that receive treatment, a few of them will recover from their eating disorder within a year.  For most of them though, it will take between three to seven years.  There could be some that take even longer.  Everyone reacts and learns differently, so they will recover at differing lengths of time.  For a majority of patients, it is extremely challenging to change ingrained eating behaviors and resolving their underlying issues.  It will probably be the hardest challenge they will ever have to overcome.

 

Where You Can Find Help

A vital part of the recovery process is finding a physician, counselor, or treatment team that you can not only trust, but with whom you feel you can effectively work with to achieve your goals.  Please read the following tips we prepared for this stage.

If you have an immediate emergency or crisis, please dial 9-1-1 or call a crisis hotline (the number can be found in the Yellow Pages under “crisis intervention).  If the circumstances are safe, go to a hospital’s emergency room and inform the medical staff of your situation.  They are not able to read your mind, so be as truthful and clear about your issue(s) as you can.
 
If it is not an immediate emergency or crisis, seek advice from your family doctor and as him or her to evaluate you.  Then, seek a referral to a counselor.  They are trained medical doctors, so do not feel embarrassed to tell them the complete details.  They are experienced in hearing about eating disorders and know what to expect.  Another method is to speak to those around you that you trust, who have gone through what you are going through, for recommendations to counselors and physicians they found were able to help them.

If you are attending school, try to find help at your campus’s counseling center.  You already help pay for these services through your tuition or state taxes, so it will be low cost of even free.

If you have difficulty paying for treatment or if your health insurance does not cover the cost of eating disorder treatment, search for community service agencies in your local phone directory in the “counselors” section or on the internet.  Those organizations may not offer formal eating disorder treatment programs, but they do provide basic assistance to individuals who have limited alternative options. 


If you think that your insurance company is erroneously denying payment of a legitimate claim for eating disorder treatment, then you should seek the services of an attorney.  There may be times when insurance companies are willing to negotiate, but this requires the experience and skill that attorneys possess.  There is no guarantee that they will be able to successfully get the insurance company to pay your claim, but there are some out there that have effectively achieved this. 

 

Questions You Should Be Asking Counselors That You Are Considering


The counselor or therapist you choose to work with to help you will essentially be your employee.  Either your insurance company or you (out of your own pocket) will be paying for her or him, so it makes perfect sense to “shop around” for the one that is the best fit for you.  For instance, if you are seeking someone who is personable and compassionate, then it does not make sense to choose a person who works in problem-solving mode out of a corporate setting.  Similarly, if you desire the formation of a calculated plan of action, then a counselor who devotes considerable time to the examination of emotions and feelings will not work best for you.  Here are a sampling of questions that you should be asking of a potential “employee”:

  • How do you approach treatment?
  • What goes on during a typical session?
  • What is your level of experience concerning working with eating disorder sufferers?
  • Where did you go for your education and training and what licenses do you hold?
  • What is the duration of my treatment?
  • How many hours and days a week will we meet?
  • Are you available between sessions if I think I need to call you?
  • How do you feel about the use of medications for eating disorder treatment?
  • Is there a possibility that I could be put in a hospital against my will?  (This fear is not unusual.  Learn the facts before treatment begins so you know what to expect.)
  • What is the cost?  Do you accept insurance?  How about if my insurance only partially covers treatment?
  • If I feel the pace of treatment is too slow, I may feel that either I am failing myself or you are failing me.  What are my options if this occurs?  (This is important to ask.  It is important to not just drop out if you start to become discouraged.  The act of overcoming “stuckness” during treatment is in itself a big victory.) 

 

The Ultimate Goal of Recovery: Becoming a Healthy, Authentic Person

 

Eating disorders oftentimes start out by people dieting, with the belief that if they lose a little bit of weight, that they will start to feel better about themselves and have greater self-confidence.  However, this is rarely true.  Becoming the person you dream of being takes a great deal of hard work, which includes a foundation of meaningful achievements through effective decision making and problem solving.  Becoming authentic never happens through unhealthy shortcuts that ultimately lead to compromised health, damaged relationships, obsession, guilt, depression, self-loathing, and anxiety.

Authentic individuals may be attractive (no one says they have to be ugly), but physical appearance is the single least important component of their qualities.  They make an enduring impact, calmly or spectacularly, on those that they come into contact with.  These folks exhibit personal presence.  They are full of life, intelligent, funny, solid, and sexy.  They are also strong, competent, confident, and reliable.  Authentic individuals have self-respect and others respect them as well.  Therein lays the goal of treatment.  Even though it is important, getting yourself to eat “normally” is not the only goal.  Rather the goal is also to develop and create someone with worth and substance.

To learn more, please contact our eating disorder treatment center.