"With Anorexia, Total Recovery Can Be Elusive" - NYTimes

[01010011]

[We've previously discussed in this community the issue of defining "recovery." I dislike that the article only really mentions recovery and EDs in context of AN, but it's interesting to see the topic addressed in a major news publication. Thoughts? What do you guys think of the viewpoints expressed by the individuals in the article? How's the

Comments

[calamityhowler]

That's an interesting article and a difficult question. I consider recovery more than just a physical thing; I've been weight-restored for over 6 months and I wouldn't consider myself recovered because I'm still so preoccupied with my weight, my intake, my exercise, etc., and it interferes with my life and relationships. I think I'm with Aimee Liu in that I may always be "recovering," but I really hope or wish that fully recovery is possible. That would be a remarkable thing to achieve.

[01010011]

I had similar misgivings about that part, too. I can't remember ever having a normal relationship with food and I've also been depressed as long as I can recall (parents suspected ~age 7, Dx.'d at age 9 and put on Zoloft, jeez) so it isn't helpful for me when people talk about getting back to some optimal previous state, because it never existed - I've always been unhappy and weird about/fixated on food much more than other people. So that "going back" advice just makes me feel lonely and like I'm really screwed :P

[notacrnflkgirl]

"Going back to the time before the eating disorder" misses the mark. And yeah, what is that phrasing supposed to mean for people, like you, who've spent most of their conscious lives with eating problems? I think it's closer to the truth to say recovery is moving through the eating disorder and reaching the other side of it.

[01010011]

That's a really nice way to think of it - I'm hardly the expert on recovery, but I've found the phrase "The only way out is through" very useful for reminding myself why I am doing this thing which feels crappy. That and remembering that I'm creating new neural pathways, gosh darn it, they're just not as habituated as the ones created by years of ED. ;)

[notacrnflkgirl]

This right here, so true:

“Some people find comfort in saying ‘recovering’ so they don’t have to be responsible for being recovered, which means ‘I will never relapse,’ ” said Aimee Liu, 57, author of “Restoring Our Bodies, Reclaiming Our Lives.” Others, she said, liken their eating disorder to managing a chronic illness like diabetes, requiring constant vigilance.

“I say to patients, ‘This is your Achilles’ heel,’ ” said Dr. Daniel Le Grange, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago and director of the eating disorders program at the University of Chicago Medical Center. “If you have another crisis, you’re predisposed to resorting to starvation as your way of managing that issue. It would be foolish of us as clinicians not to prepare our patients that they should be on the lookout for a recurrence.”

I consider myself fully recovered. I am fully recovered: Except for rarely, I no longer restrict, binge, look to laxatives, chew-and-spit, or eat non-food items like paper, and 99% of the time I no longer miss it

[teenage_hustler]

Interesting article.
What occurs to me here, is that maybe disordered eating is a lot like depression. For some people, there is a period in their lives where their eating is disordered. They get treatment for it, they work on it, and eventually that disorder goes away. They make a full recovery. For others, however, it's always there, niggling away, requiring your attention and knowledge to keep it at bay. It's like the difference between spells of depression and chronic depression.
What do you all reckon?

[ex_lovedisc]

Like others have said, I, too, have no recollection of a time in my life where I was not depressed and/or eating disordered. It has always been there, for as long as I can remember. So I don't think there is any going back, at least not for me. I often wonder if for someone who is not like me and CAN remember a time like that... if they have a better chance at recovery. But I have no idea

[pumpkinaday]

Kathleen MacDonald has stated before that the fact that you know there was a point where you were not eating disordered means you can get back there. That place DOES exist.

YES there are ups and downs and relapses (which, I think society plays a role in), but I honestly believe that full recovery is possible... and actually so do a LOT of those quoted in the article