"I'm Not Sick Enough To Have An Eating Disorder"
You have been comparing yourself to others who are struggling with disordered eating habits and have convinced yourself that yours isn’t ‘that bad.’
Ever feel like your ED part convinces you that you're ‘not sick enough?’
Maybe you’ve just pushed your eating disorder down for so long, that you have successfully convinced others and even yourself that you're ‘fine’ and ‘don’t need recovery.’
Society and social media has told you what an eating disorder ‘looks like’ which is why you feel you aren’t sick enough to have an eating disorder.
Sounding familiar at all?
Despite what society, the world, your family, or even you, yourself, has been told about eating disorders there are unfortunately so many misconceptions. You can be intensely restricting and obsessively over exercising and still think you are too big to have an eating disorder. You could also be restricting or binging and still show up in a body that is considered ‘normal’ or ‘overweight’ (I use these terms lightly because these are according to BMI charts, which are highly PROBLEMATIC!). You can be purging daily and your labs could still come up normal.
But I absolutely get it and understand the space you're coming from. It is hard not to internalize messages from the world around us about what an ED should look or feel like. Which is why as an eating disorder therapist, I’ve heard so many client’s say to me:
‘I’m not sick enough to have an eating disorder’
‘I can’t have an eating disorder, I’m not underweight’
‘I look normal’
As an eating disorder therapist, I completely understand why you believe in these misconceptions and can tell you that people struggling with eating disorders come in ALL different body shapes and sizes. Eating disorders don’t have a specific ‘look’ and you don’t have to be struggling with specific symptoms to be considered ‘sick enough.’
Eating disorders don’t discriminate and impact people of all weights, shapes, ages, genders, cultures, ethnicities, and socioeconomic statuses.
So, today I am here to clear some misconceptions up and validate that you are worthy to seek treatment and help if you are struggling with food and your body. You are worthy of support and deserve help even if you…
Think that others ‘have it worse than you’
Are considered to be ‘normal weight’ or ‘overweight’
Have family and friends who do not seem concerned about you
Labs appear “normal”
Think that you are “too big” to have an eating disorder
Never had a feeding tube
Still eat meals
Never had medical complications from your eating disorder
Have some days that feel easier than other days
Many who struggle with eating disorder habits internalize the stigma and the misinformation. It’s so easy to let the little voice inside your head convince you that you’re fine and that it's not as bad as someone else you know. But, if you have that little voice that tells you to restrict, over-exercise, binge, or purge, you deserve to get help and feel supportive in recovery. Again, eating disorders don’t discriminate and you can’t tell if someone is struggling just based on their appearance.
