We have a lot of awareness what Eating Distress/Eating Disorders(ED) is.
What I can see from my work that less and less people are excited about their Recovery. Suffers are getting younger and younger and the number of people who do not want to recover is growing and many sufferers are just living with their destructive self-sabotaging behaviours.
Many family members are trying to help their loved one in their recovery, but do not see the importance of working on their own issues.
I am asking myself a question: “How can be this happening when we have so much awareness?”
There is hardly anyone out there who does not know what ED is.
I think my answer is another question: “How many people understand what this condition really is about and what it actually means to recover from this.”
I think there is a big difference between knowledge, awareness and understanding. I feel we have so much awareness of what ED is, that many people are nearly afraid to let it go.
As Mother Teresa said one day: “I do not attend anti-war campaigns, I attend pro-peace campaigns.”
Maybe we all need to focus more on Recovery and Hope rather than only what an ED is.
Media have very little interest in Recovery and bringing more Hope. From my experience, most journalists are focusing on the sensations of different behaviors. Recovery from ED is much more that letting go of a person’s behaviors. The ED behaviour is just a symptom of much deeper underlying issues. I can see more and more that these underlying issues are a result of lack of Hope and fear of future. I am noticing more often that many people are so full of fear and confusion that their ED becomes their only identity, which they do not want to change.
I do believe what we focus on will grow.
When we start to focus more on the advantages of Recovery and Hope, suffers and their families will find easier to achieve full Freedom from this condition.
M:)
