Why Does Recovery from ED Takes Longer Despite Increased Resources?
In today’s world, we have access to an abundance of resources, yet recovery from eating distress/eating disorders (ED) seems to take longer than ever. Why is that? These are the kinds of questions we need to start asking if we truly want to guide individuals toward lasting recovery.
This post might be considered politically incorrect, but challenging the status quo has always been my specialty. It dates back to my teenage years when I would graffiti communist statues decades ago. Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting, looking back on over 30 years of experience working in the field of eating distress/eating disorders. We’ve begun sharing our insights on our Substack, Calling It Out https://callingitout1.substack.com , but today, I want to share some of my key learnings here.
I’ve come to realize that if I want to offer genuinely helpful insights, I must challenge conventional narratives, many of which may be considered politically incorrect. However, these thoughts are grounded in real experiences working with thousands of people learning to recover.
Progress and Pitfalls in ED Treatment
The landscape of mental health has changed significantly since the days when I struggled with destructive ED behaviours. While many of these changes have been positive, others have inadvertently trapped people in cycles of victimhood, rather than recovery.
Many professionals and advocates have good intentions, but we must ask ourselves:
- Are these approaches truly effective?
- Despite the overwhelming amount of literature and discussions on ED, why does recovery seem to take longer today?
- Why are so many people choosing to live with an ED rather than striving for full recovery?
- What can we do?
Choosing to stay in an ED condition instead of recovering
I vividly remember a session from eight years ago when a client openly told me she was choosing to live with her ED rather than recover. It was the first time I had heard someone express this choice so candidly. In the past, there seemed to be a stronger determination to push through challenges, to learn and fight for recovery and mental freedom.
I understand how daunting the journey can be. I recall hiding in bookstores, nervously flipping through indexes for words like Anorexia or Bulimia, at a time when “emotional eating” wasn’t even a widely recognized term. The shame was so intense that I felt as if everyone around me was silently judging me, though in reality, the bookstore was empty. The only eyes on me were my own fears.
The changing landscape of ED
Today, the narrative has shifted from shame to something akin to a “badge of honour.” Social media is flooded with discussions about how hard recovery is, how governments have failed people, and how misunderstood they feel due to a lack of funding and support. I remember reading an article many decades ago stating, “We only have three beds available.” I was once in one of those beds, desperate for someone to understand me. Instead, all I got was a focus on my weight, something Weight Watchers could have easily provided. I didn’t need an ED consultant to tell me that.
Has anything truly changed?
Clients still tell me about specialized clinics where recovery is judged solely by weight. Are these scales, perhaps even run by AI, magically supposed to measure one’s healing? Often, not even basic blood tests are conducted. Is this what we call progress?
Questioning Awareness Campaigns
Do all these “awareness days” actually help?
- Are they truly beneficial, or do they reinforce the idea that suffering is an identity?
- Would we be better off promoting Common Sense Awareness Day, Personal Responsibility Awareness Day, or Learning from Challenges Awareness Day?
Many awareness campaigns emphasize suffering to the point of glorifying it. In all my years of working closely with individuals in recovery, I have yet to meet someone who genuinely benefits from publicly sharing how hard their journey is, especially before they have taken real steps toward healing. Instead, this often turns the struggle into a kind of celebrity status, paradoxically prolonging the recovery process.
The Dangers of Unfiltered Media Sharing
When people share their stories in the media, they should either be fully recovered or actively working toward it. Otherwise, we are merely hearing their conditioned thinking.
It is very sad to see how many individuals struggling with EDs are exploited by those looking to sensationalize their stories, often to the detriment of the person sharing. In many cases, it’s more about generating the next article or documentary than about truly supporting recovery and how to make this journey interesting, easier and even more enjoyable.
We need to critically assess whether our current methods of raising awareness and supporting recovery are actually effective.
- Are we empowering individuals to reclaim their lives, or are we unintentionally reinforcing their illness?
- Are we glorifying suffering instead of promoting sustainable recovery?
It would be very helpful to encourage people to value their experiences and to learn from hardship without reinforcing suffering as a permanent state. Constant discussions about how hard and fearful recovery is are not the solution. Instead, would be more helpful to focus on how to make the process easier and how individuals deserve a lighter, healthier way of thinking and coping with life.
Hardship is inevitable, but choosing to remain a victim is optional. No one consciously chooses to develop an eating distress/ disorder, it often emerges subconsciously. However, what we can choose is how we respond to it. The goals need always be to empower individuals to take real steps toward recovery, helping them see that overcoming hardship leads to resilience, strength, and ultimately, a fulfilling life.
Recovery from an eating distress/disorder is not about reaching a certain weight or size. Recovery is about learning to think differently, self supportively.
It is learning that the world is vast and beautiful and discovering one’s purpose within it.
Thank you for reading it
Marie
