Supporting a Loved One with an Eating Disorder
Watching someone close to you develop and suffer from an eating disorder can be a painful and disheartening experience. Whether you are a parent, sibling, spouse, partner, or friend of someone struggling with an eating disorder, your care and concern play an important role in your loved one’s recovery.
by: Megan Madsen
Family involvement in the treatment of eating disorders is essential for children, adolescents, and some young adults due to the influence that family life has on their cognitive and emotional development. Helping your loved one recover from anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder will require much more than a “quick fix”, but the following tips will better enable you to help those you care about who are struggling with an eating disorder.
Get Help
If you are the parent of a child with an eating disorder, it can be easy to place the blame on yourself for their illness. You may feel obligated to take the responsibility of healing your child into your own hands. It is important to remember that eating disorders are caused by a combination of complex risk factors and not by a particular parenting style or family dynamic. You did not cause their disorder, and you cannot treat your child on your own.
Consult a physician to assess the severity of the condition. If your child does, in fact, have an eating disorder, seek help from eating disorder treatment professionals. The treatment team at an eating disorder treatment center is usually comprised of counselors, psychologists or psychiatrists, licensed therapists, and dietitians who are able to guide and assist someone with an eating disorder through their treatment. These professionals can give you advice on how to support your loved one and provide tools for handling various situations that you may encounter throughout treatment.
Educate Yourself About the Eating Disorder and Treatment Options
Regardless of your relationship with your loved one, it is important to educate yourself on their specific eating disorder and corresponding treatment options. By understanding what it is they're going through, what it can look like, and what treatment options there are, you will become better equipped to support them during recovery.
Eating disorders are very misunderstood. There is often a misconception that eating disorders are self-inflicted and that those who struggle with them can simply decide at any point to change their behavior. In reality, eating disorders are very complicated and every individual’s recovery is different. For some, recovery from an eating disorder may take many years with the support of a team of eating disorder professionals. By educating yourself about the disorder that your loved one has, you will have a better understanding of what they are going through.
Just Listen
Your loved one may confide in you about the struggles and feelings that they are experiencing during recovery. It isn’t always necessary to chime in with your opinions and suggestions regarding what they should do. Sometimes the most supportive thing you can do is to just listen.
Let them express their thoughts and troubles without fear of judgment. Refrain from offering too much advice in an attempt to fix them. If your loved one isn’t currently being treated for an eating disorder, you can gently suggest that they seek professional help from an eating disorder professional. Let them know that you are there for them and that you want to help them as best as you can. A lot of times, just knowing that they have a support system behind them can greatly benefit your loved one’s recovery.
Support Them During Treatment
Treatment of an eating disorder typically involves the implementation of a customized therapeutic program or group. If invited, show your support by attending therapy sessions with your loved one. Families and support groups are an important resource in the recovery process. Allowing families to actively participate in treatment is beneficial for both the loved one and their family unit.
At BALANCE, our Supporting A Loved One Group is designed for parents, siblings, spouses, partners, and friends of individuals struggling with an eating disorder to connect with the loved ones of other BALANCE clients and receive their own support and education. This group provides opportunities for discussion on the challenges and successes encountered throughout the recovery process. Additionally, you will gain new insight into how you can become a supportive and helpful asset in your loved one’s eating disorder recovery journey.
Looking for eating disorder treatment programs or services in the New York City area? Learn more about our options at BALANCE eating disorder treatment center here or contact us here.
This post was written by BALANCE blog intern, Megan Madsen.
Megan is currently working toward receiving her B.S. in Psychology. She is a Certified Nursing Assistant with a passion for eating disorder research and education. Megan has worked as a CNA on several units in a hospital setting and as a Psych Tech at an eating disorder treatment center. It was there that she discovered her passion for helping those afflicted with eating disorders and where her desire for educating patients and the community on eating disorders and mental illnesses began. In the future, she hopes to work as a Clinical Psychologist with a focus on eating disorder treatment.