Passive Suicidal Ideation and Eating Disorders: Making It Safer to Talk About Suicide
Suicidal thoughts do not always arrive as a plan to end your life. Sometimes they sound more like wishing you could go to sleep and never wake up. A person may imagine disappearing or catch themselves thinking that an accident would be a relief. They may feel exhausted by being alive without having any intention…
Are Eating Disorders a Form of Self-Harm?
Evaluating self-injury during an eating disorder assessment often exposes a conceptual overlap. It’s not unusual that during an eating disorder assessment, a question about self-harm sometimes elicits the following response: “Does starving myself count?” It is an important question during Suicide Prevention Month, and always, in part because the answer depends on what we mean…
Is Clean Eating Controlling Your Life? A Self-Assessment for Orthorexia
Interest in nutrition, sourcing quality ingredients, and paying attention to physical well-being are common pursuits. Yet a quiet boundary exists where deliberate dietary choices shift into an all-consuming psychological demand. Orthorexia nervosa describes an obsession with food purity and ingredient quality, where the primary focus centers on the perceived cleanliness of what is consumed. While…
The Full Risk Picture of GLP-1s: Eating Disorders, Medical Complications, and the Cultural Fallout
Roughly five percent of U.S. adults—representing millions of individuals—have used a GLP-1 medication for weight loss, marking a significant rise in pharmaceutical weight management. This surge has reshaped broader cultural messages around body size, reversing years of progress toward size acceptance and the celebration of body diversity. Pop culture is suddenly filled with shrinking celebrities,…
Can You Have an Eating Disorder Without Being Underweight?
There is a significant gap between what an eating disorder actually is and what many people have been taught to recognize. Public perception, media portrayals, and even healthcare systems have long reinforced the idea that eating disorders are defined by visible thinness, leading many people to believe that body size determines whether someone is “sick…
Compulsive Eating, Muted Signals, and How to Get Hunger Cues Back
Many people think of hunger cues as a simple feeling in the stomach that tells us when to eat and when to stop. In reality, our relationship with hunger is far more complex. Hunger and fullness are part of an intricate communication system between the brain and body, one that can become disrupted for many…
Residential vs. Virtual Eating Disorder Treatment: How Do I Know Which Is Right for Me?
When you’re living with an eating disorder, choosing a level of care is rarely a simple decision. Leaving home for residential treatment can feel intimidating, disruptive, and even frightening. At the same time, staying home with virtual care may feel safer, more convenient, or more practical. For many people, the choice brings up questions about…
The Interpersonal Impact of Eating Disorders: 10 Ways Friendships Can Change
Eating disorders can change friendships long before anyone has language for what is happening. Over time, they begin shaping relationships as well, often creating distance between people who genuinely care about one another. Part of what makes this so difficult is that friends and loved ones are often responding to an illness they can only…
Eating Disorders During Perimenopause
Perimenopause marks a period of significant physical and emotional change for many people. It can make the body feel harder to read, and that disconnect can be destabilizing for someone with an active eating disorder or a history of one. A change in appetite or weight distribution can become evidence to interpret. It likely carries…
7 Mantras To Support You In Eating Disorder Recovery
Struggling with negative self-talk is not uncommon for those with eating disorders. A powerful tool to combat these thoughts and empower yourself in recovery is using mantras or affirmations. Negative Self-Talk and Eating Disorders You may be wondering what the connection is between eating disorders and negative self-talk. The way you feel about yourself and…