I have struggled with an eating disorder/body dysmorphia for 18 years. I have been in therapy since I was 19 (am now 32), have tried in-patient for 3 months, and have done intensive OP. Like others on here, I frequented the something-fishy site for many years.
I'm still not recovered (to many others' frustration), and still struggling with whether or not I really want to be. I fear that it is a life-long illness - whether it is in active form or latent. Eating disorders in adults is an especially taboo subject, and I have found it difficult to find people around me that might understand my illness (that I never discuss). However, I found that the book Lying in Weight: The Hidden Epidemic of Eating Disorders in Adult Women by Trisha Gura is an insightful, helpful book to read. She looks at the idea of recovery from a realistic perspective - not only having considered herself recovered (yet still subsisting on salad meals), but also observing the stories of many other real women who have struggled (some who still struggle) with anorexia and/or bulimia. Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders by Aimee Liu is also an interesting book. Both focus on people with histories of EDs and where they are now, in their adult years.
I don't think that there is an answer to "how long will it take to recover?" It's all relative to our unique selves, how we see the world, how we want to see the world, how we want to fit into it.... The books I mentioned both offer hopeful, empowering outlooks to reconsider our lives and our lifestyles.
...It would be interesting to know the prevalence of ED histories (or active EDs) in triathletes. I find that the exercise component "excuses" some of my behaviors so that they look normal to some; I imagine that others are in similar boats with me. If only we could be as open face-to-face as we are on-line. I'm almost positive you would each discover that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
I'm still not recovered (to many others' frustration), and still struggling with whether or not I really want to be. I fear that it is a life-long illness - whether it is in active form or latent. Eating disorders in adults is an especially taboo subject, and I have found it difficult to find people around me that might understand my illness (that I never discuss). However, I found that the book Lying in Weight: The Hidden Epidemic of Eating Disorders in Adult Women by Trisha Gura is an insightful, helpful book to read. She looks at the idea of recovery from a realistic perspective - not only having considered herself recovered (yet still subsisting on salad meals), but also observing the stories of many other real women who have struggled (some who still struggle) with anorexia and/or bulimia. Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders by Aimee Liu is also an interesting book. Both focus on people with histories of EDs and where they are now, in their adult years.
I don't think that there is an answer to "how long will it take to recover?" It's all relative to our unique selves, how we see the world, how we want to see the world, how we want to fit into it.... The books I mentioned both offer hopeful, empowering outlooks to reconsider our lives and our lifestyles.
...It would be interesting to know the prevalence of ED histories (or active EDs) in triathletes. I find that the exercise component "excuses" some of my behaviors so that they look normal to some; I imagine that others are in similar boats with me. If only we could be as open face-to-face as we are on-line. I'm almost positive you would each discover that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
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gentle_storm: Jan 24, 10 21:04