Where to Begin

Below there is a primer for figuring out if you do have an eating disorder and whether to begin a recovery program. From there, you can then review everything under Orientation Basics (top menu bar) including the science-based Treatment Options other than the Homeodynamic Recovery Method (HDRM) and then you can review the specifics of HDRM which is the focus here on the EDI site.

It can be overwhelming and daunting to recognize that you, or a loved one, has an eating disorder and then to arrive at the usually very reluctant realization that it requires attention as it is harshly impacting quality of life in very serious ways.

If you find yourself, or your loved one, balking at the idea that treatment is needed because multiple rounds have already been attempted without success, consider reviewing the new EDI harm-reduction protocol: Anicca Managed Active Condition (AMAC). However, keep in mind that the condition itself generates a misidentification of food as a threat and that very much reinforces ongoing avoidance of food. As with the framework of harm-reduction used for substance use issues, it is not some kind of kinder gentler recovery effort. It buys time and works to keep the patient as safe as possible. Eating disorders are deadly and harm reduction will never be an equivalent effort to seeking complete remission.

The Telltale Dozen

Not sure if you have an eating disorder? While answering yes to four or more is a tell that you are likely dealing with an eating disorder, answering yes to #5 on its own (in the absence of living with serious food insecurity or famine) is a serious warning sign.

1

Family and friends have shifted from congratulating you on your weight loss and/or your healthier choices to making either careful or even blunt comments that you look unwell and generally don’t seem to eat enough. When workouts, runs, exercise and/or clean eating are dominant behaviours, then family and close friends start to make comments about how they feel you are unable to keep your commitments and priorities strait (meaning you put your food/ weight/ ‘healthy lifestyle’ ahead of your relationships).

2

You are cold when others are not. You’ve started wearing sweaters (jumpers, pullovers) when others are in short sleeves. Sometimes you feel light-headed or dizzy. Other times you feel foggy-headed—like you are listening to others through cotton wool.

3

You are tired and find your mind wanders. You struggle to focus in class or at work. You cannot remember things that others remember easily.

4

You are prone to crying spells and/or explosive bouts of anger (more so than what might be usual). You alternate between wanting to be alone, snapping at family, and finding you are clingy and needy, seeking reassurance from loved ones. You feel emotionally unstable at times.

5

You are consumed with thoughts of food: when you will eat; what you will eat; what you won’t eat. Food is always consciously on your mind.

6

Facing social circumstances that involve food create panic: family celebrations, lunches with friends at school/work, holiday gatherings…in the days leading up to such events you feel extremely anxious and spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to avoid it altogether or how to squeeze in additional pre-emptive behaviours (exercise, more restriction of food..) to be able to attend.

7

The number of rules you assign to when and how will eat keeps getting longer. You have become ritualistic to the point where any deviance from a food rule causes massive anxiety (the wrong plate, foods touching on the plate, the fork in the wrong place…).

8

You have longer and longer lists of forbidden foods that you will not touch.

9

You punish yourself if you don’t follow your food rules.
If you indulge in any food that you consider unacceptable, you are wracked with shame, self-hatred, and loathing and usually “punish” yourself for the transgression (exercising to exhaustion, skipping yet another meal).

10

As a woman, your regular menstrual cycle is irregular or has disappeared completely.* For all genders, you notice your skin appears dull and dry. Your hair and nails are brittle and perhaps your hair loss seems more pronounced than usual (clumps in the bathtub drains or on your brush).

*An absent menstrual cycle is a marker of ill health but its presence is not a marker of health.
It is a one-way marker only.

11

You find yourself promising yourself and others more and more that tomorrow will be different. But it isn’t.

12

You lie to loved ones about what you ate that day or how much you actually exercised and make excuses for why you cannot eat now. If they are friends, you often fabricate food allergies, intolerances, or other reasons why you cannot have the food being offered.

Thinking About Possible Recovery Effort

  • No one ever feels completely ready for a recovery effort to get to remission from an eating disorder. But you can have some tools to improve your chances of getting through it all. Here are some options for amassing those tools. Read More.

  • How to pull together a supportive treatment team as an adult looking to reach remission from an eating disorder or to manage an active state while maximizing quality of life and minimizing complications. Read More.