Is it Too Late to Seek Out Treatment After a Long Term Eating Disorder?

Contributor: Crystal Karges, MS, RDN, IBCLC, Director of Content and Social Media at Eating Disorder Hope/Addiction Hope

Common characteristics associated with eating disorders include denial and isolation, both, which can be a deadly combination for someone who is struggling with a potentially fatal disorder.

Many individuals who are dealing with an eating disorder often suffer in silence. This can be due to various reasons, such as fear of rejection, uncertainty of what exactly one is dealing with, shame, anxiety, depression and more.

Denial is also a common aspect associated with those who are struggling with an eating disorder. It can be easy to minimize the magnitude of what you might be dealing with. Abnormal eating behaviors can easily be justified, particularly if a person is still able to maintain somewhat of a “normal” function.

Living In Secrecy and Shame

The trouble with isolation and denial is that it keeps a person struggling with an eating disorder silent and from seeking out the help needed for recovery and treatment. This often perpetuates the eating disorder cycle, where individuals will continue and repeatedly engage in their behaviors and learn to live their life in this manner.

Even those who are able to continue “functioning”, by holding a job or continuing to raise a family while struggling with an eating disorder, obligations and responsibilities can influence a person to think that they have to postpone treatment in order to maintain what they are currently involved in. This type of thinking can be detrimental, The longer a person is engaging in eating disorder behaviors, the more risk for damage physically, mentally, emotionally and more.

Never Too Late To Seek Help

No matter how long you or someone you love has been struggling with an eating disorder, it is never too late to seek out the help you need for recovery. Regardless of how far gone you think you might be, there is always hope for recovery. The biggest obstacle may be in thinking that you cannot be helped or that recovery is somehow not for you. Even if you have been in an out of multiple different treatment programs or have felt that there is nothing that will work for you, don’t allow this frame of thinking from preventing you from recovery. It is never too late, and you can begin your recovery journey today!

About the Author: Crystal is a Masters-level Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) with a specialty focus in eating disorders, maternal/child health and wellness, and intuitive eating. Combining clinical experience with a love of social media and writing, Crystal serves as the Special Projects Coordinator for Eating Disorder Hope/Addiction Hope, where her passion to help others find recovery and healing is integrated into each part of her work.

As a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, Crystal has dedicated her career to helping others establish a healthy relationship with food and body through her work with EDH/AH and nutrition private practice.

The opinions and views of our guest contributors are shared to provide a broad perspective of eating disorders. These are not necessarily the views of Eating Disorder Hope, but an effort to offer discussion of various issues by different concerned individuals.

We at Eating Disorder Hope understand that eating disorders result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder, please know that there is hope for you, and seek immediate professional help.

Last Updated & Reviewed By: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC on July 17, 2016
Published on EatingDisorderHope.com