Experiencing Grief in Binge Eating Recovery Is Important

Grieving in binge eating disorder recovery matters. It may seem weird to think that you need to grieve the loss of your eating disorder as if it were a person. Let's really think about it though. I know for me, my eating disorder served a big purpose in my life and was, at one point, my only friend. As necessary as ridding this disease from my life was it was still a loss and required me to grieve. This is a challenging part of the process but is absolutely necessary if we are to move on and find wellness. Grief in binge eating disorder recovery is important.

Grief in My Binge Eating Disorder Recovery

There are many stages of grief and though the process may not be linear it eventually ends in acceptance. Accepting the loss of my eating disorder in my life took a great deal of time, but in the end, I did find the acceptance I was looking for.

For a lot of my life, my eating disorder was the only thing I had. It consumed every thought and every action of mine. It truly felt like a best friend. Even though this illness was destroying me, I knew it would never leave me.

Through eating disorder treatment and therapy I was able to give myself a reality check. A friend would not make you miserable. A friend would not threaten your health and your wellbeing. I had to come to terms with this not being the kind of thing I could have in my life if I wanted to be happy. This is where my long journey of grieving in my binge eating disorder recovery began.

A Tip for Getting Through the Grieving Process in Binge Eating Disorder Recovery

As I previously mentioned, grieving has many steps that will happen in no specific order. Remember to give yourself time to truly go through each step. Patience will be an important part of grieving during binge eating disorder recovery. There is no way to rush yourself to acceptance.

One thing that helped me greatly was writing a letter to my eating disorder. This letter was a goodbye letter of sorts. I thanked my illness for the purpose it once served, let it know the ways it had hurt me, and then let it know it was time for me to move on.

Doing this is therapeutic and gives you a chance to express your feelings about your eating disorder. Remember its okay to be sad about not having your eating disorder in your life. Do not be ashamed to think this. Feel everything you are feeling because it is all valid.

Read this letter when you are having challenging times, it will help you remember why your eating disorder isn't good for you. Again, be patient. This process is going to take time but as with every other tough part of recovery, it will be worth it.

Stay strong, keep fighting. You are worth recovery.