--- title: Symptoms description: Internationally acclaimed recovery site focused on eating disorders, moving from fragility to power, developing confidence at work and in relationships, and narcissistic abuse recovery. Created by Joanna Poppink, MFT canonical_url: https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/blog/symptoms/page-9 language: en-GB date: 2012-08-30T02:06:01Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/blog/symptoms/page-9. markdown-tokens: 1426 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/blog/symptoms/page-9. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. Here you will find articles that address various emotional, physical, behavioral and spiritual symptoms that are often part of the eating disorder experience. To contact Joanna, to make a psychotherapy appointment or to arrange a video consultation through Doxy.me, write: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Details Category: [Symptoms](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/blog/symptoms/) [![Restricting, Eating Disorders and Striving for Perfection](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/Japanese_butterfly_320px-Peablue_October_2007_Osaka_Japan.jpg)](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/Japanese_butterfly_320px-Peablue_October_2007_Osaka_Japan.jpg) ## Perfection as Safety through Restricting Food 1. **Perfectionism and Food Restriction as Coping Mechanisms:** Individuals with eating disorders often strive for perfection by restricting food intake to manage anxiety and fear, equating thinness with safety and control. This drive serves as a way to soothe and distract from emotional suffering. 2. **The Illusory and Exhausting Nature of Perfection:** The relentless pursuit of perfection is unachievable and exhausting, leading to constant anxiety about maintaining an unattainable standard. This obsession undermines self-worth and emotional stability, impacting relationships and overall life satisfaction. 3. **Path to Genuine Recovery:** True safety and health come from abandoning the fantasy of perfection and embracing imperfection. Building trust with a therapist and committing to recovery allows individuals to develop internal strength, ultimately leading to more fulfilling and authentic lives. Perfection is often the goal in early eating disorder recovery work. Whether clients suffer from bulimia, anorexia, compulsive overeating, or binge eating, the desire for perfection often looms large. When anxious and frightened, they may attempt to control their body shape and size by restricting their food intake in their drive to be perfect. This drive to restrict food is viewed as a way to soothe, numb, and distract from suffering. The idea of becoming smaller can be thrilling because, in their minds, being thin and tiny equates to a fantasy of ultimate safety. While self-improvement and striving for excellence are natural, the relentless pursuit of perfection is exhausting and can blind individuals to opportunities for joy and satisfaction. ## How Perfection Relates to Restricting and Eating Disorders [ Read more … ](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/symptoms/restricting-eating-disorders-perfection) Details Category: [Symptoms](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/blog/symptoms/) [![Weight Gain, Artificial Sweeteners](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/-Flowers_of_sugar_cane-.jpg)](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/-Flowers_of_sugar_cane-.jpg) **Weight Gain and Artificial Sweeteners** Weight gain and artificial sweeteners are partners. The promises surrounding artificial sweeteners play into the false sense of reality that accompanies eating disorder thinking. You believe you can eat something sweet, not take in sugar, not take in calories, satisfy your cravings and not gain weight. But that belief is not the reality. If you have an eating disorder, you put thought and energy into how to outwit your body. Your goal is to binge eat or restrict and simultaneously have the body shape and weight you want while feeling good. To do this, you avoid or deny solid information about what your body needs to thrive. [ Read more … ](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/symptoms/weight-gain-artificial-sweeteners) Details Category: [Symptoms](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/blog/symptoms/) This is a powerful and eloquent post in [Voice of Recovery](http://voiceinrecovery.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/honesty-in-cravings/#comments "Voice of Recovery"). She hit a disappointment in her personal life that sent her into the closet to hide. She wanted safety. She wanted a drink. She was in agony and struggled against her cravings. With courage and strength, she pulled herself out of her darkness, asked for support and got it. She's finding her way and helping others as she goes. The point I want to raise relates to one sentence she throws out with determination and passion. After describing the intensity of her feelings and cravings, she writes: [ Read more … ](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/symptoms/healing-power-of-a-tender-embrace) Details Category: [Symptoms](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/blog/symptoms/) Relationships suffer when you have an eating disorder. Deep, valuable and sincere relationships may be challenging to maintain or even impossible to establish. You want and need people in your life to help ward off isolation and loneliness. When a relationship ends or changes into something unpleasant, you may wonder what happened. And, you may not be able to think clearly about what happened because the end or change triggers your eating disorder. So you feel great loss and sorrow, criticize yourself and act out by binging or throwing up or starving or all these behaviors in their turn. [ Read more … ](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/symptoms/self-care-during-relationship-upheaval)