Watch out for mind tricks that convince you that cleansing is normal when it is a purging symptom of a real and present eating disorder.

The Mind Trick

Crisis Questions

Isn’t it odd how you sometimes need to binge for no apparent reason and yet function well during a major crisis? Have you wondered why sometimes you need to binge when nothing, in particular, seems amiss or when something tiny goes awry?

Perhaps you've wondered why you can move through part of a day or night without binging or purging at all. I think about these questions as they relate to my patients and to the people affected by an eating disorder who write or call me looking for help and understanding.

The Question: How can I stop my eating disorder behavior? Answer: Rethink the question, or you'll be caught in a control trap.

Shelley's response

As Shelley so eloquently reveals in her comment responding to Wendeline's story, effective recovery work begins when the eating disorder behaviors around food begin to subside. That's when your emotional challenges reveal themselves. That's when your body reels and goes into shock at the massive change in how it is nourished and cared for. The idea that eating after starving or holding after purging or eating in a balanced way after regularly bingeing is the whole answer for recovery is so very wrong.

In eating disorder recovery you can explore your triggering situations by looking at six levels of trigger responses.

Explore Your Situation

Please pay attention to what is going on in your life, including your internal life, just prior to a binge or