Eating Disorder Recovery and the Holidays

Let's talk about eating disorders and the holidays. Hi, my name is Rachel Havocost. I am a writer and mental health advocate and I have been through eating disorder recovery twice and been in therapy for my recovery for about 20 years now. And the holidays are always a really difficult time. So I wanted to share three things that I started to do over the holidays to support myself in navigating any triggers that arise. Maybe a small increase of symptoms and ways to just make sure that I can take extra care of myself.

The first thing I like to do is make a plan so I typically know where I'm going to be, who I'm going to be with, and what I'm going to be doing for the holidays. So with that in mind, I like to make a little plan for myself about how I'm going to take extra care of myself. So that might be something like making sure that I'm bringing my coping box with me. That might mean my journal, maybe making sure I have an ice pack on hand that there's something that I can use if I feel panicky wherever I'm at, maybe bringing some of my favorite tea, making sure I have all of my medications and vitamins, trying to set myself up so that I have what I need to make sure that I feel really safe, secure, and like I have what I need to support myself.

Part of that plan includes my second tip, which is getting a buddy. So having somebody that knows that I'm maybe going to be struggling a little bit more or might need a little extra support makes me feel like I'm not navigating it alone. And it also provides me with someone that I can reach out to in the moment if I'm starting to experience a symptom or trigger. So that might be a friend, that might be a family member. And this can be someone that's present with me or someone who's not, someone who I can text or call or check in with if something is starting to trigger me.

And the third one is making sure that I have so much extra compassion and grace for myself around the holidays. When I was first going through my eating disorder before I went to treatment, even after the first time I went, I would really beat myself up for any relapse of symptoms over the holidays. And I made it out to be like I was failing at recovery or I wasn't doing it right because it was typically a time where there was more emphasis on food, more talk about food, more talk about body, and it made me experience more symptoms.

And I thought that that meant that I was doing something wrong or that I was failing at recovery. So I try to remind myself every time the holidays come around that there is a high likelihood that I'm going to be triggered. There is a likelihood that I might experience a resurgence in symptoms. This does not mean that I failed, it does not mean that I've done recovery wrong, and it doesn't mean that I've regressed. Having extra compassion and grace for myself during this time actually helps ensure that I don't beat myself up and go down a shame spiral, which will make symptoms worse in the long run.

I hope you found this helpful, and please know that I am with you during the holidays. So please just think of me if you're having a moment that feels hard or difficult, and know that you are not alone. I am there with you. See you next time.