"Recovered" vs. "In Recovery"

There is often a debate in the eating disorder field about what recovery means for people struggling with eating disorders. Can people be “recovered” or will they always be “in recovery?” Or are both terms accurate?

I have heard clinicians debate this topic at professional conferences. Today I thought I would ask you what you think. Please post a comment and let me know.

I will soon post my thoughts as well.

Best,

Jenni

Comments

[Amy P.]

Post a picture of your recovered. shirt too!!!
:-)

[emmy.]

i can't believe you posted this. i'm actually in the middle of writing an article about this very thing!

i hope you'll check it out. i'll let you know when i post it. :)

i look forward to reading your thoughts.

[Jeanne]

I think both terms are accurate.

For me, I see myself as in recovery - for while the eating disorder no longer consumes me, I do still turn to (or away from) food as a coping mechanism. For me, I will be recovered when I have found peace within myself - when I am no longer afraid of feeling all my emotions.

I know I will get there someday. I need the eating disorder less and less with each passing year. Every year the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel gets bigger and brighter. It's what keeps me going.

Great question, Jenni

[kristin leigh.]

Jenni,

I'm actually working very hard on this idea right now in recovery. I think RECOVERED means that while you will still have your eating disorder (I believe one never "gets over it" completely), but I think it's accepting that things can't always and don't need always to be perfect and complete. In recovery... I think a lot of it has to do with, at least for my personally, working on accepting that idea.

I'll swing back and forth between extremes. I'll be full into my eating disorder for a few weeks on end, then suddenly shift back into "full recovery" mode which in my mind is often doing everything perfectly, when it reality it is not.

I think being recovered is all about BALANCE. It's about life and accepting that we are not perfect, black & white human beings (emotionally / mentally speaking with the "black & white" reference) but we are in fact imperfectly beautiful and "grey" is not so bad after all.

[Shea-Marie]

Wow, I sure hope this is such thing as "recovered" and not just having to forever live "in recovery". I have now been here at a residential treatment center for almost a month, which forces me to believe that I am "in recovery", mainly meaning that I have ceased the behaviors of my Ed. But I have only been able to stop acting out the behaviors because I am in a contained environment where I am unable to act them out. However, this does not mean I am anywhere near being recovered, nor does it mean Ed doesn't still consume me at times. Ed is definitely still present with me more often then I would have thought after being here for this long. At times, the Ed thoughts are louder and even more uncontrollable and overpowering then I was actively engaging and obeying them. It scares me when people say that Ed never really goes away completely. But I would like to believe that a full recovery is possible. Slips and relapses may occur throughout "recovery". Recovery is a process, not an event. I think one reaches the state of being considered "recovered" when they are no longer having conversations with Ed, they listen to their own voice no matter the situation...mainly, RECOVERED is when they adamantly believe that ED IS NOT AN OPTION.

I bet nothing I just wrote makes sense. It does in my head. This is an awesome question though and I look forward to reading your response. Being "in recovery" is exhausting, overwhelming, frustrating, and uncertain...Being "RECOVERED" is being FREE.

[Millie]

I do not believe in the idea that you will have to struggle with disordered thoughts for the rest of your life. I no longer think of disordered behaviors as an option - it doesn't occur to me at all to starve or purge when I am upset.

It took me several years to get to this point. There was a long period when the behaviors were gone, but I had to still make the concious choice not to use them. I still woke up every day thinking, "If I could just lose a few pounds . . ." At some point that little voice in my head quietly left and I didn't need it's comfort anymore.

This doesn't mean I've stopped exploring my needs and feelings. It doesn't mean I believe all my actions and decisions are perfect. I hope I can look back at today and see that I've continued to grow. It does mean that the ED has no place at all in my life anymore.

[sara g.]

I think there are MANY different levels of recovery and then recovered has it's own meanings as well.
For instance:
1. Wanting recovery- when your actions are still fairly consistently eating disordered, but you very much WANT recovery and are doing the mental work.
2. Beginning stages of recovery - doing meal plans, challenges, etc. You may slip up a lot, but you're trying to do healthy behaviors in place of ED behaviors.
Then I think recovery just has different levels.
Following a meal plans becomes consistent, you do the healthy behavior more than unhealthy.
Then there is having the thoughts without behavior. I think that once the behavior (restricting, overexercising, purging, etc). has ceased that one should be considered "recovered" and then the different levels of recovered have to do with the levels of the ED thoughts.

Hoping that made some semblance of sense.

[Jenni Schaefer [AUTHOR]]

Thanks so much for your comments on this topic! You guys have inspired me to write an article about this. I am working on it and will post it soon.

Have a lovely day!

Jenni