How to Know If I’m Relapsing

Do you ever feel that you are relapsing in your recovery from an Eating Disorder? Do you struggle with figuring out whether this is a normal struggle or a relapse? This post can help you to decipher if what you are going through is actually part of “normal” recovery.

The reason why it may be a struggle to figure out if you are relapsing or not is that recovery is messy and sometimes what appears to be a relapse isn’t and rather is just a struggle you must face in recovery.

Recovery is difficult and moving along in recovery brings up new challenges to deal with. These challenges are new territory.
For instance, a person who struggled with Anorexia now is able to eat all their meals at home with relatively no problem. They feel ready to challenge themselves with going out to eat and when they are at the restaurant, they start exhibiting behaviors again such as picking at their food, retreating from conversation and experiencing increased anxiety. The resurfacing of these behaviors does not mean that the person is relapsing, it simply means there’s a new challenge they’re facing.

​Now is the time to ask yourself and reflect honestly on this question: is this struggle simply part of my recovery because I am facing a new challenge?

People who have Eating Disorders tend to be very hard on themselves, even in recovery, especially in recovery. They may feel that every struggle is them back at square one and therefore, they have failed. This is why the content of this post is so important. If you are struggling, be honest, but most importantly, be kind to yourself.

I would encourage you to continue to consume recovery-oriented information and inspiration. This is what you do in therapy and by reading blog posts like this as well as watching or listening to recovery-oriented videos or Podcasts. This can help to remind you that recovery is messy and set-backs are part of that. You may perceive these as failures, but in reality, they’re opportunites to learn and to grow. Remember, You Did Not Fail.

Know what to expect in recovery and keep reminding yourself of this. Here’s what Recovery really looks like.

The last tip for today is to be honest with not only yourself, but with your treatment team. Secrets keep you sick, honesty is recovery-oriented. Honesty will help your treatment team to best help you!

I hope you found this post helpful! If you know anyone else who could benefit from reading this, please share with them. If you have any questions, concerns or requests for future posts, please leave a comment or message me privately.

I wish you wellness and honesty on your journey to finding your State of Balance!

You May Also Like this video
What Does Recovery Really Look Like?

And these posts:
​You Did Not Fail
Recovery is Not Linear
Is Therapy Even Working?!