Why Eating Disorders Isolate You

If you struggle with an Eating Disorder, you probably have noticed that you are more inclined to isolate yourself from others. Ever wonder why that is?

Food is a huge part of our culture and our social life. We go to parties and expect food. When we hang out with friends or family, we go to restaurants or are grabbing food wherever it is that we are. It’s a social staple.

This creates an exorbitant amount of anxiety for a person suffering with an Eating Disorder for 2 reasons;

1. Most people who have Eating Disorders don’t really trust themselves around food. Contrary to what many people think, food is almost always on the mind of someone with an Eating Disorder. If you’re afraid of spiders and are put in a room filled with them, wouldn’t your anxiety peak to? Being in a room filled with food is equivalent to a person with an Eating Disorder.
2. Being in a room filled with food and people make it very difficult to engage in Eating Disordered behaviors. You are on display and do not have the ability to purge without potentially making someone suspicious or engage in other behaviors. This is especially distressing to your Eating Disorder. When you go to social events, it’s expected that you eat when there is food available. You may feel all eyes are on you regardless of what you choose to do with the food. If you have an Eating Disorder and are eating around others, it’s hard not to feel that people aren’t hyper focused on your eating.

Getting through a social event, whether it’s just a family dinner or it’s a huge party, is difficult when you struggle with an Eating Disorder. Isolation makes it easier for the Eating Disorder to fester and to get worse.

Eating Disorders are like abusive relationships. When someone is suffering with an Eating Disorder, it’s almost as though there’s 2 parts of themselves; their healthy self and then their Eating Disorder self (See BATTLE: Eating Disorder vs Healthy Self) . The Eating Disorder wants to win and it will say and do whatever it takes to win. Part of that is isolating you from friends and family so that they have less influence and less ability to see those behaviors and try to get you help.

If you are struggling with an Eating Disorder, do whatever you can to access your healthy self and reach out to your support system as often as you can.

This is where your Eating Disorder therapist can really help you. The Eating Disorder makes reaching out to get help so hard, but it’s the best thing you can do to increase the power your healthy self!

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.

You may also like:
Eating Disorder Self vs. Healthy Self (Video, if that’s more your cup of tea!)

or these other blog posts!
BATTLE: Eating Disorder vs. Healthy Self
Lies my Eating Disorder Made Me Tell
Guide to Fighting Back with Your Healthy Self