{"id":4241,"date":"2018-09-20T11:15:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T16:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=4241"},"modified":"2022-04-22T14:01:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T19:01:00","slug":"what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"What I wish I had known about eating disorders before I started treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recovering from an eating disorder can be a difficult, but extremely rewarding experience.<\/p>\n

With the only comprehensive eating disorders program<\/a> in Central Illinois, OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center helps men, women and adolescents gain control of their eating disorders.<\/p>\n

We asked patients and their families, “What do you know now that you wish you had known when you began treatment?”<\/p>\n

Here are some of their answers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more complicated than \u2018just eat\u2019 or \u2018don\u2019t binge.\u2019\u201d<\/h3>\n

Eating disorders such as anorexia<\/a>, bulimia<\/a> and binge eating disorder are much more than a lifestyle choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese behaviors are driven by the way that people think and the emotions that they have. Restrictive eating or binging is a coping mechanism they use to deal with those thoughts and feelings,\u201d said Tim Bromley<\/a>, director of behavioral health at OSF Saint Francis. \u201cSimply eating or stopping the binging behavior doesn\u2019t change those negative thoughts and feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

True recovery means replacing those unhealthy coping mechanisms with healthy ones. It\u2019s as much about learning new behaviors as it is about avoiding old ones.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I would have known how to make our home less triggering for her. It was helpful to begin to know what I can do to help her at home.\u201d<\/h3>\n

For people dealing with an eating disorder<\/a>, temptation to lose weight or binge eat can be relentless. Changes at home can help eliminate some of that temptation as you recover.<\/p>\n

This can include physical changes to your environment \u2013 covering mirrors, removing scales, tossing your fitness tracker \u2013 or changes to the way you interact with your family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very common for families to joke or make negative comments about the way that they eat. One negative comment can stay with someone for a really long time. It\u2019s important for each family to understand those triggers,\u201d Bromley said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that my daughter would go through the partial hospitalization program at age 11 and just be \u2018better,\u2019 but her eating disorder came back even stronger without much notice. I had no clue how much this illness was going to change our family, her sibling\u2019s childhood, our jobs, our health, our freedom. I had no clue in the beginning that this eating disorder was going to change our lives for good.”<\/h3>\n

Eating disorders affect more than just a single individual. They can impact many of our relationships, including with friends, family members and spouses or significant others.<\/p>\n

Recovering from an eating disorder can be a long process, and continues even after you complete treatment.<\/p>\n

Eating disorder behaviors are driven by negative feelings and, often, low self-esteem. Stopping those unhealthy behaviors is an important part of recovery, but addressing the underlying emotional aspects is just as important. Each person does this in their own way and at their own pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s critical to get a person\u2019s support system involved in changing as well. They need to understand where the thought patterns come from, where the vulnerability comes from so that they don\u2019t feed those negative thoughts,\u201d Bromley said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I knew just how strong and resilient our entire family really is \u2013 especially our daughter.\u201d<\/h3>\n

Medical professionals can help guide you through the recovery process, but only you can make the decision to change. The path to recovery will be challenging, but with the support of counselors, family and friends, you can get better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe provide a guide and a road map to success. We will be there to support you, but you have to take the journey,\u201d Bromley said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI know now to trust all of you and the process because it works. No matter how awful and desperate it felt to have to go there, things actually can get better.\u201d<\/h3>\n

Recovering from an eating disorder means leaving behind a coping mechanism that, while unhealthy, is familiar, and developing new habits that you may not understand or trust right away.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you might try and fail before you find what works, and that’s OK,” Bromley said. “If you keep practicing and keep staying away from the eating disorder behaviors, you can have some empowerment that before you were convincing yourself that you didn\u2019t have.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know how beneficial group therapy would be or that I would be able to relate to others and learn from their experiences.\u201d<\/h3>\n

People who struggle with eating disorders often deal with a negative self-image, which can feel very isolating. Hearing that you’re not alone in feeling that way can be an unexpected relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are amazed when others say the same things about themselves that they have thought privately. They get invested in supporting each other. They pull each other all together and try not to leave anybody behind,\u201d Bromley said.<\/p>\n

Group discussions\u00a0lead by a psychotherapist\u00a0are used in the partial hospitalization program<\/a>, as well as in weekly support groups.<\/p>\n

These support groups are free and open to all, whether you are dealing with an eating disorder yourself or supporting a loved one through recovery. You do not need to be in treatment or formally diagnosed with an eating disorder to attend.<\/p>\n

Even those who aren\u2019t sure whether they are interested treatment are encouraged to attend, listen and learn more about what resources are available.<\/p>\n

The support group meets every Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Room A109 of the Allied Building, 320 E. Armstrong Ave., Peoria.<\/a> No registration required.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recovering from an eating disorder can be a difficult, but extremely rewarding experience. With the only comprehensive eating disorders program in Central Illinois, OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center helps men, women and adolescents gain control of their eating disorders. We asked patients and their families, “What do you know now that you wish you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":4299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[734],"tags":[873,789,621],"coauthors":[757],"class_list":["post-4241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health","tag-eating-disorders","tag-support-group","tag-therapy"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat I wish I had known about eating disorders before treatment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the only comprehensive program in Central Illinois, OSF Saint Francis helps men, women and teenagers gain control of their eating disorders.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What I wish I had known about eating disorders before treatment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the only comprehensive program in Central Illinois, OSF Saint Francis helps men, women and teenagers gain control of their eating disorders.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OSF HealthCare Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-20T16:15:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-22T19:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Nightengale\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"What I wish I had known about eating disorders before treatment\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"With the only comprehensive program in Central Illinois, OSF Saint Francis helps men, women and teenagers gain control of their eating disorders.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Nightengale\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/\",\"name\":\"What I wish I had known about eating disorders before treatment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-20T16:15:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-22T19:01:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/354320b649c53d417f5105ddd869e6ef\"},\"description\":\"With the only comprehensive program in Central Illinois, OSF Saint Francis helps men, women and teenagers gain control of their eating disorders.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What I wish I had known about eating disorders before I started treatment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"OSF HealthCare Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/354320b649c53d417f5105ddd869e6ef\",\"name\":\"Laura Nightengale\",\"description\":\"Laura Nightengale was a writing coordinator for OSF HealthCare.\u00a0 She has a bachelor\u2019s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas and worked as a reporter at a daily newspaper for five years before joining OSF HealthCare.\u00a0 When she\u2019s not working, Laura loves to travel, read, and spend time with her family, including her sweet and ornery dog.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/author\/lnightengale\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What I wish I had known about eating disorders before treatment","description":"With the only comprehensive program in Central Illinois, OSF Saint Francis helps men, women and teenagers gain control of their eating disorders.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What I wish I had known about eating disorders before treatment","og_description":"With the only comprehensive program in Central Illinois, OSF Saint Francis helps men, women and teenagers gain control of their eating disorders.","og_url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/","og_site_name":"OSF HealthCare Blog","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare","article_published_time":"2018-09-20T16:15:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-22T19:01:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Laura Nightengale","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"What I wish I had known about eating disorders before treatment","twitter_description":"With the only comprehensive program in Central Illinois, OSF Saint Francis helps men, women and teenagers gain control of their eating disorders.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg","twitter_creator":"@osfhealthcare","twitter_site":"@osfhealthcare","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Laura Nightengale","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/","name":"What I wish I had known about eating disorders before treatment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-20T16:15:57+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-22T19:01:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/354320b649c53d417f5105ddd869e6ef"},"description":"With the only comprehensive program in Central Illinois, OSF Saint Francis helps men, women and teenagers gain control of their eating disorders.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/what-i-wish-i-had-known-about-eating-disorders-before-treatment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What I wish I had known about eating disorders before I started treatment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/","name":"OSF HealthCare Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/354320b649c53d417f5105ddd869e6ef","name":"Laura Nightengale","description":"Laura Nightengale was a writing coordinator for OSF HealthCare.\u00a0 She has a bachelor\u2019s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas and worked as a reporter at a daily newspaper for five years before joining OSF HealthCare.\u00a0 When she\u2019s not working, Laura loves to travel, read, and spend time with her family, including her sweet and ornery dog.","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/author\/lnightengale\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Maisey Link","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_292627211.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4241"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4286,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241\/revisions\/4286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4241"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}