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Support Groups and Peer Support

© Heather Mudgett.

For someone struggling with anorexia, or bulimia, support is an essential stepping stone on the road to recovery.

The first impulse of friends and family is often to tell the anorexic to "just eat more" and tell the bulimic to "just stop binging and purging." This is probably the least helpful thing you can say. In fact, you would likely be setting yourself up to be frequently lied to. (Yes, we anorexics and bulimics are masters of deceit and can make it appear like we are changing our behaviors when we have absolutely no intention of doing so...) A better approach might be to be as unconfrontational as you can. Let the person know that you care about them, and are concerned. Suggest that the person seek assistance with their problem. (Although, if memory serves me, getting them to realize that they HAVE a problem can be half the battle!) Take a moment to read AA/BA's FAMILY & FRIENDS PAGE.

One-on-one therapy, group therapy, support groups, residential treatment centers, and medical treatment are all options for support. Take a moment to read through Something-Fishy's page on WHAT YOU CAN DO. Future articles will discuss individual therapy, residential treatment centers, and medical treatments, which can all be effective in getting through to someone with an eating disorder and helping them find their way to recovery.

In my case, I found the most success with group therapy and support groups. Somehow, meeting other women and girls who were as emotionally stressed as I was, and who, like me, were completely stuck in the rut of an eating disorder, was somehow comforting. Talking with these women about the deep dark secrets in our lives, without being attacked or judged, was a key to heading to recovery. The Women's Issues: Self-Help, Education, Support (W.I.S.H.E.S) site has a good page on HOW TO BENEFIT FROM SUPPORT GROUPS.

Now I must admit that a negative aspect of group treatments can be that patients learn new tricks of the trade from others in the group, or feel the need to compete with them to be the skinniest or the most bulimic. I went through this in my first group. One girl in our group continued to lose weight and ended up being hospitalized. I remember feeling jealous somehow, that she was losing weight still while I was maintaining mine (or, heaven forbid, GAINING!). Isn't that sad? Jealous that she is under 24-hour care, with an IV in her arm and a feeding tube up her nose? (Doesn't make much sense, does it?) But even with that warped mentality, I still gained a tremendous amount of insight into my disorder and credit that the time I spent in that group with (eventually) teaching me how to focus on my recovery.

The copyright of the article Support Groups and Peer Support in Eating Disorders is owned by Heather Mudgett.. Permission to republish Support Groups and Peer Support in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.