Dear Eating Disorder, My Friend

We have an eating disorder for a reason.

We hold on to it for reasons.

It works.

We feel in control or back in control.

Some therapists recommend that people with an eating disorder write a letter to their eating disorder and by doing so they would uncover the benefits of what they got out of having the disorder. One counselor calls it, Dear Eating Disorder, My Friend.

Compulsive overeating may give you enough extra weight to keep people of the opposite sex at bay.

Purging may be your way of getting rid of the bad feelings inside.

Starving yourself may serve as punishment for failures you've internalized.

Whatever the reason, it makes it hard to get real and healthy if we aren't honest about the purposes our addictions serve.

Or, you might try your own version of a "Dear John" letter to your eating disorder. In it, talk about what you've lost because of the eating disorder, what you miss, how much you've suffered. Telling it to hit the road – for good – may be one more tool in your recover toolbox.

On the journey with you,
Angie