Saturday 3 September 2011

'Cure'- is there such a thing?

I was reading a book the other day which stated: "Some people with eating disorders are told that there is no cure and that they will simply have to cope with it. That, of course is not true. No one has to live with it.”

I immediately thought to myself: "A cure? What have I been doing wrong all these years?"

I don't know if there is such a thing as an absolute cure, if there is, I certainly haven't found it yet. I am recovered, but I wouldn’t say my recovery means I am cured, just more skilled at managing it to the point where my true self has overcome the voice of the ED.

To me recovery is when:

• I feel it less
• I hear it less
• My life falls apart as a result of it less

Once you have suffered from an eating disorder perhaps it will always be there in the back of your mind, it just depends whether or not you act on it. You can get better and live a happy, healthy and successful life in spite of ED, but not necessarily in the absence of it completely?

3 comments:

  1. This is something I have wondered about so often too. You hear both sides of the recovery spectrum where one side says it's possible and the other side says it will always be a struggle.

    I feel like I am in the exact same spot as you - that I am not "cured" I'm just a lot better at listening to my voice rather than the ed's and not acting on the behaviors as much... but it's still there, always in my head.

    I hope that there will come a day when I am "cured" whatever that means, I do think it's possible for some people. But I also think that as long as I am able to keep the ed at a distance, or in the back of my mind - with it sometimes coming to the surface - that is okay too.

    I am probably rambling and not making much sense. The last few weeks have been tough for me and haven't been on people's blogs, but I wanted to let you know that I am still here and rooting for you. We will recover (whatever that means for us) and we will find happiness, hope, and strength to live the beautiful lives that are waiting for us! I know it!!!!

    Take care, I'll talk to you soon ; )

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  2. Jenn,

    I feel so blessed to have your support. Thank-you so much.

    I would really like to meet or speak to someone who is ‘cured’ to gather some insight, but I haven’t so far. I wonder about what recovery really entails a great deal. For instance, is it unrealistic to expect to be completely free from the ED voice one day? And on the flip-side are we short-changing ourselves and our overall recovery by accepting that we may never be entirely cured? Hmm, these are the questions. I am sure we both will figure this out in time.

    I am sorry to hear that you have had a tough time of late and I hope you are ok and getting through it Jenn. You are such a lovely and kind person and I have no doubt in my mind that you will beat this (whatever that means).

    Much love to you and hope to talk again soon xo

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  3. I do know a few people who seem to be pretty close to basically cured, or as cured as you can get - but it seems like (at least the ones I know)had only struggled for a few years before getting help and recovering.

    I am proud of them (so proud!) But I would like to find people who have struggled for a great deal of their life, and see if complete recovery is possible in that case. Because that's what I struggle with, is that it's soooooo ingrained in my mind because I have struggled for so long - I wonder if it's possible for true recovery even then. I want to believe that it is.

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