Mental and physical recovery from an eating disorder

Many people think that recovery from an eating disorder is just the physical... that you reach a healthy weight and then you are healthy. But there is a reason that eating disorders are called 'mental disorders' i.e they are in the head. Its not enough to just eat and gain weight and think that things will get better, because they wont.
  There are underlying issues to your problems and why you think and behave the way you do... something has triggered your behaviour. Whether its low self esteem, self consciousness, some event happened or loneliness, depression etc
  But you need to find a way to cope with the problems in your head and also the underlying issues. Being physically healthy and eating enough of course helps because then your body and mind arent in starvation mode (Read moreHERE)  making it easier to think more rationally and you are stronger mentally so its easier to fight the ED thoughts.


 
 Though mental recovery is something that takes time, more time than physical recovery usually... though sometimes its the otherway around. Though i do have a very hard time believing when someone says they are mentally recovered but have a BMI of 16 or 17 and just 'cant' gain the weight... of course gaining weight is hard, IT IS. But it can be done... whether that means supplement drinks or eating 200g nuts per day or adding 100ml oil to your meals throughout the day. Weight gain can be done... for me i had to eat around 4000kcal a day for a period to gain weight... eating that much isnt easy, but thats what i needed to gain wieght and i did that through supplement drinks, bread, butter, cheese, cereal, nuts, dried fruit etc so you CAN gain weight. So i find it hard to believe the excuse that someone cant gain weight but claim they are mentally healthy.... i tried to use that excuse when i was half recovered because i didnt want to gain weight. But now when i am actually mentally healthy the number on the scale doesnt matter to me... whether it says 60kg or 65kg doesnt matter so much to me, what matters is that i am a healthy weight and have a healthy mind and body.

Generally though you recover physically before you mentally recover and you need to keep working on those thoughts, finding coping skills and learning to cope with tough situations or triggers. To overcome your fears and anxieties. You get stronger after each obstacle you conquer. No one else can mentally recover for you, its YOU who has to want it and has to CHOOSE it everyday. Its YOU who has to do the tough job of fighting those things that scare you so that you can find peace in your own mind.... because like the quote goes "your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy."
    This is very true, you need your head to co operate with you, not fight you, but to do that you have to change your thoughts and do things that scare you.

Dont settle for half recovery or just physical recovery ,because you wont ever be happy if you are still battling the thoughts. But know that you CAN get rid of the thoughts completely, you can be happy, healthy and FREE. You can be free from your thoughts but that requires fighting, being strong and making a change!!!