Many people who live with eating disorders can't point to a single moment when it all began. Instead, what starts as seemingly “normal” behaviors — skipping meals, counting calories, following food rules — slowly, quietly, and insidiously evolves into something much harder to escape.

This slow slide is what makes disordered eating so dangerous: it doesn’t always start as a disorder, but for many, it becomes one.

Eating disorders aren’t just about food, body image, or weight. They are often:

• Attempts to manage anxiety or chaos

• Ways to feel control or structure when life feels unpredictable

• Numbing tools for emotional pain or trauma

• Signals that something deeper is distressing the person