Eating disorders are not just about food, weight, or willpower — they are complex mental health conditions rooted in a combination of biology, psychology, and environment. One key biological factor often overlooked in public conversations about eating disorders is dopamine: a neurotransmitter that plays a central role in reward, motivation, and learning.

In individuals with eating disorders, dopamine systems may function differently, affecting how people experience hunger, pleasure, anxiety, and even self-control. Understanding dopamine's role can offer insight into both the development of eating disorders and the challenges of recovery — including why it can be so difficult to change behaviors even when someone desperately wants to get better.

When we think of eating disorders, we often picture psychological symptoms: fear of weight gain, body image concerns, anxiety around food. But in children and adolescents, eating disorders have a unique and often silent consequence — interrupted growth.

Growth is a primary biological task during childhood and adolescence. It reflects not only nutritional health, but also endocrine function, bone development, and brain maturation. In the context of an eating disorder, malnutrition can disrupt this process, leading to long-term physical consequences if left unaddressed.

When we think about bullying, we often think of someone else: a harsh classmate, an online troll, a toxic peer group. But for many people—especially those navigating eating disorders, anxiety, or trauma—the harshest voice they hear isn’t external.

It’s internal.
And it sounds like their own.

Self-criticism is one of the most common yet overlooked forms of emotional self-harm. It often hides behind the guise of “motivation” or “self-discipline,” but over time, it chips away at self-esteem, mental health, and the capacity to heal.

In this post, we explore what self-criticism really is, why it develops, and how to begin replacing it with something far more healing: self-kindness.

Body image is more than how you see your reflection. It’s how you feel in your body, how you treat it, and how you believe others perceive you. In a world that profits off of self-criticism, the concept of body positivity offers a radical counter-narrative — one that encourages acceptance, dignity, and compassion toward all bodies, including your own.

But what does body positivity really mean, and how can you begin to cultivate it — especially if you have struggled with disordered eating, body shame, or appearance-related anxiety? This post will explore the history, meaning, and actionable steps for practicing body positivity in a realistic and sustainable way.

Books to Support Eating Disorder Recovery, Self-Acceptance, and Mental Wellness

In eating disorder treatment, we often focus on therapy, nutrition, and medical care — and rightly so. But alongside these clinical pillars, a growing body of research supports the therapeutic role of nature-based practices, including gardening, in promoting emotional regulation, body reconnection, and mental health recovery.

Gardening is more than a hobby. It can be a gentle, grounding, sensory-rich experience that supports healing from eating disorders in ways that traditional treatments cannot always reach. Whether it’s planting herbs on a balcony, working in a community plot, or simply repotting houseplants, interacting with nature through gardening can be a meaningful tool in the recovery process.

Recovering from an eating disorder is not a one-size-fits-all journey — but having the right resources can make the path feel less isolating. Whether you're navigating anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, ARFID, or struggling with body image and food anxiety, supportive tools can help you feel seen, grounded, and hopeful.

When celebrities share their experiences with eating disorders, the world pays attention. From candid interviews to memoirs and social media posts, public figures are increasingly opening up about their battles with food, body image, and mental health — and in doing so, they are helping to break stigma, normalize recovery, and inspire change.

But these stories are not just about fame. They reveal the deeply human side of eating disorders — struggles with shame, control, perfectionism, and pain. And while public disclosures can't replace individualized care, they can make someone feel less alone.

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When emotions come on fast and strong — panic, shame, flashbacks, or the urge to engage in harmful behaviors — it can feel like you're spinning out of control. In these moments, it's hard to think clearly, and harder still to remember what helps.

That's where grounding techniques come in.

Grounding is the practice of bringing your mind and body back to the present moment. It helps interrupt intense emotional or sensory states, especially during anxiety, dissociation, or urges tied to trauma, self-harm, or eating disorders.

This post offers emergency grounding strategies you can use anytime, anywhere to help your nervous system settle. These aren’t meant to replace deeper therapeutic work — but they can be a powerful part of a safety toolkit.

When we think of self-harm, we often picture behaviors like cutting or burning — physical acts of injuring the body to cope with emotional pain. But for many individuals with eating disorders, self-harm can take other forms — often hidden, socially normalized, or misunderstood.

In fact, many eating disorder behaviors are self-harming in nature, even when they’re not labeled that way.

Bullying is a form of emotional, verbal, or physical harm that can leave lasting psychological effects—especially when experienced during childhood or adolescence. One of the less visible, but highly significant, outcomes of bullying is its connection to the development of eating disorders.

While eating disorders are complex, multifaceted illnesses, the role of peer victimization, body-based teasing, and chronic social stress is well-documented in the pathways leading to disordered eating. Understanding this link is essential for prevention, early intervention, and compassionate care.

Mirrors can be a complicated and emotional trigger in eating disorder recovery. For many, they become a tool for self-criticism, body-checking, or reinforcing negative thoughts. But do mirrors have to be the enemy? Not necessarily.

With time, boundaries, and self-compassion, mirrors can become a neutral or even positive part of your healing journey. Here’s how to navigate your relationship with mirrors in recovery.

Grocery shopping can feel overwhelming, stressful, or even triggering when navigating eating disorder recovery. The store is full of labels, diet culture messaging, and decision fatigue, which can make it a challenging experience.

But with the right strategies, mindset shifts, and self-compassion, grocery shopping can become a more neutral and even empowering experience.

Eating disorders have long been misunderstood as only affecting perfectionistic, appearance-focused individuals. But there’s growing recognition that many people with eating disorders — especially those whose struggles don’t fit the "classic" profile — are actually neurodivergent.

Whether it’s autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences, or other forms of neurodivergence, the overlap with disordered eating is real, under-recognized, and critically important for effective care.

For many families, mealtimes are meant to be moments of connection and nourishment. But when a child or teen is struggling with disordered eating, ARFID, anxiety, or appetite loss, meals can quickly become tense, exhausting battlegrounds.

In the age of social media affirmations and self-love slogans, many people are talking about body positivity — and more recently, body neutrality. Both movements aim to help people feel better in their bodies… but they’re not the same thing.

Despite the name, there’s nothing “less serious” about atypical anorexia. In fact, the symptoms, medical complications, and psychological distress are often just as severe — but because it doesn’t look like the stereotype, many individuals go undiagnosed, invalidated, and untreated.

Eating disorders are often misunderstood as attention-seeking behaviors or extreme diets — but the reality is far more serious. These are complex psychiatric illnesses that affect every system in the body. And for many, they can be deadly.

Eating disorder recovery isn’t linear — and sometimes the biggest wins are quiet, internal, or easy to overlook. While we often focus on the red flags (and those are important), it's equally vital to celebrate the green flags — the signs that recovery is taking root, even in small ways.