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Last updated on January 25th, 2025 at 10:38 pm
Eating disorder relapse is a common part of the overall recovery process of ed recovery for many people struggling with an eating disorder.
A relapse when it comes to an eating disorder does not mean:
- You have failed
- That you need to start all over with your ED recovery
- That you’ve taken a step back
- You will never recover or eat normally again
- That you don’t deserve help
Let’s explore the common causes of relapse of an eating disorder, how to prevent relapse, and where to get the treatment you need.
ED Relapse Meaning
An eating disorder relapse means that you have resumed one or more eating behaviors regularly.
An eating disorder relapse means:
- You’re engaging in food restriction behaviors
- Resuming purging behavior including
- You’re Compulsively exercising
- An uptick in mental food restriction
Rates of Relapse With an ED
It’s estimated that between 21-51% of people with eating disorders will have a relapse of symptoms at some point during the recovery process.
Frequency of ED relapse is more likely:
- The longer the eating disorder went without treatment
- Depending on the intensity of eating disorder symptoms
- Levels of body dissatisfaction
- With high levels of stress in the environment
- Age (prevalence of relapse increases with age)
Eating Disorder Relapse Triggers
Eating disorder relapse can be triggered by
- Adjustments in home environments
- Changes in medications
- Increased stress
- Body transitions like menopause
- Poor sleeping patterns
- Increased exposure to thin-privilege media
- Experiencing fatphobia or bullying
- Weight changes
- Pregnancy
- Starting a new relationship with an ED
- Aging
- Food shaming
- Seasonal changes
Commonly, multiple triggers that happen simultaneously are the perfect recipe for an ED relapse. It’s important that you are aware of these triggers so that you can seek out additional support if you know you will be undergoing any of these life changes.
19 Warning Signs of An ED Relapse
Let’s break down the warning signs for relapse into behaviors of moderate concern and immediate red flag behaviors for eating disorder relapse.
- Increased avoidance of food
- Obsessive thoughts about food
- Increased fear of gaining weight or preoccupation with current weight
- Urge to diet and lose weight
- Measuring or weighing food
- Counting macronutrients
- Counting carbs
- seeking out zero or low-calorie foods
- Increased body checking
- Hiding, sneaking, or hoarding food
- Convincing yourself you don’t need a meal plan
- Deciding to use an eating disorder behavior “just this once”
- Lying about eating
- Lying about purging
- Isolating yourself and/or avoiding social gatherings
- Sticking with only safe foods
- Cheating on your eating disorder recovery meal plan
- Thinking “I’ll compensate with exercise”
- Tracking food
If you are doing these things, talk with your healthcare team immediately! You may need to increase the frequency of visits with your eating disorder dietitian, therapist, or doctor.
Eating Disorder Relapse Prevention
The goal is to prevent one or a few eating disorder behaviors from spiraling into a full eating disorder relapse.
The best way to prevent an eating disorder relapse is:
- Fully weight restoring during recovery including any overshoot weight gain necessary
- Following a mechanical eating meal plan for as long as necessary to decrease the eating disorder voice, even if weight is restored
- Seeing your treatment team regularly, even if you feel like you are “fine”
- Having a support network that is HAES aligned
- Get rid of clothes that are too small
- Having meal support readily available when needed
- Acknowledging life events that are likely to cause triggers and seeking additional support
- Engage in intentional body-positive journal prompts about your recovery journey
What To Do If You Have an ED Relapse
Instead of using the term “relapse” try instead using the term “relearning.”
Linear eating disorder recovery is often a Myth. Think of ed recovery like a puzzle rather than a straight line. This can help you think about relapse behavior as simply being one piece of the complete puzzle rather than a failure.
It’s important to remind yourself that relapse is a normal part of eating disorder recovery.
5 Things to do if you have an ED relapse include:
- Take a deep breath and give yourself grace
- Tell someone you trust that you have relapsed
- Contact your treatment team and eating disorder dietitian to make a plan to get you back on track
- Acknowledge the relapse
- Work through any internal stigma about returning to treatment with your support team
For more support with an eating disorder, relapse checks out these eating disorder recovery books.
You can also check out my anorexia story to see my journey through multiple bouts of active eating disorder and the coping tools that helped me to fully recover from my ed.
These recovery tips can also help you stay strong during your journey if you notice symptoms of a relapse.
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