Coping with an Eating Disorder During the Holidays

The holiday season is most often associated with traditions like traveling, spending time with family or friends, and tempting feasts. While these traditions can elicit feelings of anticipation and joy, they can also provoke stress anxiety and loneliness — especially for people who face mental health or substance use challenges, including eating disorders.

Eating disorders affect approximately 30 million people the United States, most often women between the ages of 12 and 35, and result in severe disturbances in their eating behaviors and distorted thoughts and emotions about how their body looks or feels. People with eating disorders typically become preoccupied with food and their body weight.

Wherever you are on your journey to recovery from an eating disorder, social events and family gatherings that involve food can be stressful, making this time of year potentially triggering and difficult. It’s important that you prepare a few strategies in advance to protect your mental health.

Here are five tips to help cope with an eating disorder during the holidays:

1. Create a plan. As you prepare for upcoming events, create a plan to help you get through it and manage any stressors. This may include finding a quiet place to go if you’re feeling anxious, having someone to call or text, writing down topics of conversation that you can turn to if you feel nervous, or creating a mantra or affirmation you can repeat internally if the need arises.
2. Have a support system. Whether they’re attending the event with you or are someone you can reach out to by call or text, have someone to turn to if you’re feeling anxious or stressed. Having a dependable social support system can have a positive impact on your overall mental health, combat social isolation and loneliness, and be especially helpful during a crisis.
3. Practice self-care. Find coping mechanisms that bring you joy and reduce your stress. This can include things like exercise, meditation, journaling, and getting a good night’s rest. If you feel stressed in the moment, breathing exercises can be an easy, quick way to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.
4. Shift your focus. Remind yourself of what the holidays mean to you and focus on the positives. You can practice this by creating a gratitude journal — take a few minutes every day to think about what you are grateful for and write it down. This will help you build the habit of focusing on the good from each day and event.
5. Don’t be afraid to say no. You may feel pressure to attend every event this holiday season, but it’s important to protect your time, space and mental wellbeing. If you don’t want to do something, don’t feel like you have to. Healthy boundaries are vital.

By taking time to plan ahead of holiday events and practice self-care, you can #BeTheDifference for yourself and manage symptoms of an eating disorder. It’s also important to remember that this is a journey that will get easier day by day. Focus on what you can do today to take care of your mental health.