On Finding Purpose.

An ED is often the result of one's need to find an overarching goal, or purpose, for one's life. A person who develops an ED may feel lost and confused about the greater meaning of life. They are often over-achievers and goal-oriented, and always want to be working towards something. Something concrete. The ED gives the person just that, a concrete goal in numbers.. the goal to lose as much weight as quickly as possible and to count calories and over-exercise and do whatever it may be to meet that goal. Suddenly, the person feels as though they have a purpose. Their purpose is to starve, to lose weight, to control their intake.

Part of recovery, then, becomes a process of redirecting. Oftentimes, people who develop ED's have high energy, and like I said, are always moving towards a goal. Thus, in recovery, the person needs to redirect their focus and goal from controlling their weight to positively controlling something else in their lives (i.e. applying for a job they really want, pursuing a hobby they are incredibly passionate about, etc). This redirection is extremely difficult, of course, because the person is so entrenched in their ED and that is all they know. To redirect that focus is to relearn everything they know about how they've organized their lives and coped with everything. Yet this refocusing is possible, and as time goes on, it gets easier and easier. The person learns new behaviors and can develop a newfound love in another aspect of their lives, other than weight control.

What the struggler of the ED needs to learn is to find purpose. Find ANOTHER purpose other than their ED, something that makes them want to live life to its very fullest (and not just passively on the sidelines). I believe that any strong treatment plan for someone struggling is to help the individual identify what it is in their life that they can refocus on, or a positive addition to their life that they can integrate and replace the ED with. When one recovers from an ED they don't know what to turn to. They feel empty. With a redirection and another huge goal for themselves, they will no longer feel that sense of confusion and unrest. They will have a beautiful landscape of goals ahead of them to work towards. That's the beauty of recovery.

ED.