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How Long Does it Take to Recover from Bulimia or Anorexia? Part 1

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Category: Healing Resources

Realistic Answer How long will eating disorder recovery take? This is a reasonable question. Not only can I not provide a specific time, but also I can't guarantee that someone will indeed recover. And I certainly can't support an answer many people want,\i.e. days or a weekend or at most, a quick stay in a residential program. The question is complex with a different answer for every individual. If you are still reading after this undesirable news, please let me talk a little about eating disorders and recovery.
Purpose of an Eating Disorder People develop eating disorders for a reason. Eating disorders help a person cope with living when the person has not developed other ways to successfully take care of herself.

Healing Tasks Healing has to do with developing a competent, mature and aware sense of self and awareness in the world. It has to do with restarting stalled emotional development so that the person can take care of herself realistically in the face of simple and complex life challenges. How long does it take to accomplish the required developmental tasks? A substantial period of time from several years to many years, depending on the challenges of each individual.

Recovery is a Process But please don’t despair at the thought of the time involved. Recovery is a process. As you move through time and stages of recovery, you reap benefits as you go. Your life improves as you gain more health. During the healing work, yes, you will need courage to face your pain. But you will also experience joy as you discover the authentic worthwhile you. I’ll write more about the recovery process in my next post.

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