7 Things my Parents did which helped me in my recovery

1) They did their research and gained understanding about Eating Disorders so they were equipped for battle and weren't stumbling into it naively.

2) They didn't give me an option. Recovery was the only option.

3) They fought my Eating Disorder for me through giving me food which was my medicine. This past week I have had to give my 6 month old antibiotics twice a day and every time it was a screaming battle which I found distressing but he needed his medicine otherwise he would become sicker, it is the same with food. It will be distressing watching your child be distressed while eating but it is their medicine and if they don't have it they will become worse. Trust me they will probably hate you now but thank you for fighting for them one day. By them not giving me an option even though it was my worst fear it was almost a sense of relief that they would force me to eat because I needed it and I wanted it my eating disorder just didn't.

4) They had rewards and consequences in place around my eating. I wasn't allowed to do certain things if I didn't have my meals. I had to gain a certain amount of weight to be able to go to nationals for dance.

5) They spent time with me. They would talk to me, hold me while I cried, watched movies with me, did other activities with me and would write me encouraging notes everyday. Through this it helped me feel more normal and all I needed was to feel comforted and distracted while the Eating Disorder was raging at me.

6) They showed me a constant firm love while fighting for me and getting me to eat and go to therapy where they would have to be strong with no compromise as this is what I needed in recovery but there was also a different type of love which they showed and was very needed and this love was a comforting, encouraging, supportive and reassuring love where they would hold me as I cried, they would reassure me it was all going to be ok.

7) They saw me as Jess, their precious daughter and spoke to me as they would their daughter and tried to silence the voice of the eating disorder.