What is "recovery?"
How can one be "recovery" oriented?
How do we define this process?
Who gets to define this process?
Is there more than one way to "recover" from an eating disorder?
Let's explore some of these questions...
What is "Recovery?"
First of all, there is no standardized definition of "recovery" in the literature. Typically, the features of various definitions include several components, such as: the absence of eating disorder behaviours for a given period of time, certain physiologic parameters, and scoring on different psychological indices (questionnaires, etc.) as compared to healthy control subjects.
Knowing that there is no consistently agreed upon definition of "recovery" can be both frightening and liberating. Frightening in the sense of feeling adrift without a seemingly clear destination; liberating in the sense that this opens up the possibility of multiple conceptualizations of "recovery."
If there can be many ways to think of "recovery," then there can be many ways of describing, honouring, and pursuing it - what matters is how you define recovery, and the process that brings you towards it.
Some people find hope in the word "recovery;" some prefer other ways to describe their own process (e.g. "healing," "journey," etc.)
Some people find hope in a structured approach to "recovery," with clear expectations; others prefer a looser conceptualization that acknowledges the many intersections of privilege and disadvantage that impact our individual healing processes. For these individuals, a focus on quality of life can be more powerful in helping them move forward in their lives. This approach is not "less than" any other.
Some people may find formal supports from Western medicine and psychiatry helpful in their journey; some may prefer more traditional forms of healing or may not seek support from Western medicine and psychiatry.
Some people may seek higher levels of care to support them in their journey; others may never receive a formal diagnosis and seek support from peers.
While formal treatment programs and service providers may be required to more narrowly describe "recovery" and actions oriented towards it due to their own requirements, it is also important to reflect on what "recovery" means to you, outside of any specific treatment program or clinical setting. How can these specific definitions support you in the ways they can, and where do you take these concepts and expand them to fit your own unique circumstances?
What matters is what is meaningful to you. Sometimes the input of others is helpful in exploring what "recovery" means to you, but at the end of the day it is your story to write.
"Recovery" is a journey defined by you.
Whatever "recovery" means to you is valid, and however you choose to move towards your goals - through the many layers of healing in front of you - is also valid.
I do a lot of work with Vancouver Island Voices for Eating Disorders (VIVED.) Those of us in this community are grateful for the privilege we have as a grassroots organization, without formal requirements, to be able to offer individuals the space to explore what recovery means to them - we will never define that for you, but are happy to support you as you explore what this means to you, in your life.
We also recognize that treatment programs and clinical settings do not always have the same freedom to loosely define “recovery” in order to provide treatment their program and receive funding for services. That said, we hope that those navigating their own healing journey never feel bound to just one definition of recovery that is based in its own systemic limitations (even if there is a reason behind these.) In these situations, we encourage folks to take what is useful to them from those clinical spaces (things we as peers cannot offer in the same way), while also leaving what is not useful, and giving yourself room to conceptualize your healing process beyond systemic limitations.
Formal treatment can be vital to healing and each and every person deserves access to professional supports that enable them to pursue healing. However, when your needs are not met in these settings (for whatever reason), please know that this does not mean you have failed treatment, it is just that it is complicated and sometimes the system can only provide so much flexibility to expansive definitions and approaches to healing. Keep searching for supports and individual professionals who can humanize your therapeutic interactions and engagement with formal supports. While the system can seem unfeeling, there are those within it (and outside of it), who bring heart to the work of supporting those in their healing processes. Keep searching for them.
Keep finding and reclaiming your voice as write your story. This authorship is hard fought for, but that capacity lies within each of us, no matter what our struggles look like, or how long we have faced them.
- S.
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