Anxiety and Eating Disorders: Creating a Recipe for Resilience

Blog Post by Sarah Roullier

From the outside looking in, anxiety and eating disorders may sound completely unrelated, when in fact, the two experiences often go hand in hand. Roughly 65% of individuals struggling with disordered eating also experience an anxiety disorder. This may come as no surprise to some, while others may be overwhelmed at the thought of coping with both issues at once. Either way, you are not alone, and you’ve come to the right place! 

What do anxiety and eating disorders have in common?

Just as there are many different types of eating disorders, there are also a variety of anxiety disorders. Rather than dissect all of the different categories, let’s take an overall glance at some common themes and examples of each. 

Excessive Fear or Worry 

Clinical anxiety differs from everyday worries in its persistence and intensity. For someone with an eating disorder, this excessive worry and fear may show up in numerous ways. For example, some may experience an intense fear of particular foods, types of foods, calorie counts, or macros. Lots of people living in our thin-obsessed culture experience fear of weight gain, and for those with eating disorders, this fear can be debilitating.

Control

It is common for an individual to sense a lack of control in both eating and anxiety disorders. A characteristic of generalized anxiety disorder is difficulty controlling worry. Similarly, many people struggling with disordered eating express a sense of loss of control, and a longing to regain control - which is often expressed through disordered eating behaviors like restriction, purging, or compulsive or excessive exercise. 

Self-Evaluation

Whether a person has anxiety, an eating disorder, or both, their tendency to self-evaluate may be rooted in perfectionism, low self-esteem, wanting approval from others, or simply holding oneself to unreasonably high standards. 

Difficulty Coping 

Coping techniques can look very different for anxiety and eating disorders. Our bodies often attempt to cope with anxiety through emotional and physical symptoms such as tense muscles, fast breathing, or irritability. In those with disordered eating, the disorder itself is often rooted in the instinctive ways a person has coped with painful experiences and emotions. The difficulty to cope is arguably the most important commonality to explore as we aim to honor the ways we have instinctively coped in the past, while developing beneficial, more sustainable ways of coping moving forward. 

Recipe for Resilience

Educating ourselves on the above similarities is essential, not for the sake of overwhelming us, but to empower us to discover a more effective plan for healing. We can call this plan your own individualized “recipe for resilience.” When a therapist develops a treatment plan, they don’t solely go by the textbook to address your symptoms. Your individual strengths, resources, and experiences with resilience should be considered. Whether you have a current therapist or not, think of your pre-existing strengths and use these to your advantage. Maybe you have always had the strength of offering words of encouragement to others. Here is your opportunity to take that a step further and incorporate your strength by offering positive and encouraging words to yourself this time. To get you started, here is an example of a recipe for resilience that includes a variety of coping skills that may be beneficial for simultaneously addressing your anxiety and eating disorder. Feel free to take what resonates with you and add in your own ingredients!

Author

Sarah received her MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University in 2020 and connected with Rock Recovery as a volunteer in 2022. She has a passion for helping individuals discover their unique strengths and grow in self-awareness in order to overcome any of life’s challenges. She additionally enjoys supporting various organizations in their goal to help people thrive and heal in whatever way she can. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado where she hopes to continue pursuing a career in the mental health field. 

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). 

Arzt, N. (2022). Anxiety and eating disorders: Understanding the connection. Choosing Therapy. https://www.choosingtherapy.com/anxiety-and-eating-disorders

Bulik, C. M. (1995). Anxiety disorders and eating disorders: A review of their relationship. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 24, 51-62.

Deboer, L. B., & Smits, J. A. (2013). Anxiety and Disordered Eating. Cognitive therapy and research, 37(5), 887–889. 

Jongsma, A. E., Peterson, L. M., McInnis, W. P., & Bruce, T. J. (2014). The child psychotherapy treatment planner (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.