How to Talk to Someone else with an Eating Disorder

Through a twist of fate, I got lunch with a woman, let’s call her Rachel, from my church small group. We both had dance class on Tuesday and Thursday; she was the session before me. After a few awkward get-to-know-you questions and half-hearted munching, we stumbled into our eating disorders.

If you have ever had one of those conversations, it’s thrilling. It’s like figuring out you are both obsessed with the same 90s sitcom.

Rachel and I became fast friends. Since it was early in the semester, we decided to have lunch every week. We got to know each other better, and each other’s eating disorder better. It was helpful and a relief to have someone to talk to about my struggles.

That initial bond is enormously significant. It cemented a relationship that might not have otherwise happened. I now had an ally and a confidant. She became the person who I bounced ideas off and talked to about recovery strategies.

It was vital to my recovery journey, but it was also dangerous. Thankfully, Rachel and I were in the same stage of our journeys, and we desperately wanted to get better. If we hadn’t been, the situation could have played out a lot differently.