People with Binge Eating Disorder might be used to hearing that binges — a symptom of their eating disorder — are the result of a lack of willpower. Not only is BED not an issue of willpower, but it’s a complex neurobiological mental illness, just like all eating disorders. The physiological, psychological, and emotional components of the disease are powerful and can’t be overlooked. Here’s what everyone should know about binge eating disorder.

While certain assumptions remain prevalent for many people, reductive misconceptions leave behind considerations of critical eating disorder characteristics, specifically symptomatic behavior, like the experiences shared by Rayah’s participants: Jeffrey, Nicole, and Joyce. Read on to hear more about their lived experience and participation in her project.

Colleen McAteer blogs about healing her relationship with movement, and rediscovering the joy of playing basketball non-competitively.

In a society that deems “health-consciousness” a moral virtue, many people fail to recognize that an all-consuming fixation with “health can be incredibly destructive. In this latest blog post, Sophie Smith discusses her struggles with orthorexia and how the illness transformed her into someone she virtually couldn’t recognize. We are deeply inspired by how Sophie found HEALing, now pursuing advocacy work to assist those also recovering in our “wellness”-obsessed culture.

Under a medical framework that glorifies weight as a barometer of health, weight stigma is deeply pervasive. Doctors’ anti-fat behaviors and remarks (and blanket prescriptions to “just lose weight”) cause so much trauma and harm. High school junior Siya Angras relays how from the age of 10, she was told her body was not good enough and that she must be “unhealthy”. This fueled her struggles with an eating disorder, especially as she navigated diagnoses of high cholesterol and PCOS and faced both South Asian and U.S. beauty standards.

Eating disorders cannot be entirely ascribed to one’s cultural upbringing; folks from all backgrounds are deeply affected. Yet one’s relative degree of access to diagnosis and equitable care is often linked to their identity. Alison D’Mello explores the nuances of how Indian American culture shaped her experience with an eating disorder and offers powerful advice to those systemically excluded from the eating disorder space.

For those struggling with disordered eating, birthdays can be deeply distressing times. Melissa Kaufman powerfully details how one birthday proved to be life-altering as she challenged her eating disorder’s loud voice and enjoyed a delicious treat with her mother and sister. That day, she boldly determined to savor the gift of life and found unbridled freedom, joy, and connection.

For the children of immigrants, the coinciding of two seemingly disparate cultures with equally unattainable beauty and “wellness” standards can shape a multi-faceted struggle with disordered eating and body image. 17-year-old journalist Serena Li describes her journey to find HEALing from diet culture and navigate her identity as a young Chinese American woman.

The DSM-5 is often hailed as the cornerstone of clinical psychology and psychiatry. Yet Project HEAL Ambassador Regina Colie illuminates how the DSM-5 often upholds structural oppression in the mental health space and imposes rigid labels on what are in fact deeply individualized struggles influenced by socio-political factors. As a future clinician, Regina harbors so many critical insights.

Having underwent inpatient treatment while in recovery from an eating disorder, Tori understands firsthand the importance of community-based, group support for catalyzing HEALing. That’s why she founded Sesh, a mental health platform that renders group support more accessible than ever. Project HEAL is proud to partner with Sesh, and we completely agree that cultivating safe, equitable spaces for storytelling and recovery is absolutely paramount.

Many people are growing increasingly cognizant of how the “thin ideal” permeates every facet of society. HEALers Circle member Allyson Ford reminds us that intersectional systems of oppression inject many other “ideals” in our individual and collective psyches as well; thus, our bodies are inherently political. While body positivity is not truly possible without liberation for all bodies, we can work on body neutrality, and as an eating disorder therapist and survivor, Allyson provides invaluable wisdom regarding this.

Healing from an eating disorder often elicits complex emotions of confusion, frustration, and self-doubt; distressing thoughts about “not being sick enough” or “not recovering the ‘right’ way” are unfortunately all-too-common. HEALers Circle member Katy Gaston shares the incredible insights she’s derived from her own recovery journey and her abundant clinical experience, assuaging these concerns and reminding us that healing is never black-and-white.

Project HEAL Ambassador Regina Colie sits down and interviews three NYC-based therapists who specialize in eating disorders. They highlight everything from the anti-Black roots of fatphobia & the perils of social media to the limits of preaching “self-love” & the significance of curiosity in recovery. We truly appreciate the insights and experience they bring!

Due the virulent anti-fatness that permeates society, we tend to praise restrictive eating disorder behaviors that result in weight loss while vilifying binge-eating and weight gain. Project HEAL Ambassador Lexie Manion relays how she was consequently deemed “gross” and “unworthy” when struggling with a debilitating eating disorder. Through the fat liberation movement, she was able to find a supportive community that catalyzed a transformation in her understanding of weight and “health”. We are reminded that all individuals with eating disorders deserve unwavering compassion and equitable, life-saving care.

Oftentimes, we think of recovery as culminating in a golden moment where we’re suddenly liberated from the chains of our eating disorder and everything is forevermore good and well. In this piece, Naomi Devlin reminds us that this couldn’t be further from the truth—HEALing is messy and confusing, and that’s totally okay. We can be struggling AND worthy at the same time, and embracing our human “imperfection” is incredibly freeing.

Neutrality is often upheld as a key tenet in clinical spaces. Yet as Rachel Wang illustrates in this piece, the pernicious dogma to “stay out of politics” causes tremendous harm to folks who fall outside the dominant eating disorder narrative. After all, one’s identity and culture are inextricable from their relationship with food. Rachel thus underscores the importance of anti-racism and cultural humility for providers and reminds us of our collective duty to dismantle the treatment barriers faced by Asian Americans.

In this deeply impactful piece, Sydney Johnson highlights the link between obsessive-compulsive disorder and eating disorders, instigating a conversation sorely needed in recovery spaces. We are furthermore taken on her courageous journey to find her most authentic, liberated self—the self that makes lifelong memories and empowers others to wholeheartedly embrace themselves.

In recent years, the body positivity movement has achieved great prominence, with many regarding it as a means of promoting self-love and hence minimizing its social justice roots. As Project HEAL Ambassador Grace Bragdon illustrates, the co-opting of body positivity by thin folks epitomizes a deeply problematic trend in which those with certain privileges capitalize on movements established by and for individuals with marginalized identities. We are reminded that what many deem “body positivity” is virulent anti-fatness, just glamorously concealed and repackaged.

Rarely do we explore the intersection of pregnancy, parenting, and eating disorders, yet Amber probes this oft-neglected junction through powerful storytelling. In this piece, she relays how she navigated eating disorder treatment as an expectant mother and relentlessly strove for freedom — freedom from her disorder AND freedom to live her own life. She continues to approach this journey with valor, vulnerability, and compassion, leaving us deeply inspired.