Eating disorders cripple the mind and heart with growing tumors of body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, and an overarching need for control. You cannot fix those things. That is a job for physicians, psychologists, and other mental health therapists who have been trained to work with these desperately needy, yet stubborn and defiant, people who are doing the best they know how to take control of their lives in a world they find scary, lonely, and confusing. Many factors contribute to the development of an eating disorder. For a discussion of the major problems, read our information on Causes .
Recovery means much more than replacing dieting, binge eating, and purging with healthy eating.
It means identifying the underlying dynamics that have brought the person to disordered eating in the first place and then resolving them. There is much you can do. You can be a friend, a parent, a spouse, a partner, a sibling, or some other relative, and there is great value in the support and encouragement you can provide in that role. What you cannot be is a trained clinician, and trained clinicians are what is required for recovery from an eating disorder. Therefore, your primary goal should be to get your young child formal treatment or encourage your adult child, friend, or loved one to talk matters over with a physician and obtain an evaluation from a mental health counselor.