What is a trigger?
It is a social, situational, environmental, psychological, or physiological factor that has the power to evoke a negative reaction and push those with ED tendencies to act on those compulsions to find distraction, relief, or escape.
One of the common triggers in the eating disorder population is change as it brings in a slew of unknowns and uncomfortable emotions that must be worked through, the eating disorder providing a way to dampen the emotions and cope with the chaos.
Obviously, in our world change is inevitable. Hardly anything is static as we change schools, jobs, grades, houses, states and on and on.
So, if change is inevitable and change commonly triggers eating disorder behaviors, how can we navigate this trigger in order to maintain or push farther into recovery rather than allowing it to push us backwards into the comfort of our eating disorder behaviors?
The first step: Identify your trigger/triggers. Don’t ignore or avoid them.
In our recovery journey there will be relapses which can be disheartening and discouraging. HOWEVER, when you come upon a relapse you have two options: (1) Ignore and fall back (2) Identify and push through. See, the positive of a relapse is its provision of an opportunity to reflect and determine what event, factor, or situation caused a slip? This simple question then enables us to identify our triggers.
I say time and time again that a known enemy is easier to fight and conquer. So, once we identify the trigger or enemy causing us to stumble in our recovery journey, we can then set up specific measures to help us prevent a similar situation down the line.
I call these my guardrails, and even two years into full recovery I use them religiously to help prevent any setbacks!
So, what are the specific guardrails we can use when change, or another trigger, threatens our recovered state?
Do NOT skip any meals. Thinking about my recent move from VA to OK it would have been an easy thing to do. Everyone is preoccupied mentally with the giant to-do-list towering over us and our schedule is all sorts of thrown off. But I know skipping a meal is just allowing my ED to get a foothold in my life so no matter what I eat three meals a day. Period.
Keep following that meal plan. When you eat, make sure you are eating enough and as much variety as possible! Also pack those snacks and keep those portions on track for whatever your dietitian has recommended. I know it may not seem like a big deal to alter your eating habits until the storm has passed, but you do not want to give your ED ground. We all know when its given an inch, it takes a mile.
Incorporate those challenge foods. Maybe you feel life is currently stressful enough with whatever trigger has taken over and threatened your recovery but now is not the time to slow down. It is the time to push harder. I know it is hard to do, but not slowing down when it comes to food challenges is important.
Bring a trusted person into the equation. You do not have to go through these difficult times alone. For me, I inform my husband when I perceive I am in a “high risk” situation for relapse. This provides an extra set of eyes, helping hands, and encouraging words to the scenario keeping me not only accountable, but well supported through hard times.
Engage mentally. Now is the time to bring out that reframing tool I love so much and use the truth that you know to push out those threatening lies. For example, during this drive to Oklahoma, being on the road for 3 days and using multiple other days for packing and unpacking my ED could easily try to convince me that my inactivity will hurt my progress in the gym or maybe that I am being lazy. Rather than letting this lie swirl around in my head, I can counter it by repeating the truth to myself that a few days off will not hurt my progress and I am not being lazy but giving myself time to rest and handle the task at hand: moving.
Use alternative coping skills/behaviors. Your eating disorder is just that, a maladaptive coping behavior for hard and challenging times. However, there are lots of healthy ways to cope with hard things that can be found with a google search or by talking to a wonderful therapist. Some suggestions include: taking a bubble bath, playing with play-dough, listening to music and dancing in the kitchen [my personal favorite], aromatherapy, getting a massage or some nails done, going on a walk, listening to a podcast, journaling
The biggest thing is to simply continue pursuing recovery as normal despite the threat and trying your best to set-up practices that enable you to do this well and with minimal discomfort. And I know it seems like a lot, and it can take a while to identify those triggers and then determine what guardrails can be set in place to help keep us away from going over a cliff and falling into relapse, but by taking the time to reflect and be intentional about recovery you can set yourself up well for success when triggers appear and threaten to push you over the edge.
And as always, I am here if you need to talk or have further questions about how you can navigate ED triggers to keep yourself on the path to recovery!