Oh no, did Dr. Phil say that? Bummer — I really dislike him.

Yes, the needing food to survive part is definitely a big difference between EDs and addictions… in fact, I would say that that makes it harder to recover from an ED… but I’ve never had a drug or alcohol addiction, so I can’t really say.

Stephanie,

It seems like in Hollywood, rehab in general has become accepted….

House,

My point exactly — the healthy/disordered line is so fuzzy. And I think that the slips / accountability thing is about even more than just denial (although that does play a large part)…. With an eating disorder, you’re essentially communicating with your body (one of the functions of the ED, at least). Following the recovery plan 100% sometimes feels like you’re saying “I am 100% okay.” Also, it’s tough to give yourself permission to recover… so when you’re having a particularly bad day or are feeling crappy about yourself or recovery, it’s easy to cut corners. And when you’re told hey, it’s okay that you cut corners, you’re doing so much better and those corners don’t really even matter… then you’re ignoring those “I am feeling crappy” signs and pushing the fuzzy disordered/healthy line a little further (cutting corners = healthy).

Okay, this comment was not as well thought-out as I intended it to be… but I guess my ultimate point is that “slips” with eating disorders should be taken as seriously as they are with drug and alcohol addictions. And by slips, I don’t mean falling to a point where you’ve lost 10 lbs or are only eating 500 calories a day… Using occasionally isn’t okay — neither is skipping meals.

Thanks for your feedback, everyone!

I think that Dr. Drew would not stand for the “little slips” that people in recovery from an eating disorder get away with, which is exactly what people need. People with eating disorders are notorious for being in denial, a problem that is furthered when therapists or physicians don’t call them out and say “hey no, that is not ok.” However, the problem is – what counts as a slip? It is normal and healthy to eat salad and go to the gym, so where do you draw the line between healthy and disordered? Especially in today’s world where you have diet food everywhere, how do you tell someone with an eating disorder “no it is not ok for you to eat salad at both lunch and dinner everyday” when they see coworkers doing that as part of a diet? Whereas everyone agrees that doing cocaine even once is a problem, a slip in eating disorder recovery is not as clearly defined.

Yes, I like Dr. Drew a lot as well. His cook Cracked is pretty interesting.

I agree with your assessments of the similarities between addiction and eating disorders. The one big difference I’d say is that you don’t need alcohol or drugs, but your definitely need food. In any case, there is a lot to say in terms of being able to incorporate treatment of eating disorders with the addiction model.