1. I don’t want to — My persoal favorite.  My therapist usually refuse it with something equally as thoughtful, like “yeah, no kidding.”
2. I’m not sick enough -- Everyone (yes, everyone) has used this excuse at some point.  Other variations include:
   • I’m not thin enough / my weight is okay
   • My labs are okay
   • I don’t have serious health consequences
   • If it were really a problem, my spouse / doctor / friends / parents would have said something
3. I can’t take the time off from work – This one isn’t unreasonable… except for that whole part about having a life-threatening disorder.  You kinda need to be around (and relatively health) to do your job… don’t you think?
4. It’s too expensive -- Isn’t that the truth!  However, there are ways around this.  Lots of professionals / treatment centers can work with you on a sliding scale or scholarship.  There are free, research-run programs in some areas.  Still, lots of people DO (unfortuantely) run into the financial barrier.
5. I did treatment before, and it didn’t work – Third time’s the charm… or fifth, or tenth.  Lots of treatments (for mental or physical illness) don’t work the first time.  Personally, it took my having several negative experiences to figure out what is helpful for me.  I could think of lots of cliche’s to address this one: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”  Or, “Fall down seven times, get up eight.”  You get the point…
6. I can do this on my own — This is another one that everyone has used.  If that were true, you would have done it by now.
7. I’m not ready to recover and am waiting until I am 100% motivated – it seems that rarely motivation is not proportiona to sickness.  If you keep waiting… and waiting… not only are you going to be miserable during that period, but you’re continually putting your health in danger.  Sometimes it takes starting treatment to make you want to get better.
8. There’s no treatment near me — You’ll have to be creative.  Maybe you’ll have to drive, or go residential somewhere far away, or try online therapy…
9. I’m too old – Despite the stereotype, eating disorders are not liited to adolesent females.  In fact, something like 30% of the Renfrew Center’s patients are over 30.
10. Shame — So many people with eating disorders feel a lot of shame… along with many other internal demotivatos, like fear of disappointment, judgment, and rejection.  If you can just get over that initial fear for enough time to seek help, it’s something therapy can help you work on.

There are lots of reasons to NOT seek treatment, and many of them are valid.  However, reasonable or not, they are still excuses and they help keep you sick.

Note: While there is REAL research on barriers to treatment, this post only contains my opinion.  Maybe I’ll blog about the factual stuff later…

1. You measure the cost of things in nutrition appointments (ex: That shirt is one nutrition appointment. These shoes are worth two appointments).
2. You start dressing like your professionals (or maybe, they starts dressing like you…)
3. “Treatment” is a recurring event with no end date on your calendar.
4. You’ve never needed to purchase “Eating in the Light of the Moon” because at some point you have been given a photocopy of every chapter.
5. In group, no one sits in your seat, even when you’re not there (because you’ve been sitting there since last year).
6. The group therapist wishes you would just finish treatment already so that she could start recycling therapy topics.
7. You remember when some of the current therapists were interns.
8. You’ve modified the standard food log template to create your own (improved, of course)
9. Your therapist notices when you buy a new outfit (since she’s seen all of your other clothing).
10. When considering changing jobs, the new company’s mental health insurance is a deciding factor.

I am not guilty of all of these…. but more than a few.

1. Full recovery is possible (to the point of being “cured”)
2. EDs are symptoms of a deep-seeded childhood trauma or toxic environment
3. Treatment should not be forced upon those who don’t feel ready to recover
4. Weight gain goals should be 100% of ideal body weight
5. Meal plans and/or monitored exchange/calorie counting is necessary
6. Without working through the underlying psychological causes of the eating disorder, one cannot completely recover
7. Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating Disorder are all on one disordered eating continuum
8. Society is largely to blame for eating disorders
9. Spontaneous recovery is possible (without professional treatment)
10. The AN diagnosis should not be dependent on weight or menses