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How Those With Eating Disorders Can Prepare for summer

06 Apr How Those With Eating Disorders Can Prepare for summer

Posted at 13:23h in Advice by
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The anticipation of summer and its warmer weather can often heighten body image concerns amongst those in recovery from an eating disorder. The focus on bathing suits, skimpier clothing, and dieting to get “bathing suit ready” can be difficult to manage for individuals of any size and may exacerbate negative body image and eating disorders.

 For many with or recovering from eating disorders, wearing more revealing clothing such as shorts, sleeveless tops, and bathing suits is scary and something to avoid. Avoidance is a common response to anxiety. It can be adaptive when evading something truly dangerous, but the cost of avoidance can outweigh any benefits when what you’re avoiding is merely uncomfortable and not really hazardous.
 
Why Avoidance Coping Creates Additional Stress

Consider that you will probably draw more attention to yourself bundled up in a hoody on a 90-degree day than you will if you wear clothing that blends in with what everyone else is wearing while you soak up some sun.

One common mistake among those with or recovering from eating disorders is wanting anxiety to subside before engaging in a certain behavior—in this case, wearing summer clothing. However, the only way to get over anxiety is to face it. 

It is better to engage in activities now than to wait for a perfect opportunity that may never present itself. And then you’ve missed out—summer activities offer the opportunity for pleasure, socialization, movement, and vitamin D!

Preparing yourself

The deliberate facing of feared situations is a core component of cognitive-behavioral therapy and key to the successful treatment of anxiety and similar problems. This can be applied to summer clothing and activities as follows:

Rank summer-related situations from least to most scary. Make a list of summer-related situations that you avoid—or dread—and are likely to encounter like wearing shorts or sleeveless tops, going to the beach/pool in a bathing suit, or playing tennis.
 
Consider interim steps within these situations. If wearing shorts is a general fear, think about it in different scenarios—wearing shorts in your apartment, to the grocery store, or to an event with friends. Break down each situation further into different settings and rank-order them. This is called complete ranking your exposure hierarchy.
 
Go shopping. Once this work is one, shop for clothes that will allow you to conquer your exposure hierarchy. These clothes should be appropriate for summer activities. Most importantly they should fit now, even if you are unhappy with your current size and shape.
 
Practicing wearing clothes in less threatening settings. You can start at home and then progress to more scary, public settings. For example, shorts in the apartment, and then out in the neighborhood; a swimsuit in the house, then the pool on a less-crowded weekday, then the pool on a crowded weekend.
 
Track your progress. Note your distress level before, during, and after the exposure activities. Many people use a scale from 0-10 to rate their distress.
 
Try combining relaxation techniques with exposure. When you are exposing yourself to anxiety-provoking situations, try practicing relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises and imagery to help relax your body and lessen your anxiety response. Eventually, you’ll begin to feel more relaxed in these situations.
 
Reported from: https://www.verywellmind.com/
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