DR MARIANNE MILLER
CARING EATING DISORDER TREATMENT IN SAN DIEGO AND THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, AND WASHINGTON D.C. FOR ADULTS & TEENS
An Open Letter to High Achievers Struggling with Body Image and Binge Eating
Hey there high achievers, high performers, and perfectionists in California, New York, etc., who struggle with body image and binge eating. I’m talking directly to you. I, too, am a perfectionist, I’m a high achiever and high performer. I’ve also felt stuck in the binge eating cycle and wrestled with negative body image. It sucks to be amazing at every area of your life except for food, eating, and body image. You are so effective at what you do that it’s difficult not to be able to figure this darn thing out. That’s why I’m writing this letter to you. I want to give you a path outta here. I want to give you hope.
Freedom from Perfectionism--New Class by Eating Disorder Psychologist Dr Jennifer Douglas
Looking for amazing resources on perfectionism? Check out Dr. Jennifer Douglas, who has a strong presence on Instagram. She is a clinical psychologist who has worked at some of the top eating disorder treatment centers in the United States, including University of California at San Diego Eating Disorders Center and Stanford University Eating Disorders Program. One thing I really appreciate about Jen is that when helping folks with eating disorders free themselves from perfectionism, she takes a culturally sensitive and social justice approach. She loves working with people of diverse body sizes, genders, religions, abilities, ages, countries of origin, and sexual orientations. She used to live in San Diego and now resides in San Francisco. Perfectionism is a common struggle for people with eating disorders, so her class will be especially helpful for you and your loved ones!
Three Pointers for Pushing Back Perfectionism in Eating Disorder Recovery
Feel like you aren’t good enough? Always comparing yourself to others? Constantly cataloguing your faults and feeling like a failure? It sounds like you are struggling with perfectionism. It can be so challenging to fall into the “compare and despair” pit when you are in San Diego and there is such an emphasis on perfect looks and perfect achievement, materialistically or otherwise. Even elsewhere in the U.S. and around the world, perfectionism is a trait that can be common in people suffering from eating disorders.
As most eating disorder researchers and experts will say, eating disorders are brain disorders. When compared to brains of people without eating disorders, people with eating disorders have areas of their brains that don’t function as efficiently or effectively. What that means is that if you have an eating disorder, it’s not your fault. It’s not about willpower or about sucking it up to “just eat” or “just stop eating.” It’s about needing to get help to change how your brain works. Struggling with perfectionism AND an eating disorder can lead to (a) feeling like you have to be perfect, so you engage in eating disorder behaviors to try to be perfect, or (b) feeling disappointed or ashamed that you’re not perfect, so you you engage in eating disorder behaviors to counteract these emotions. Either way, perfectionism can be a challenge to recovery.