DR MARIANNE MILLER
CARING EATING DISORDER TREATMENT IN SAN DIEGO AND THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, AND WASHINGTON D.C. FOR ADULTS & TEENS
Chronic Eating Disorders in 2026: Why These Patterns Are Adaptive Not Failures
If you are living with a long-term or chronic eating disorder in San Diego, California and elsewhere, you have likely encountered the same message repeatedly. Recovery should have happened by now. You must not be trying hard enough. Something is blocking progress.
In 2026, it is time to name a different reality.
Chronic eating disorder patterns are not signs of failure. They are signs of adaptation.
Navigating a Long-Term Eating Disorder
Eating disorders are often described as short-term struggles, something you move through in a few years before recovery. Although that is true for some, the reality is very different for many people. For countless individuals, eating disorders can be long-term, lasting years or even decades. When an eating disorder becomes chronic, it does not mean you have failed. It means your nervous system, life experiences, and the conditions around you have combined in ways that make recovery more complex.