DR MARIANNE MILLER
CARING EATING DISORDER TREATMENT IN SAN DIEGO AND THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, AND WASHINGTON D.C. FOR ADULTS & TEENS
Living With Adult ARFID: The Relationship Challenges No One Talks About
When most people hear the term ARFID, or Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, they often imagine children. ARFID is commonly misunderstood as a temporary phase of picky eating. In reality, many adults live with ARFID as a long-term, serious eating disorder that affects far more than just food. It shapes how people relate to their bodies, their emotions, and their relationships.
Adult ARFID can affect every area of life, including dating, long-term partnerships, parenting, friendships, and professional settings. Such relationship challenges are rarely discussed, even though they are often a source of chronic stress and grief. In this blog post, I explore how adult ARFID intersects with connection, autonomy, and sensory food issues, especially from a neurodivergent-affirming and trauma-informed perspective.
ADHD & Eating Disorders: The Overlooked Link
Why Neurodivergent Brains Need a Different Approach to Recovery
If you’re living with ADHD and struggling with disordered eating, you are not alone—and you’re not doing recovery wrong. You might simply need a framework that actually fits your brain. Research has consistently shown a strong link between ADHD and eating disorders. A 2020 meta-analysis found that individuals with ADHD are 3.82 times more likely to develop an eating disorder compared to those without ADHD (Nazar et al., 2020). And the connection doesn’t stop at binge-type disorders. Emerging research also highlights a significant overlap between ADHD and ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder)—with studies indicating that ADHD traits such as sensory sensitivities, low appetite awareness, and difficulty with food-related routines may increase ARFID risk, especially in children and teens (Kamberelis et al., 2022; Koomar et al., 2021).
Despite these links, ADHD remains widely underdiagnosed in eating disorder treatment settings—especially among women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals. And when it is recognized, the support often isn’t designed to address how ADHD actually affects eating.
How ARFID Traits Can Show Up in Recovery From Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating Disorder
When people hear the term ARFID—Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder—they often think of children with extreme food aversions. But here’s something less talked about:
👉 ARFID traits can show up during recovery from anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder.
If you’ve ever felt stuck with food fears, sensory overwhelm, or uncertainty about what’s “safe” to eat—even after doing a ton of recovery work—you’re not alone. These may not be lingering eating disorder behaviors. They could be ARFID traits that were always there, just hidden.
Let’s explore why this happens, how to recognize it, and what supportive, neurodivergent-affirming recovery can look like. 💛
Empower Your Practice in 2025: How My Self-Paced ARFID Training Course Supports Therapists, Dietitians, Medical Providers, and Community Members
If you're an eating disorder therapist, dietitian, medical provider, or community member seeking to better understand and support individuals with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), you're in the right place. My virtual, self-paced ARFID training course is designed to bridge the knowledge gap and provide the tools you need to effectively support those navigating this often misunderstood eating disorder. Taking this ARFID course will help you in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Toronto, Ontario, or London, England, UK, or anywhere in the world!
ARFID and Anorexia: Can They Co-Exist?
When thinking about eating disorders in San Diego, Los Angeles, and NYC, anorexia nervosa and ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) often come to mind. Both types of eating disorders involve avoiding or limiting food, but for very different reasons. So, is it possible to experience both at the same time? Let’s take a look at how these conditions might overlap.
An Open Letter to Parents of Teens and Young Adults With ARFID in 2024
This blog post is an open letter to parents with kids with ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder). Whether your child is young, a teen, or even a young adult, it’s important to know the complexities of ARFID and acknowledge the difficulties that all eating disorders have on the family system. Regardless of whether you live in San Diego, California, in NYC, or in London, UK, finding the right ARFID help is key.
ARFID: How to Deal With the Mental and Physical Health Risks
Struggling with ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) is no joke. I’ve been working with teens and adults for years in San Diego who have ARFID. My heart goes out to them. Whether you live in sunny San Diego or elsewhere in California, Texas, Florida, and other states or countries, having ARFID means that others misunderstand you, and medical providers frequently misdiagnose you. It’s so isolating. You may have a hard time keeping on weight. You feel uncomfortable going to restaurants and eating in front of other people. Friends and family often say to you “just eat” or ask, “Why can’t you get over it? It’s just food.” They don’t understand that food isn’t “just food” to you. It’s so much more.
An Open Letter to People Wanting to Recover in 2025: Find Freedom from ARFID, Binge Eating, Bulimia, Anorexia
To all of you who have spent years, even decades, struggling with an eating disorder, I hear you. I have experienced similar eating disorder challenges when I lived in San Diego, Denver, and Texas. I know that you want the suffering to stop.
How Neurodiversity and Eating Disorders Overlap (& How to get help in London, UK)
Since the pandemic began, an increasing number of my California eating disorder therapy therapy clients have demonstrated neurodiverse traits. If you live in or around London, UK, you likely have been watching social media, and when posts and videos come up about ADHD, OCD, or ASD traits, you may relate. It’s true that the stress and trauma of the pandemic has affected (and still affects) all of us. It’s also true that if you have an eating disorder, it’s likely that your behaviors have increased, and if you’re neurodivergent, your traits have become more noticeable. So let’s explore how neurodiversity and eating disorders overlap and how you can get help for it in London, England.