Resources and guidelines for parents who have an adult child with an eating disorder
If you have an adult child with an eating disorder, you’re probably desperate for resources and information to help you navigate this difficult situation. The good news is that we’ve got the resources you need to figure things out and start helping your adult child recover from their eating disorder.
Your child hits 18 and all of a sudden you have so much less control and ability to help them out of tough spots. Most parents with kids who are over 18 feel cut out and excluded from their child’s eating disorder recovery … even if the parents are the ones paying for it. This puts you in a really difficult spot. But as hopeless as it may feel at times, there is a lot you can do to support your adult child’s recovery from an eating disorder.
We’d like to help you figure out what you can do to support your adult child as they face and eating disorder and undergo the recovery process. Eating disorders don’t have to be a life sentence – people can and do recover!
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When your adult child has an eating disorder
There are many things that are out of your control when your adult child has an eating disorder. But that does not make you powerless. Every parent has incredible influence over their child’s emotional health at any age. Here are the things I recommend parents do when an adult child has an eating disorder.
⭐ Tip: Learn about the triggers that your child may need to avoid during recovery, especially stress.
⭐ Tip: The better you understand eating disorders, the greater your chance of helping your adult child recover.
When your college student gets an eating disorder
If your child has come to you with news that they have an eating disorder, ask about their diagnosis. Congratulate and thank them for being proactive about seeking support, and assure them that you are proud of their bravery. Avoid throwing doubt on the diagnosis or questioning the person who made the diagnosis. For right now, try to keep communication open by asking questions in a positive, respectful tone.
How to be a good parent when your child has an eating disorder
Don’t worry about being perfect. Perfect parenting doesn’t exist. All you have to do is keep learning, and keep applying what you learn to the real-life laboratory of parenting. Being a good parent when your child has an eating disorder may be challenging, but you’ve got everything it takes to succeed.
< More About Parenting With Eating Disorders
free cheat sheet: Parenting A Child With An Eating Disorder
⭐ Get ready for recovery and find out how you can prepare yourself for maximum success.
⭐ Find out the essential steps and family rules you need to have in place for recovery.
⭐ Make your home recovery-ready with six simple steps that anyone can do.
All Articles About Parenting Your Adult Child With An Eating Disorder
When your college student gets an eating disorder
If your college student has an eating disorder it can be disorienting and terrifying. Eating disorders are most often diagnosed between the ages of 18 and 21 years of age. So it’s not uncommon to find out about them in college. One of the biggest…
Why adult kids don’t come home for the holidays
Very few parents envision a future in which their adult kids don’t come home for the holidays. In fact, most of us picture a future in which we are surrounded by a loving, happy family of our kids and their kids, multiple generations joyously spending…
How to love your +18 child with an eating disorder
by Reba Tobia If your +18 child has an eating disorder, you may have a lot of feelings about it, and you may even wonder how to love them through this. As someone who has been through eating disorder recovery, I’d like to offer you…
Ask Ginny: My grown daughter binge eats
Dear Ginny, I have noticed something that really concerns me. When I get together with my grown daughter, she binge eats a lot of unhealthy food. When she was growing up, she was always on the chubby side, but she dieted a lot and generally…
My adult child hid her eating disorder for years
by Anonymous I thought I had a strong, well-adjusted child, until I found out that she hid an eating disorder from me for years. I’m still struggling with my guilt that I did not know. I did the best I could; I know this. She…
Longing to be seen. Wishing to be held.
By Kristen My eating disorder began when I was 18. At the time of its initial inception, I would have met the criteria for anorexia but, by the time I entered treatment some 20 years later, my diagnosis was bulimia. Either way, I had an eating disorder…
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Parent Scripts For Eating Disorder Recovery
Use these scripts:
- At the dinner table when behavior is getting out of control
- When you need to set boundaries – fast!
- After something happened so you can calmly review the triggers and events