When an autistic special interest turns into an eating disorder w/ Annamarie Ciccarello
How can an autistic special interest spiral into an eating disorder? In today's episode, I chat with Annamarie, a fellow autistic female and ED warrior. We discuss:
- Early health and nutrition education snowballing into an obsessive autistic special interest
- Disordered thoughts turning to secretive behavior, foregoing social activities due to fear of food exposure
- The transformation of the disordered special interest into a hyper-focus on recovery and ED recovery resources and science
- Learning to give herself time and space to recover in the way that works best for her. How Gradual vs All-In might be the preferred method for those on the spectrum
- Writing out the disordered food rules into a physical list helped conquer them one-by-one
- Severing the ties to comparison with others and standing up to the Eating Disorder Bully
- How an adult autism diagnosis helped overcome the challenges of ED Recovery; learning to pause and understand the why's and the where's of tendencies and disordered thought
- Feeling confused and different as a child and young adult without ever knowing why until the diagnosis
- Letting the mask down and tossing pressure to conform aside
- And finally, her practical, common sense advice for anyone out there with the will and want to recover
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