Faces of Recovery allows survivors and family members to tell their stories
The Waterloo-Wellington Eating Disorder Coalition hosted their annual Faces of Recovery event at the Guelph Youth Music Centre on Fri, Sept. 23. The event is used to gain awareness for eating disorders and to inspire others on their own path to recovery.
The event featured six panelists, comprised of people who have struggled with eating disorders and family members of those in recovery. The panelists took turns telling the audience about their journeys to receiving help and overcoming their eating disorders.
“The journey to recovery, as described by the panelists, is not a straight line.”
One of the panelists for this year’s event was Shai DeLuca-Tamasi, an interior design correspondent for Cityline and Breakfast Television. Last year, he brought his own struggle with anorexia to the public by telling his story on Cityline in order to raise awareness and to offer representation for men who suffer from eating disorders.
The organizers of the event asked those attending to keep the stories of the other panelists who spoke confidential.
The panelists each worked through a number of treatment procedures in order to reach their current point of recovery, such as group and individual therapy, in patient treatments and support from doctors and psychiatrists. It was noted that someone with an eating disorder is never necessarily “cured,” rather that they can remain “in recovery” with the proper support.
The family members on the panel explained their roles in the recovery process of their loved ones. Often this meant having structured meal times and ensuring food that entered the house would encourage recovery. Family members also expressed feelings of frustration during the treatment process, especially if the eating disorder was developed at a young age. The knowledge that their loved ones were receiving the help they needed, however, was able to provide them with comfort.
“Comments on weight should be avoided completely, as you never know how that comment will be received…”
The journey to recovery, as described by the panelists, is not a straight line. Often, urges and relapses can occur based on stressors in the person’s life. Part of recovery is learning that different people have different coping methods to handle stressful situations. Some of these methods include practicing mindfulness, which forces you to focus on the world around you in order to realign your thoughts. Further, they suggested that finding a passion to motivate your recovery is helpful. As the panelists described, eating disorders can be very isolating and being in recovery offers them the freedom to pursue other interests and passions.
Advice was also offered to the audience on how to speak to someone who is recovering from an eating disorder. Comments on weight should be avoided completely, as you never know how that comment will be received by the other person—whether it will encourage destructive behaviours or discourage recovery. It is more constructive to compliment someone on their personalities or other qualities which are not strictly physical.
Several of the panelists noted that they had once sat in the audience of Faces of Recovery while they continued to battle their own eating disorders and found inspiration through the event to improve their health. Organizers hope that this event will continue to inspire others to make steps towards their own recovery.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash.