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Helping the Anorexic Deal with Holidays

For most of us the holidays seasons are welcomed with open arms, they are a time when families get together, eat, drink and be merry. For the anorexia sufferer they are a true nightmare.

What could possibly be worse than having family reunions and vast amounts of food to eat?
Christmas and Thanksgiving are a pleasure for the average person, something to be enjoyed a good excuse for over indulging on your favourite foods, but can you imagine the horror that Thanksgiving must bring to the sufferer of anorexia.

Any normal day for them mealtimes are faced with dread, not to mention members of the family that will have to met and time shared with. It's something that we all take for granted and a time most of us will enjoy but we don't stop and think of the additional stress and strain holiday times must bring to the sufferer of an eating disorder.

For the anorexic Christmas will mean nothing but another year has passed by and nothing has changed. All of us feel a little melancholy around the holidays but for the anorexic this feeling can be ten fold, they will feel especially lonely and different from others around them.

Then of course friends and family will drop by, perhaps an aunt that you haven't seen all year, of course the drastic change will be noticeable and comments sure to be made about the appearance of the sufferer.

The actual Christmas dinner will be a nightmare especially if the anorexic sufferer has the added problem of there being guests to contend with. What for most of us is a time for rejoicing, for getting together, for being thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas is looked upon as the closest thing to a living hell.

But with a little thought and pre-planning before hand these particularly stressful times for the anorexic can be made a little easier to contend with. More so if the sufferer has admitted to having a problem and is on the way to recovering, the anorexic can prepare them selves before hand by asking them selves a series of questions and being prepared to deal with the situation by there answers.

Plan realistic goals for achieving, the worse thing is to set them selves a target that they couldn't possibly hope to achieve. Ask yourself what would your family expect of you? What part of the family gathering are you most concerned about?

Answer yourself honestly and set goals from these answers. Sharing your questions and answers with a friend or family member can help you clarify them and the goals you wish to achieve.

Copyright Clipp.org

Further Reading
http://www.anorexiasurvivalguide.com/

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