Impact of Eating Disorder Recovery on Communication of Identity Through Food

Despite remaining stigmatized and regarded as taboo, eating disorders (EDs) affect millions of people around the world. They are also one of the deadliest mental health disorders, with over thousands of suicides every year being tied to EDs. Recovery from eating disorders is possible; however, there is an ongoing debate about what successful or complete recovery looks like. Most extant research about eating disorder recovery (EDR) is through clinical and biomedical perspectives. However, our understanding of how EDR impacts an individual’s identity is still lacking. When an individual experiences an illness or mental health disorder, such as an ED, they will commonly incorporate that experience into their identity via modified beliefs, physical adaptations and emotional realignment—a phenomenon known as adopting an illness identity. A similar phenomenon will likely occur when they experience EDR, in which they adopt a recovery identity. In general, individuals want to have their identity respected and affirmed, which requires an understanding of how they manage and thus communicate their identity. Food is a form of non-verbal communication, often steeped in cultural and personal beliefs and values. Humans also need to communicate about food regularly, particularly when they are in EDR. Thus, food is potentially an important part of an individual in DR’s identity, and an important method in which they communicate their identity. This study seeks to understand how individuals in EDR communicate their identity through food, and how they communicate about food. This study will utilize semi-structured interviews with adults who have been in EDR for at least one year in order to better understand how EDR impacts the ways in which individuals communicate their identity through food, as well as how it impacts the ways individuals communicate about food