Recovering Identity from Anorexia Nervosa: Women's Constructions of Their Experiences of Recovery from Anorexia Nervosa Over 10 Years

Abstract

There is little consensus about the meaning of recovery in anorexia nervosa with most studies focusing on researcher selected variables of weight gain and improvement in eating disorder symptomatology. There is also a paucity of research that focuses on how the experiencing person themselves define recovery and whether this term is useful to them to depict their journey of reclaiming their life and identity from anorexia nervosa. This article explores 21 Australian women's experiences of anorexia nervosa (AN) over 10 years and the ways they negotiated their identities in relation to the question of recovery. The research interviews sought to provide a context for these women to speak on their own terms, terms not confined to the medical discourse. The discursively constructed category of recovery was troublesome for the majority of these women, despite the researcher inadvertently taking up this category in lines of questioning, particularly in the earlier interviews. Most troubling for the women was the assumption that recovery erased their experiences with the expectation that they should return to a pre-illness state. On the other hand, speaking on their own terms-including the use of metaphor and (re)authoring their experiences as an identity journey-was significant in scaffolding the women toward narratives of reclaiming their lives and identities from AN and its effects. The women in this study refused to confine the terms of their speaking to a recovery discourse; instead, they honored the narratives of their experiences and histories as profound in their identity formation. The implications of this research are significant given that the majority of research and many treatments to date confine the terms of speaking to the "anorexia" discourse.Recovery isn't so much about the disease process, or recovering from it, it's about recovering yourself; it's about reclaiming your place in the world. (Avalon)This article opens with a quote from Avalon (a participant in this research study), who, in authoring shifts in her relationship with anorexia over time, used the notion of "reclaiming" identity through a sense of "place in the world" rather than recovery. This research study began

Labeling and defining severe and enduring anorexia nervosa: A systematic review and critical analysis

“…When discussing the labeling and defining of mental health conditions, it is important to remember that language does not neutrally describe an individual or their experience, but instead denotes meaning. In research using discursive analysis by Conti (), medical discourse is described as categorising individuals into those that are sick and/or disordered, from those who are not. With most patients experiencing SE‐AN for a significant period of time, any label prescribed to them may be incongruous to their deeply formed identity.…”

“…With most patients experiencing SE‐AN for a significant period of time, any label prescribed to them may be incongruous to their deeply formed identity. Therefore, some individuals refuse to follow rigid dualistic guidelines, instead opting to exist somewhere within their own terms (Conti, ). It is therefore a necessity that identity formation be respected in any professional encounter with patients who have a lived experience of AN.…”

“It also taught me a lot about myself”: A qualitative exploration of how men understand eating disorder recovery

“…( … ) I don't know if I believe that full recovery is possible ( … ) I think you are always in recovery, I don't think you are ever recovered. These men positioned themselves differently on the notion of recovery that assumes that there is an endpoint to the ED that is recognisable and definable by oneself and/or others [19]. Mike positioned himself as "close to recovery", Stevie as "a work in progress" whereas Paul eschewed the notion that "full recovery is possible".…”

“It exists”: An exploratory study of treatment experiences in men with eating disorders

“…Information was collected around help-seeking and receiving treatment for eating disorder by men from Australasia and North America. Several subthemes were not unique to men, such as minimisation of ED symptoms (Akey, Rintamaki, & Kane, 2013), lack of understanding by others of the ED experience (Tierney, 2008), the importance of person-centred treatment and understanding health professionals (Federici & Kaplan, 2008) and the struggles and insights developed into oneself through recovering life from an ED (Conti, 2018). On the other hand, a number of issues emerged that were specific challenges for men with EDs, which provided a context where these men's ED struggles were exacerbated.…”