I really needed to get this off my chest. There is one creator in particular who has become a HUGE trigger for me. I’m not usually triggered by everyone who displays these behaviors online- I’m actually pretty good at scrolling past content that isn’t healthy for me. But this person is different because I have never seen someone’s ed mirror mine so closely. The OCD aspects. The routines. The rigidity. The rules around food. The way restriction can be disguised as “I’m just picky,” “Nothing wrong with knowing what you like,” or “I’m just really healthy.” Or claiming you’re in recovery, when you only introduce one new food into your routine that year. And that similarity hits differently. I know that ultimately, I am responsible for protecting my own recovery. I can scroll. I can block. I can choose not to consume content that I know is harmful to me. But I also can’t stop thinking about everyone else who is affected by content in general like this. Because this creator is just ONE person for me. What about the young person who sees videos like this and starts to innocently follow along the behaviors? Who learns to idolize the rigity and routine. The person who is in denial and thinks, “See? This is normal.” The person in recovery who is desperately trying not to compare. The person who thinks their behaviors are just “preferences” because they haven’t realized where those behaviors can eventually lead. That’s the part that scares me. Ed’s don’t always look like someone openly saying, “I have an ed. Sometimes they look like picky eating. Sometimes they look like wellness. Sometimes they look like discipline. Sometimes they look like having an extremely rigid routine that you insist is simply what you “prefer.” And sometimes restriction feels completely normal to the person doing it. And that’s what makes it so dangerous- You can be convinced that you’re just being “healthy” while slowly building a life around rules that become harder and harder to break. And so often, people don’t realize how far they’ve gone until they’re already really sick. I’m not saying this person is responsible for my recovery. They’re not. I am. But I do think we need to have more conversations about the responsibility that comes with publicly displaying behaviors that can be incredibly triggering and harmful to vulnerable people.. especially when those behaviors are presented as normal, healthy, or aspirational. This isn’t about shaming someone for having an ed. It’s about recognizing that an ed being disguised as something harmless doesn’t make it harmless. And if you’re reading this and thinking, “Wait… some of my ‘preferences’ are actually rules I’m terrified to break,” please don’t wait until you’re “sick enough” to ask for help. You deserve help before it gets that far. 🤍 #recovery #recoveryispossible #recoveryjourney #recoveroutloudforthosewhosufferinsilence #recoveroutloud - @monieelyse