Wendy, it won't surprise you that I've got an image for you as a way to address your question, which was, for those of you who may not have seen it, something to the effect of "does the anxiety that can lead to bingeing ever go away?"
I also interpreted the question to mean a few additional things (I may be imagining this so forgive me for my editorial license if I'm taking it where you didn't mean it, Wendy!): does the desire/need/compulsion to use the ED symptoms/behaviors in order to deal with and endure intense emotions ever totally go away?
So, let's talk about broken legs. I know, I know, this seems so random... but you guys know I usually have some point I get around to eventually so bear with me!
There are all kinds of ways a broken leg can turn out. It depends on many things, right? Like- how severe the fracture was, what kind of rehabilitation it required, how fast you got medical help, if you were able to rest the leg (and not run on it!!!), what other medical conditions you may have had at the time the leg got broken, how inherently strong your bones are.... I could probably come up with a bunch more, but you get the idea.
Whether the break heals
totally depends on all these things and more. Now, is it important for the break to heal totally (if we define totally healed as "as if the leg had never been broken")? I don't know. There are a variety of options that aren't exactly totally healed as we've defined it, but that work out pretty darn well. To name a few of these options- structurally sound and has a big scar where the bone poked out; structurally sound yet aches when it's cold outside or rainy; healed well enough that you can do anything on it you want, except for bungee jumping (I know Courtney, our resident literalist, is going to remind me that bungee jumping shouldn't be a problem for anyone's legs... at least if you do it right!).
So, Wendy, will that anxiety that leads to the feeling one has to binge, ever go all the way away? I don't know. My experience is that if you keep working on it (on any/all this recovery stuff) it gets better and better and better. The exact course and outcome is dependent upon those "broken leg variables" (how long you've had the ED, how much support you got/have, how severe the ED was/has been...).
It may be that over time you sometimes still experience some anxiety, but that you recognize it right away and it doesn't feel so overwhelming and even if you think to yourself "oh yeah, this is that kind of anxiety that used to make me feel I need to binge" you don't need to go ahead and binge. Or, it may be that more often than not, you just don't encounter that type of anxiety. Or, it may depend on things like how tired you are, where you are in your menstrual cycle, how stressed you are (remember those "too..." things- too hungry, too tired, too stressed, too anything).
In any case, you are doing everything you are supposed to do to be working on this. Here's where you get to and need to stay in the present. You can't control exactly what's going to happen in the future. None of us can (really, we can't... note to all you perfectionists...). Our job is to do what's in our best interest right now. So, just keep doing what you're doing :)
Wendy, it won't surprise you that I've got an image for you as a way to address your question, which was, for those of you who may not have seen it, something to the effect of "does the anxiety that can lead to bingeing ever go away?"
I also interpreted the question to mean a few additional things (I may be imagining this so forgive me for my editorial license if I'm taking it where you didn't mean it, Wendy!): does the desire/need/compulsion to use the ED symptoms/behaviors in order to deal with and endure intense emotions ever totally go away?
So, let's talk about broken legs. I know, I know, this seems so random... but you guys know I usually have some point I get around to eventually so bear with me!
There are all kinds of ways a broken leg can turn out. It depends on many things, right? Like- how severe the fracture was, what kind of rehabilitation it required, how fast you got medical help, if you were able to rest the leg (and not run on it!!!), what other medical conditions you may have had at the time the leg got broken, how inherently strong your bones are.... I could probably come up with a bunch more, but you get the idea.
Whether the break heals totally depends on all these things and more. Now, is it important for the break to heal totally (if we define totally healed as "as if the leg had never been broken")? I don't know. There are a variety of options that aren't exactly totally healed as we've defined it, but that work out pretty darn well. To name a few of these options- structurally sound and has a big scar where the bone poked out; structurally sound yet aches when it's cold outside or rainy; healed well enough that you can do anything on it you want, except for bungee jumping (I know Courtney, our resident literalist, is going to remind me that bungee jumping shouldn't be a problem for anyone's legs... at least if you do it right!).
So, Wendy, will that anxiety that leads to the feeling one has to binge, ever go all the way away? I don't know. My experience is that if you keep working on it (on any/all this recovery stuff) it gets better and better and better. The exact course and outcome is dependent upon those "broken leg variables" (how long you've had the ED, how much support you got/have, how severe the ED was/has been...).
It may be that over time you sometimes still experience some anxiety, but that you recognize it right away and it doesn't feel so overwhelming and even if you think to yourself "oh yeah, this is that kind of anxiety that used to make me feel I need to binge" you don't need to go ahead and binge. Or, it may be that more often than not, you just don't encounter that type of anxiety. Or, it may depend on things like how tired you are, where you are in your menstrual cycle, how stressed you are (remember those "too..." things- too hungry, too tired, too stressed, too anything).
In any case, you are doing everything you are supposed to do to be working on this. Here's where you get to and need to stay in the present. You can't control exactly what's going to happen in the future. None of us can (really, we can't... note to all you perfectionists...). Our job is to do what's in our best interest right now. So, just keep doing what you're doing :)