Recovery Fatigue: How to Keep Going When You Feel Exhausted, Hopeless, or Burnt Out
Recovery fatigue is the emotional and physical exhaustion that can arise after months or years of eating disorder treatment, often accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and stagnation. Fortunately, there are practical ways to combat this issue, such as reconnecting with your motivations, leaning on a strong support system, and remembering that recovery is nonlinear and relapse is a common part of the process. Ultimately, prioritizing rest and making recovery your top focus will lead to a healthier and more fulfilling future.
Here are seven tips to help you battle recovery fatigue during eating disorder treatment.
Reconnect With Your Motivations to Overcome Recovery Fatigue
Before each meal, remind yourself of your motivations, especially when recovery fatigue makes staying on track overwhelming. For example, you may want to come up with a word or a phrase that encapsulates your motivations and repeat it to yourself before every meal. Write down a list of your motivations somewhere visible – like on a Post-It note in your car, at home on a mirror, or in a journal in your bedroom. Try to come up with both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for recovery. Remember that your motivations for recovery will likely evolve, so it is important to revisit and update your list as needed.
Understand the Extinction Burst During Recovery Fatigue
The concept of an “extinction burst” can be helpful when navigating recovery, especially during periods of recovery fatigue. In essence, this psychological term describes how, when you begin treatment, your eating disorder behaviors might temporarily worsen before improving. It’s as if your eating disorder “senses” it is under attack and doubles down to maintain its grip. Fortunately, studies show that extinction bursts fade with time, provided you stay committed to the recovery process. Knowing this truth can help you stay grounded when things feel harder before they get better.
Lean on Your Support System to Combat Recovery Fatigue
Make sure you have a good support system of friends, family, and clinicians to hold you accountable, especially during periods of recovery fatigue when you lack the motivation to hold yourself accountable. After all, you are not meant to tackle recovery alone! A reliable support network can ultimately make all the difference in helping you persevere through challenging moments.
Embrace the Nonlinear Nature of Recovery
Recovery has no timeline, and recovery fatigue can occur at any stage of the process. It is different for everyone and is impacted by many factors, including access to treatment, support from family and friends, and other environmental factors. Remember that progress may look different for everyone, so avoid comparing your journey to others.
Normalize Setbacks as Part of Recovery
Studies have shown that relapse occurs on average in 40 to 50 percent of patients with anorexia nervosa, 40 percent of patients with OSFED (other specified feeding and eating disorders), and 30 percent of those with bulimia and binge eating disorder (BED). Relapse does not mean that treatment and your recovery efforts have failed. Rather, it is a common part of the recovery process. It certainly feels like a setback, but it is only the end of your recovery story if you let it be. Use it to recommit to recovery and learn more about what you need to succeed.
Prioritize Rest
Eating disorder recovery demands immense physical, emotional, and mental energy, often leading to recovery fatigue. Allow yourself to rest during your free hours or days off. Feeling guilty for not being “productive” during these times is natural, but rest is essential to recharging your energy and maintaining your capacity to fully engage in recovery.
Make Recovery Your Top Priority
It is normal to worry about school, work, or your personal relationships, but you will not be able to present your best, healthiest self until you have recovered from your eating disorder. Trust that investing in recovery now will ultimately allow you to thrive in those areas later.
Recovery fatigue is real, and it can feel overwhelming at times
But by reconnecting with your motivations, leaning on your support system, and giving yourself permission to rest, you can keep moving forward, one day and one meal at a time. You’re stronger than you think, and your recovery is worth every effort.
If you or someone you love is struggling with an eating disorder, then BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™ may be the right treatment for you.
BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™, located in New York City, offers free consultation calls to help you explore next steps. We provide in-person programming seven days a week and are in-network with UnitedHealthcare (UHC), Cigna, Emblem, and Oscar, with Aetna coverage coming soon. Support is available, and recovery is possible. Schedule a free consultation call with our admissions team here and stay connected with BALANCE on Instagram here.
Reference
Sala, Margaret, et al. “Predictors of Relapse in Eating Disorders: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Psychiatric Research, Pergamon, 4 Feb. 2023, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002239562300002X#
This post was written by BALANCE Social Work Intern, Sydney Heath (she/her).
Sydney is a therapy intern at BALANCE and a social work master’s student at Columbia University. She is an alumna of Claremont McKenna College, where she studied international relations and Human Rights. Sydney has long been passionate about fighting diet culture and helping people develop healthier relationships with food and their bodies. Sydney enjoys fostering kittens, reading, and cooking in her free time.
