Red Flag Warning
Or The Eating Disorder Relapse I Should’ve Seen Coming
I, along with two wonderful, kind, remarkable women, admin a Facebook group for people who have had bariatric surgery but who don’t want to actively diet anymore. Some members are actually pre-op, but most are post-op. This is something I began writing as a post to that group, but it became unreasonably long to be a Facebook post… and I decided I wanted to share it with more than just my fellow group members. Please note that this discusses bariatric surgery, eating disorders and how the two really, really do not go well together. If you have an ED, this essay could be triggering.
It has been a long time since I have posted here, though I am still an admin. The reasons for that are two-fold. One, as you may have seen in the post shared (by the group’s owner), I have been struggling with an eating disorder relapse for months. Being here (in the Facebook group) can, unfortunately, be triggering for me. In fact, social media at all can be, even in “safe” places, because ED voices are warped and can twist even positive or neutral messages into dangerous ones.
The other reason for my extended break is that I was never pro-bariatric surgery. I was never going to be the Poster Child for “success” in that sense. Nor did I want to be, for that matter. I’ve always been sort of an odd…
