Building a Platform For Career Success After Eating Disorder Treatment

Smiling Woman

Pressurized work environment, little breaks, long hours, and internal pressures to get your job done are all part of our American culture in the workplace. There are many highly competitive professional environments with expectations of high performance. There can be various triggers at work that can send a recovered individual into relapse or a setback [1].

Redefining Your Own Recovery

Building a Platform for Career Success After Eating Disorder Treatment can be difficult. You first need to be able to recognize and define your own recovery [2]. It is knowing your triggers, your values, your purpose in life. It also means defining your career goals.

When individuals complete treatment they often feel or think that they can go right back into work or their ‘normal’ routine lives. Often this looks very different than pre-treatment [3]. Each person responds differently to treatment, and so does their recovered life.

Often individuals feel they may need to take time away from work after treatment to adjust to returning to their life, family, and friends. Some individuals may have to return to work due to financial reasons. Others may decide to make a career change. Regardless of the timing or reasons for re-starting your career, there are several things to consider.

When returning to work it is first important to consider and possibly role play with your therapist on how to respond and cope with colleagues who may be curious about your treatment and recovery (if they are aware). It can be an anxiety provoking time to return to work.

Secondly it is good to look at the hours you are able to return to work at first. Often returning slowly and rebuilding hours is a great way to start, especially if you are continuing in an IOP program or aftercare group to allow time to balance recovery with work and life responsibilities.

Learning to Be Part of a Work Team

When returning to work, you may have quit your previous job to enter treatment, and are interested in returning to work. This includes considering what to include on your resume or CV to account for the gap in your employment. Working through this a career counselor or your therapist can be helpful when editing your resume.

Woman focusing on her career

Being part of a work team can be positive. It can improve self-esteem, build skills in the workplace, and foster a sense of belonging. Ensuring that you have the right coping skills in place will help you build a platform for your career. Working to keep the work-life balance is imperative.

Keeping recovery first will help your body and mind stay focused and healthy for your work career. Recovery includes self care through taking lunch breaks to fueling properly. It is ensuring that you stick to your work hours, and try not to put in more hours than asked when starting back in your job or a new role.

Employment can also bring challenges with work and people, deadlines, difficult assignments and other stressors. It can feel overwhelming at times, and remembering why you are working, and what your goals and purpose are for your career can help you remember the bigger picture. Utilizing coping skills as well can help in those moments that you feel like quitting.

Letting Go of Perfectionism

Building a Platform for Career Success After Eating Disorder Treatment involves not getting caught up in perfectionism. We can strive for excellence, but no employee or manager is perfect at their role. Remembering that everyone learns in their job. Ask questions, and seek clarification when something is new or needs to be re-learned.

When in recovery the job you had prior may seem different than when you were in your eating disorder. Issues or problems that were due to your eating disorder symptoms will not necessarily repeat themselves in the workplace. Remember to give yourself credit for the progress made and continue to make, and permission to keep trying and working towards your career.

Another important concept when Building a Platform for Career Success After Eating Disorder Treatment is to not do it alone. Having a positive support system and build in fun time for activities and friends into your schedule. Having others cheering you on both at work and in your personal life can help you keep your goals in sight and rebuild your career.

When returning to work it is also important to remember if you need specific accommodations to start [4]. Ideas for returning to work are flexible schedule, modified breaks, leave for counseling appointment, allowance for at-home work days.

Woman with a career

When needing to focus at work is it moving your work area to a part of the office that has fewer discussions or not near the break area, allowance for a white noise machine or soothing music to be played. Including a positive environment at your workplace can help with keeping you focused as natural lighting, plants, and stress reducing tools.

Many individuals who are recovering are ones who volunteer for high-stress work projects or put in extra hours to get their work done which can lead to eating disorder behaviors to cope with the stress [5, 6].

It can difficult to potentially acknowledge that a new career or new way of working your career after treatment may be part of your recovery life. Creating a new identify outside of your eating disorder is a process. It is discovering what your true values and worth are.

Many individuals with eating disorders tie their identity into their job, and therefore into their eating disorder. Taking time to discussing and thinking about what the best return to work and career path is for you is essential in building your platform for a career.

The Renfrew Center has seen a 42% increase in women older than 35 for eating disorders [7]. Further research has shown that individuals do not outgrow eating disorders and a high-powered career can be one of many triggers.

Often ‘stress-anorexia’ can occur within the workplace where individuals who are motivated, older, hold high expectations and are intelligent can start when these people begin to skip lunch due to closing deadlines, put in more hours at work to stay ahead. Individuals develop ‘stress-orexia’ when the lines between work and home, female and male are blurred [7].

In conclusion, those with eating disorders returning to their career, or restarting a career, need to be aware of what their values and goals are for employment.

  • What parts of their work identity are part of the eating disorder and which to their true self?
  • What supports and coping strategies do you need at work to keep with the days that are hard and not engage in eating disorder behaviors?

Even though it can be a bit scary, and overwhelming, it is important to keep the big picture in mind and know that if you can recovery from an eating disorder, you can rebuild your career.

 


Image of Libby Lyons and familyAbout the Author: Libby Lyons is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS). Libby has been practicing in the field of eating disorders, addictions, depression, anxiety and other comorbid issues in various agencies. Libby has previously worked as a contractor for the United States Air Force Domestic Violence Program, Saint Louis University Student Health and Counseling, Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute Eating Disorders Program, and has been in Private Practice.
Libby currently works as a counselor at Fontbonne University and is a Adjunct Professor at Saint Louis University, and is a contributing author for Addiction Hope and Eating Disorder Hope. Libby lives in the St. Louis area with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys spending time with her family, running, and watching movies.


References:

[1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hunger-artist/201103/how-reunite-work-and-life-after-anorexia
[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/8899371/Life-after-an-eating-disorder.html
[3] http://waragainsteatingdisorder.com/2014/12/02/life-after-eating-disorder-treatment-back-to-work-part-11/
[4] https://askjan.org/media/eating.html
[5] https://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2011/09/27/eating-disorders-and-the-executive-woman/#7083afb12d16
[6] https://www.recoverywarriors.com/how-to-rebuild-your-identity-in-eating-disorder-recovery/
[7] http://www.thegrindstone.com/2011/10/04/mentors/is-an-eating-disorder-part-of-the-high-powered-career-woman-package-347/


The opinions and views of our guest contributors are shared to provide a broad perspective of eating disorders. These are not necessarily the views of Eating Disorder Hope, but an effort to offer discussion of various issues by different concerned individuals.

We at Eating Disorder Hope understand that eating disorders result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder, please know that there is hope for you, and seek immediate professional help.

Reviewed By: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC on April 7, 2017.
Published on EatingDisorderHope.com