Many people with eating disorders also experience a lot of anxiety.

One of the reasons anxiety can be so insidious is that it makes people doubt their ability to cope in unknown or stressful situations. In recovery, this can be particularly challenging, because it presents huge barriers to moving forward and making progress. When experiencing an eating disorder, a lot of people’s lives will revolve around it, creating rigid routines and inability to be flexible (this gets more entrenched the more underweight someone is and the more restricted their diet is).

There are lots and lots of ‘what if’ questions people with eating disorders might ask themselves, such as:

What if I never recover?
What if I keep gaining weight forever?
What if I can’t cope with my body?
What if people won’t care about me when I’m not sick?
What if I can’t stop eating?
What if people judge me?
What if I don’t want to get better?
What if people leave me?
What if I can’t achieve anything else?
What if I don’t like my life without my eating disorder?
What if people don’t like me if I’m not thin?

I’m sure you will relate to some of these, and perhaps have more of your own that you could add to this list. So, what are the pros and cons of ‘what if’ thinking?

Your brain might be able to tell you that the pros of thinking this way are maybe that it helps you prepare for all eventualities, and that you can cope better if you plan ahead. In reality, there are very little benefits to ‘what if’ thinking. It often results in worry chaining (starting off with a small ‘what if’ and ending up with the worst case scenario). It actually reduces your belief in your ability to cope with unknown situations further.

One of the biggest factors in the progress I made in this most recent recovery attempt, was that I tried to stop asking myself these questions. It was driving me crazy and there were so many outcomes spinning around in my head that it was making me dizzy. The only way I thought I could challenge this thinking was to take a leap of faith and see what happened. And what happened is…none of my ‘what ifs’ came true. All that worrying was making me stressed and exhausted and panicky, and it was all unfounded.

I know how difficult it is to stand up to these thoughts, but the best way to get good at doing it is to start practicing as soon as possible.

Your recovery and your life will be better the more you challenge these thoughts.