Helping Girlfriend with recovery
Hi, my girlfriend has relapsed into anorexia for the first time since we've been together. She's in the process of recovery but finding it pretty hard. I have Bipolar and am struggling as I feel I shouldn't burden her by talking to her about my problems, whilst she feels the same. Getting pretty close to a breakdown in the relationship, which I really could not bear. Any tips on the best ways I can talk to and help her?
@resourcefulskies32 - First of all, your girlfriend is lucky to have someone who clearly cares about her. I want to refer you to this post which has a lot of tips for supporting loved ones with eating disorders. To me, the most important things to remember are:
- It's OK for both of you to talk to each other about your struggles. Sharing your burdens goes both ways, and if you are each struggling to want to put more on the other, that's a conversation you need to have to understand how you each want to support each other.
- It's important to be able to talk to each other about her eating disorder and your bipolar disorder, but it's also important to leave time for fun things so that you don't each feel like that's the sole focus of your relationship
- It's also good to have other support systems. You should feel comfortable talking to each other, but sometimes you need another perspective or someone who has been through the same thing to talk to, and that's not an indictment of your relationship, rather a recognition that diversified support is really helpful.
Good luck and please reach out if I can help at all. Take care
