The holidays are a time to celebrate and be together. Despite the pull towards old and often difficult dynamics, most families crave an easy, calm few days. The presence of a chronic illness that is difficult to treat makes the time much more challenging. This isn't the time to stage an intervention or ignore the member with an eating disorder completely. Instead, the goal is to comfort her and provide support and love and try to create an environment of celebration while acknowledging and being sensitive to this family member's struggle.
Preparing for the holidays with openness and communication also opens the door for education. It's very likely that the family is not aware of the details of their daughter's treatment and recovery and, without clear proof of a full and instant recovery, i.e. completely normal eating, assumes that she is not doing what it takes to get better.
The path to recovery is often long and slow, and families may use the holidays as an annual marker of disappointment. When family members express these feelings, the result is a damaging conversation that casts a pall over the entire time together.
Any concerns are best addressed at another time and often with help from the person's therapist. This is not a time for a complete referendum on the treatment process and path to recovery. Families can broach that large topic without the added pressure of the holidays. In fact, if the person with the eating disorder can ask the family to avoid the topic of recovery in advance, the holidays will proceed much more smoothly.
But complete avoidance of the topic is just as uncomfortable. Pretending that nobody is aware of the ill person's struggle with food isolates her from the family too. The result is feeling alone and unloved, a very common trigger to return to the eating disorder symptoms for comfort. The typical pattern for families is to reach a state where every conversation about food and the eating disorder leaves anger, disappointment and hurt in its wake. Left without other options, the family resorts to silence and allows the sick one to suffer alone with her illness.
Is a family stuck when discussing treatment or ignoring the illness aren't viable options? What can caring family members do to use this time together to show her they are on her side and want to help? What can make this time easier and perhaps even enjoyable?
The most caring approach a family can take during the holidays is one with love and compassion. Eating disorders are relentless and punishing illnesses. The intense, internal pressure to follow the rules of the eating disorder weighs heavily on the patient's mind and is followed by powerful, degrading thoughts. The imperative to try to avoid any symptoms during the holidays ends in even more punishment and a sense of failure unless everything is perfect. Countering the internal pressure with kindness and love is the foundation to hopefully create a different holiday together.
In practice, the role of other family members is straightforward. Ask her if she is ok and then wait patiently for a response. If the answer is "I'm fine," then ask again until she understands you wanted a real answer. Ask if she needs anything and when she says no, offer something small, such as going for a walk or watching a show together. When the meal comes around, take her aside and let her know which foods have been included to help her feel more comfortable. Offer to make her plate or to sit next to her during the meal. Extending a hand of comfort, solace and love will mean the world to her and will reinforce in action, not just words, that she isn't alone.
If a family can suspend fear, anger and judgment and remember an eating disorder is a difficult illness, the holidays can be a time of peace and love. Spending some time discussing in advance both what food could be available and how to approach the meals can help avoid much of the pressure felt at the most pivotal moment. Similarly, advance planning around appropriate discussions during the holidays will go a long way to bridge the isolation caused by the eating disorder. Most important, kindness, love and compassion, all facets of what the holidays mean, are critical ways to treat the sick family member to help her feel loved and less alone.
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