Managing Recovery While in College During the Pandemic

By now, many university classes are in session, or will be in the coming days. Let’s face it, being in recovery for your eating disorder and living away from home while attending college is hard enough. Doing both during a pandemic presents new difficulties to navigate.

Even if you were doing well in your recovery before school started, it’s important to prioritize your recovery to maintain stability through the added stress and changing routines that attending college during the time of COVID-19 brings. 

Here are some ways to manage your eating disorder recovery while in college, no matter what your living or learning situation during this unusual time:

If you’re on campus alone:

The isolation of being the only person in your dorm due to COVID-19 restrictions can make it easier to slip into eating disorder behaviors. Here are some practical things you can do while living and eating on campus to make recovery more manageable:

-Call a friend or family member during meals, or joining a virtual meal support group. 

-Schedule dining hall visits with friends.

-Keep snacks you enjoy in your dorm.

-Schedule socially distanced study sessions and hangouts with friends regularly.

-Order meal kits (if affordable) to help you stay on track if the dining hall is your only food source.

-Join a support group. ANAD has groups that are open to anyone, or you can check out the listing of free virtual groups from NEDA.

If you’re living with roommates:

Roommates can either be positive or negative influences on your recovery, depending on their own personal relationships with food and body image and your comfort level with eating around other people.

It’s important to set boundaries, especially if your roommates are (for example) gym junkies or keto fanatics.

Here are some ways you can minimize triggers and prevent constant comparison while living with roommates:

-Change the conversation or leave the room when food or diet talk comes up. Have a few alternate conversation topics on hand or excuses (such as “I have a lot of homework/studying”). It’s easy to just sit through uncomfortable and triggering conversations, or even engage in them to avoid being rude, but you have to do what is best for your mental health. If you must engage, try using what you have learned so far on your recovery journey to promote an anti-diet stance.

-Keep some of your own food in a mini fridge in your bedroom. This will help prevent you from comparing your groceries to everyone else’s and/or being tempted to engage in behaviors. This also might be necessary if your roommates eat your food, as food scarcity can create anxiety in anyone and lack of decisions about food and availability can be triggering and exacerbate your eating disorder symptoms.

-Cook alone to reduce comparison if you are struggling to eat in front of others. If you know your roommate makes their dinner around 5:30pm every evening, plan to cook yours at a different time. This way, you’ll avoid comparisons to what they are eating or fears of eating in front of others so you can keep your recovery on track.

For college students in all circumstances:

With at least some or all classes online, most college students may face some degree of social isolation and lack of “normal” structure, both of which can make recovery more difficult.

Here are things you can do to make it easier to stay on track, whether you live alone, with roommates, or with your parents:

Plan ahead: Meal prep or plan out your dining hall trips based on your schedule so that you have food ready for you after long virtual class sessions.

Know your support systems: Take advantage of virtual support resources and keep in touch with friends. Having someone you can count on to listen or text when things are particularly hard can be incredibly helpful. Your support systems can also help keep you accountable in recovery.

Keep a toolbox of healthy distractions: Make sure you have strategies for coping in difficult moments when you have an urge to act on an eating disorder behavior. These could include journaling, doing crafts, watching TV, reading, meditation, or taking short walks.

Block out harmful messages about weight: Even in the midst of a pandemic, the dieting industry will try to push weight as a top concern. Unfollow any social media accounts and unsubscribe from publications that discuss things like “the freshman 15” or COVID-19 related weight gain to keep your newsfeeds body-positive.

Get professional mental health support: These are challenging times, and if you are struggling with increased body image concerns, eating disorder behaviors, anxiety or depression, please reach out for support. 

Juggling classes, jobs, and an eating disorder during a pandemic is difficult no matter what your college experience looks like. But with the right support and resources, eating disorder recovery is 100% possible.

If you’re a California resident looking for online eating disorder treatment options, please contact us for a free 15-minute consultation to explore your options for help.