Coping with an Eating Disorder During the Holidays

The Holiday Season can be difficult for many people for various reasons. The Holidays can exacerbate family disagreements, someone may be grieving the loss of a loved one or some people are barely surviving financially and have no idea how they can afford gifts for their children. Another major stressor during the Holidays is food.

There are a number of Holiday parties and family dinners. They all revolve around food. Many people are concerned how they will survive the Holidays without gaining a lot of weight with all the food they will be eating. However, if you have an eating disorder, the Holidays can pose a different problem. How do you survive the parties and dinners without drawing attention to yourself because you do not want to eat? What do you do if people are telling you to eat? This can be a very uncomfortable situation.

Dr. Pooky Knightsmen has created a video dealing with how to cope with the Holidays if you have an eating disorder. She offers some very good strategies to help a person cope with the Holidays. Also if you have a loved one or close friend with an eating disorder, I would strongly recommend you watch it too. This will help you understand what your loved one is dealing with during the Holidays and provide you with ways that you can help make the Holidays less stressful for your loved one with an eating disorder. Here is the link to the video. Eating Disorders: Managing the festive period via @YouTube.

Dr. Michael Rubino is a psychotherapist with over 20 years experience treating children and teenagers. For more information about his work or private practice visit his website www.RubinoCounseling.com or his Facebook page www.Facebook.com/drrubino3

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