Eating Disorder and Dissociative Identity Awareness

Our Journey with Intuitive Eating and Upcoming Interview with Annie Goldsmith

Mar 03, 2024

Image of yellow flowers being held in front of a water front sunset. The text says “Eating Disorder Awareness Week February 26-March 3”.

Eating Disorder Awareness Week takes place the last week of February (February 26-March 3, 2024). On February 28^th 2004. I had the privilege of hosting an interview with Annie Goldsmith, RD, LDN. Annie founded Second Breakfast, an organization focused on helping people find healing in their relationship with food. I first heard Annie speak on the System Speak podcast and was captivated by the information she gave about how trauma and eating disorders intersect, concepts around Intuitive Eating, and Health at Every Size.

Years earlier I had a friend who practiced Intuitive Eating. At the time I was looking into a sugar free diet and couldn’t hear or even remember that we had talked about Intuitive Eating until later she told me that she was shocked when I was posting on social media about the benefits of Intuitive Eating. After listening to Annie’s interview on System Speak I began incorporating Intuitive Eating into my life. I found a peace and freedom with food that I had never known. I no longer thought about or craved sugar. I also wrote an article for my work about the benefits of Intuitive Eating. At the time I was also on medication that reduced appetite. These concepts were put to the test when I titraited off all my psych meds two years ago. Coming off of two stimulants sent my body and metabolism for a loop. This has been a typical part of my journey with psych meds that impacted my appetite and metabolism leading to huge shifts in weight. Yet, I held onto what I had learned about Intuitive Eating and what I knew were the best decisions for my body despite what diet culture would have me believe.

I recently met Annie at the Healing Together conference (A conference formed to bring more accurate information and supports for Dissociative Identity Disorder-DID). After talking with Annie I decided to invite her onto the Therapist Interrupted Podcast, for a special interview to bring light to the intersection of DID and Eating Disorders. An estimate I’ve heard is that about 70% of people with DID also struggle with an Eating Disorder. Although I’m not remembering where I heard this, so I may not have the exact statistic. The point remains though that there is a huge cross over and with this comes a need for both therapist who treat people who’ve experienced trauma and dissociation and dieticians working with people with eating disorders or struggles with food to be able to collaborate and to know how to work in this intersection of need. This interview will be the first of a series focused on the intersectionality related to dissociation, multiplicity, and trauma and will highlight professionals working in a more holistic way. It also represents a shift in focus of Therapist Interrupted to including not only those who went to school to become therapists and found other life purposes, but also those therapists/professionals who had an interruption in their career that lead them to begin learning about and treating people with dissociation and multiplicity.

On a personal note I’d like to say that attending the Healing Together conference was the highlight of my year and something I’ve been longing to do for over a decade, but it also brought up a lot. While at the conference I reconnected with some of the ones inside who hold pain and strengths. Upon returning we felt hugely overwhelmed with their emotions and just having them fronting in the body more felt like a lot. What came with this was some thinking and acting around food and weight that I am uncomfortable with. In my podcast interview with Annie I share some these experiences and her wisdom and response has lead to an opening of new insights and starting a deeper journey with healing some long standing struggles that I had thought I’d overcome. I say this to bring awareness to the ways that being multiple and having a history of an Eating Disorder continues to impact me, even decades into recovery. This brings to light not only to long-lasting impacts of trauma on the body and psyche, but also to the upward spiral nature of healing. What often looks like a set back or engaging in an old harmful behavior can be a signal of a deeper stage of healing. It can mean that you are in a new place with different resources and supports. Yes, it may be a sign that something is out of balance and needing additional supports, but it could also be that now is the time to focus more directly on a particular wound. It could mean that you now have the resources to heal. For those of us who live as multiple it could be that the system as a whole is now ready to support a specific system member in getting their needs met. I hope you will tune into this remarkable interview that will air on Dissociative Identity Awareness Day. You can find the Therapist Interrupted podcast on Spotify

Here is the article I wrote back in January 2020:

Intuitive Eating is learning to navigate your experience with food by connecting with yourself and the signal your body gives you. It is about nourishing and loving yourself. Our biology is set up to bring us to a place of healing and well-being. When we learn to trust ourselves and respond to the signals our body sends we can operate from a place of abundance rather than deprivation.

Food and eating are connected to our emotions and how we connect with ourselves and others. Eating is a way to comfort yourself, support your overall well-being, and self-regulate. This is healthy and good when combined with other ways of caring for yourself and isn’t used as a way to disconnect with emotions that need attending to.

Trauma, food deprivation, and a culture that teaches us not to trust ourselves can make it hard to connect with and feel safe in the body. These issues are often come with deep emotional pain and feelings of unworthiness. If you are struggling, please be compassionate with yourself and reach out for support. You are not alone. You deserve to feel satisfied, nourished and loved.

—Reference:

https://www.systemspeak.org/

interview with Annie Goldsmith, a dietitian who works with trauma and eating disorders

Resources:

Websites:

https://www.secondbreakfastnutrition.com/

https://www.intuitiveeating.org/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/

https://asdah.org/health-at-every-size-haes-approach/

Book:

Intuitive Eating: A revolutionary program that works 4th ed. by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch

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