Eating disorders can be devastating, and overcoming them can seem impossible at times. While it can be done, attempting to do so at home is an extremely difficult task. If you or a loved one is struggling with an eating disorder, it might be time to seek help in a stable environment outside the home. Here are three reasons why battling an eating disorder at home is so hard.

Privacy

At home, there's a certain level of privacy that people can expect. While this is typically a good thing, it usually isn't with eating disorders.

With privacy comes the ability to continue an eating disorder without anyone even knowing about it. Whether the sufferer wants to keep partaking in their eating disorder or genuinely wishes to stop, privacy can allow them to continue hurting themselves without anyone knowing. By the time anyone finds out, the damage may already be done.

Internet

The internet is often viewed as a useful and entertaining part of life, but when it comes to eating disorders, it can be quite harmful. While there are plenty of websites and support groups on the internet that help to encourage people to control their eating disorders and overcome them, the opposite is also true.

People who consider eating disorders to be a good thing often create websites and communities that encourage others to continue harming themselves, like the pro-ana movement. Praise is given to those who keep partaking in their eating disorder, and criticism and blame is leveled at those who don't. It can be very hard for sufferers to keep trying to improve their health with this type of input at their fingertips at any time of the day or night.

Lack of Support

Lastly, fighting an eating disorder at home can come with a certain lack of support. While family members and friends may try to be helpful, it may not work that way. In-person support groups at inpatient facilities are not only overseen by professionals, but they are based around people who are all going through the same thing. Family members and friends often don't understand why eating disorder sufferers can't simply stop and may say the wrong thing that triggers a descent into worsening symptoms.

While it isn't completely impossible, fighting an eating disorder at home isn't easy. Seeking help at an inpatient facility like Center for Change Anorexia treatment centers can provide the structure and support that sufferers need to focus and overcome their disorders before going back to society.