When Maris Degener was first diagnosed with anorexia and began treatment, she kept it to herself. But over time, as she moved closer to recovery, she felt a growing desire to share her experience with others. A pivotal moment for her came after a yoga class, when she handed her teacher a letter sharing that these yoga classes had been Degener’s first re-introduction to movement since being diagnosed, and that she’d found great solace and comfort in the space the instructor had created. “She wrote me a letter back and gifted me a book, and it helped me find new community and support that I didn’t know I needed before,” Degener remembers. “Where I’d previously feared being judged or seen differently, I instead saw that it opened the door to something new and meaningful.”

After that moment, Degener went on to tell her story in many different ways: she blogged about it, was the subject of a documentary that chronicled her recovery, and now regularly shares her lived experience as Director of Peer Mentorship at Equip. And while most people in recovery won’t share their journey on such a grand scale, doing so in ways both small and large can be an impactful and important part of the recovery process. Read on to learn more about the power of sharing your recovery journey, what to consider when deciding whether to share, and guidance on putting your story into the world.

How storytelling can support recovery

Research and lived experience support the idea that sharing one’s eating disorder recovery journey can be a helpful and positive part of the process, both during and after treatment. One study of adults who attended monthly eating disorder support groups found that sharing lived experience improved participants’ motivation and treatment engagement while also reducing stigma and isolation; another study, a meta analysis that included almost 1,500 participants, found that disclosing one’s emotional experience in written form helped alleviate eating disorder symptoms and improve body image.

“Sharing your story in recovery can be a profoundly cathartic and empowering experience,” says Lainy Clark, LPC, Therapy Lead at Equip. “It not only helps you further process your own healing journey, but can also offer a sense of closure, accomplishment, and meaning.” Degener’s own experience illustrates this, as sharing her story led her to feel “overwhelming support and relief,” while also positively guiding the trajectory of her recovery journey. “For me, sharing my story challenged me to look at life through the lens of recovery,” she says. “When I was consistently writing a blog about my life in recovery, I would sit down almost every day to reflect on the successes, challenges, and ups and downs of my life. But it was always coming from a place of asking, ‘What can I learn from this?’ It helped me take the nonlinear and curving lines of recovery and make sense of patterns, habits, or themes popping up over time.”

But when a person tells their recovery story, it doesn’t just support their own journey, it also helps others navigating similar paths. In one study of women who had recovered from an eating disorder, the majority of participants said that hearing other people’s recovery stories increased their motivation to recover—which is especially important given that many people with eating disorders aren’t motivated to get better (at least at first).

“There were so many times where, after sharing my story in some way, others would then come to me privately to share, ‘I’ve been through this, too,’” Degener says. “I was saddened to realize that so many of us were struggling alone, but it also emboldened me to continue sharing my story in the hopes that it would help others feel less alone.”

Clark adds that when you help others by sharing your journey, it can further strengthen your own recovery in a number of different ways. “In those moments, sharing becomes a way to offer hope and encouragement—not just a personal release, but a generous act of connection,” she says. “That kind of experience can bring a deeper sense of meaning and fulfillment, transforming something once painful into a source of strength and support for others. For many, it also helps reframe their healing journey with greater clarity and purpose.”

To share or not to share: factors to consider

While it’s clear that there can be real benefits of telling your recovery story, that doesn’t mean that it’s the right choice for every person at every time. Both Degener and Clark offer some important considerations for when you’re deciding whether or not to share your journey.

Wait until you’re ready

Sharing your story may not be the best choice early in recovery, when you’re still working toward initial goals like weight restoration, normalizing eating habits, and reducing disordered behaviors. For most people, it’s wise to wait until you’ve made enough progress that you—and not the eating disorder—are in control of the narrative. Disclosing too early may unintentionally fuel disordered beliefs, or lead you to explore triggering topics or difficult emotions before you’ve put in place a solid enough recovery foundation.

“I believe that if someone is still in the midst of their recovery and feels concerned that sharing their story might be triggering, it may be best to hold off. Sharing your story can be powerful, but it also requires emotional readiness,” Clark says. “In my experience as a provider, the ability to articulate one’s experience often signals a meaningful shift: from being entangled in the eating disorder narrative to gaining insight, perspective, and ownership of it. It’s a sign that the individual is no longer clinging to the identity the disorder once provided, but instead is beginning to see the experience as something that happened to them—and something that has contributed to their growth.”

Understand your intention

It’s important to think about the “why” behind the desire to tell your story. By asking yourself what you hope to gain from disclosure, you can help ensure that it’s a beneficial experience, rather than a harmful one. “I’d get clear on your intention,” Degener advises. “Is this to inspire others or provide support in recovery? Is this because I’m needing support and to feel connected to a larger community? If the situation doesn’t support your intention, it may not be helpful to share in that moment.”

Respect your own wishes

If you simply don’t want to share your story, that’s the best imaginable reason not to do so. Holding your personal boundaries is often the most recovery-supporting choice you can make, regardless of any potential benefits from sharing your journey. “I wouldn’t recommend sharing your story if you don’t want to, unless it’s a matter of safety. For example, no one needs to know your medical information—unless they’re your doctor, or someone in your support network who needs to know what’s going on to support you and help keep you safe,” says Degener. “Beyond that, if you feel pressured to share, or uncertain about it, I’d recommend hitting pause and giving yourself some space before jumping into sharing.”

Guidance for telling your recovery story

If you do decide to share your eating disorder recovery story, there are some helpful guidelines to keep in mind. While your story will be a unique expression of your particular journey, your personality, your creative preferences, and your goals, the advice below can help you share your story in a way that’s most beneficial for both you and others.

Be authentic

It’s often said that social media is a highlight reel, and this fact leads many of us to feel like we can only show our most “perfect” selves to the world. But the reality is that recovery is messy, and that the most impactful stories—and storytelling experience—come from being honest about that messiness.

“At first, I struggled to share the realities of my experience. I wanted everything to be seen as ‘perfect,’ even though recovery is anything but linear,” says Degener. “I got the advice from another yoga teacher one day to challenge myself to be more realistic in what I shared. She said, ‘I like what you’ve been writing—but you need to talk about the sh*t no one talks about.’ And when I took her advice, I heard from others that being more authentic—while still hopeful—about what recovery means and looks like helped them feel more connected to what I shared. And it also helped me feel more accepting of every part of my experience, not forcing perfection where it wasn’t needed or didn’t exist.”

Don’t try to fit your story into a mold

It would be nice if recovery followed a neat and satisfying plot arc, but this is rarely the case, and it’s not something you should expect from your story. Often, recovery involves steps backward as well as steps forward; there may be lapses or even full relapses; and these things don’t make your journey any less worthy, powerful, or inspiring. As Degener advises, “Don’t feel like you need to have a ‘perfect’ story or one that fits the mold of what you think recovery ‘should’ look like. There is no one way to recover and no one way to tell that story, either.”

Know that telling your story looks different from person to person

Even for Degener alone, sharing her story took multiple different forms: a letter, a blog, a documentary, and countless conversations with individuals and groups. If you choose to share your story, it might be through one of those mediums, or it might be something totally different: a poem, a piece of art, an essay, an Instagram post, a heart-to-heart with a loved one. You can choose to share your story in whatever way feels most natural, helpful, interesting, or accessible to you.

“There’s no single ‘right’ or ‘perfect’ way to share your recovery story,” says Clark. “For some, sharing openly—whether throughout their journey or through platforms like social media—feels natural and empowering. For others, it may feel more meaningful to share privately with a trusted friend, therapist, or loved one.”

Degener agrees that eating disorder narratives can take many different shapes, and that’s part of their strength and beauty. “I think it’s powerful to think about storytelling in all its forms. Maybe it’s opening up to a partner so they can support you at that upcoming dinner party. Or maybe you’re a parent, thinking about how you might use your story to help your child build resilience against diet culture,” she says. “All of these relational moments include us asking ourselves: what is the story I want to tell, and how do I want to tell it?”

Keep it supportive of recovery

When disclosing anything about your eating disorder experience, there’s always the risk that it could do unintentional harm, both to yourself and your audience. It’s important to avoid potentially triggering content, such as before and after photos, specific details about disordered behaviors, or numbers around weight, calories, or body measurements. And while there’s no need to gloss over the difficulties of recovery or shy away from hard truths or emotions, it can be most empowering to look for the lesson, insight, or hope you can derive from these challenges.

“Knowing that my story would be read by others challenged me to ask myself, ‘How can I keep this supportive of recovery? How would others feel reading this if they’re struggling, too?’ You can’t control everyone’s reactions, and you don’t want to sugarcoat reality either, but it personally helped me to push myself to try and look at even the hardest parts of recovery in a different light,” says Degener.

Don’t force yourself to dwell in difficult moments

Telling your story doesn’t mean reliving every detail of your eating disorder experience, especially if some are particularly distressing. “A saying I’ve heard goes, ‘Share your scars, not your wounds,’” says Degener. “I think this depends on the context, but I’ve taken this to mean, you don’t have to dive deep into the hardest, freshest, most painful experiences you’ve had in order to connect with others or share your story.”

Have a plan if things get hard

Even if you decide to omit the most painful parts of your story, sharing what it was like to struggle with and overcome an eating disorder can be emotionally challenging. To ensure that these challenges don’t have a negative impact on your recovery or mental health, Clark says it’s important to have a solid support plan in place.

“In many ways, sharing your recovery story can feel like a form of exposure—it might be uncomfortable or even scary at first, but it can also bring a deep sense of relief and accomplishment afterward,” she says. “It’s important to thoughtfully assess where you are in your journey. Ask yourself: How well can I manage potential triggers? Do I have coping strategies I trust? Who can I turn to for support if it becomes emotionally difficult? Being intentional and prepared can make the experience of sharing your story both safe and empowering.”

Remember that consent matters

Above all, keep in mind that you are in charge of if, when, and how you share your story—and you can change your mind at any time. “Advice I’ve heard that I cherish is that consent matters in this process,” says Degener. “You should never be pressured into sharing your story, or certain parts of it. You might choose to share your story with some people, and not others. And you might share a detail once and later think, ‘You know, I don’t think I’ll share that specific anecdote again.’ You are allowed to use your story in different ways, forms, and mediums throughout your life, and it is all valuable.”

Harnessing the power of your story

Ultimately, sharing your story can be a deeply powerful step in the recovery process. It’s not for everyone, and if it feels uncomfortable to you, listen to that feeling—but maybe consider if there is some way—small or large, private or public—that you can share your eating disorder recovery story, whether that’s to help yourself, or someone else. As Degener puts it, “Getting the opportunity to determine how my story was told, and feeling like I was able to bring hope to those struggling with something similar, is an experience I will always be grateful for.”

If you’re interested in sharing your recovery story in the form of art, photography, poetry, or another creative format, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to mystory@equip.health to get in touch.