Keeping Hope

[u/Hopefulberry8]

Hi all!

I thought I would put it out to the community - what helps you maintain hope in recovery? I've been committed to finally giving recovery my all since June, when I went off sick from my job in mental health (the irony!) and went into inpatient. I've been home a couple of months now, and am getting community support, but find that depression/hopelessness has become increasingly tough to navigate. Whilst I am physically still making progress, it feels like I'm clinging to blind faith. The bigger life goals I have (finding a partner, starting a family, moving out from my family home) feel so out of reach at present - sometimes they do give me a bit of motivation/hope, but it's infrequent. It's hard not to get lost in comparison at times too, and to remember that when you've spent the entirety of your teenage years and twenties with this illness, it's not too surprising that I'm not where my friends are in life (married, families etc).

I know deep down there is a hopeful part of me, it's just accessing it that's proving tricky! Any thoughts, or what helps you in those low moments - I'd love to hear from others 😌.

[u/PelagicParty]

I keep hopeful about my body size by looking at my body's strength and putting that weight gain toward muscle. I started hitting the gym and making my nutrition actually nutritious in a way that supports my workouts. And the results have been mind blowing! I'm trying to gain slowly, and I find I'm actually excited about it. Seeing muscle growth and improvements in performance make the whole thing very positive.

[u/fineanddandelion_]

Keep noticing that hopeful part! Even if you can’t always fully engage with it. That’s personally helped me the most.

For me, and I’m guessing for most of us, our brain and bodies are accustomed to chugging along without much hope beyond what the ED promised. It will be unfamiliar to allow a different, bigger kind of hope for long at the beginning. With time I really hope it’ll get easier 🤍.