Medical care focuses on restoring physical health through nutritional support, monitoring, and treatment when needed.

Comprehensive treatment may include one or more of the following:

Counselling helps individuals understand their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours to support recovery and a healthier relationship with food.

It often includes Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Mindfulness helps create a pause before acting on urges to binge, restrict, or purge. Instead of reacting automatically, it brings attention to what is happening in the moment.

Try these ways to cope when you feel overwhelmed:

• Take 3 slow breaths and feel your feet on the floor.
• Name what is happening, such as “I feel anxious” or “I feel like bingeing”.
• Note that thoughts like “I have failed” are just thoughts — not facts.

Creating even a small pause between the urge and the action can make it easier to choose a response that supports the body.

Note: While some people benefit from mindfulness practices, others may experience adverse effects such as increased anxiety or dissociation, especially when practised in an unsupervised manner. It's important to practise mindfulness under the supervision and guidance of trained personnel.

The goal is not to erase the feeling, but to get through the moment safely.

Try these ways to cope when you feel overwhelmed:

• Use temperature — splash cold water on your face or hold something cold for a short while.
• Do a short and simple task, such as a puzzle, a short walk, or listening to music.
• Engage your senses — smell a scented candle, hold something soft, or focus on sounds around you.

These coping strategies can help lower the intensity of the urge until it passes, making it easier not to act on harmful behaviours.

This can help prevent them from becoming overwhelming. Over time, urges may become less frequent and intense.

Practise these daily habits:

• Eat regular meals and snacks so your body is not running on extreme hunger.
• Take care of basic needs like sleep, movement, and staying hydrated.
• Do the opposite of what your urges push you to do. For example, if guilt pushes you to skip a meal, choose to eat a balanced meal instead.

These daily habits help support a steadier mood and create a stronger foundation for recovery.