Can increased food prices make eating disorders worse?

Food prices are crazy right now. I was looking at a single serve thing for $6 or something I could buy in bulk for $2 that will last me weeks.

I'm not sure though if this is heading into restriction. But food is expensive especially the kind I had been eating for my GI stuff. So I need to figure out other options.

Hello....

I am so sorry you struggle with an ED.

I an dxd with anorexia nervosa B/P subtype, and although I have been doing well that past 8 months or so, certainly not recovered at all mentally, in many respects.

I wanted you to know you have helped me to feel less alone, as absolutely the skyrocketing prices of food have indeed triggered my ED " voice"...Just one more reason it temptation with to return to it's cold embrace.

I encourage you to keep fighting, yes buy in bulk, cook batches if things and freeze...oh...wait what a hypocrite I am....this is exactly the advice I ought to be giving myself...

It's so.hard to let go of.

Thank you for sharing, and hope you can find a way to manage the expense of food without it triggering you to restrict.

Take gentle care of you.

Yeah. More motivation to restrict for anorexia, increased stress worsening bulimia/BED (and probably leading to more apathy, depression, hopelessness. When I’m more “bulimic” I TRY to restrict, last a few days, then blow all my money on binge food and b/p when I feel like a “failure” and can’t go on. The more I “try” to restrict and fail the more I end up buying (or at times even stealing if money for food is that tight), the more it happens, the more desperate/guiltyI feel, the worse the b/p cycles are, the more suicidal I get, the less long term financial planning and more impulsive I get, etc. I don’t think I’ve ever been on the BED end of things but I bet it can be similar.

I bet even with stuff like ARFID that has more to do with types of food rather than amounts can get worse just because of increased financial stress, and I wouldn’t be surprised if those in poverty already with “just” or primarily an eating disorder develop a comorbidity or at least reach new extremes of anxiety and develop other unhealthy coping methods.

I went grocery shopping after being released from the hospital and nearly had a panic attack when my safe foods were either unavailable or like $10 for four protein bars.

And then as prices go up for everything, of course getting treatment becomes more economically infeasible unless the welfare programs (my live free and die state doesn't like a lot in the first place) work doubly hard to stay/become available and account for increasing demand.