Self Directed Brain Rewiring In Recovery

Every human brain (however old) has the ability to learn new skills, behaviours, thoughts and emotions. This is the concept of ‘neuroplasticity‘ or ‘brain rewiring’.

Eating disorder recovery necessitates changing a lot of behaviours and thought patterns that in the years or decades of illness have become deeply wired into the brain, such that you carry them out on autopilot and trying to do anything different (which you have to in recovery) feels clunky, wrong and requires intense focus (and that is before you take into account the fear response to the changes!).

It is possible in recovery to ‘rewire’ your brain to learn new and positive ways of eating without restriction, resting and changing other disordered behaviours you might have but this process is HARD!

This post provides more of the neuroscience behind how the brain adapts and changes or ‘rewires’ when you attempt to learn new…