On Our Mind
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides integrated healthcare services including intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire.
Our On Our Minds blog shares lived experiences from colleagues at the Trust and patients who use or have used our services on a variety of topics from a wide range of services.
Why community matters in Eating Disorder recovery
Eating Disorder Awareness Week invites us to look beyond statistics and stereotypes and ask a harder question: what actually helps people recover? Not manage. Not cope quietly. But recover. Again and again, the answer comes back to something deceptively simple and deeply human, community.
Eating disorders thrive in isolation (Meneguzzo, Terlizzi, Maggi, & Todisco, 2024). They convince people they are alone in their thoughts, alone in their behaviours, and alone in their shame. Recovery, by contrast, grows in connection. Multiple accounts from lived experience are a testament to this (LaMarre, et al., 2024; Yim, et al., 2025). It is built in shared spaces, honest conversations, and the steady presence of others who remind you-sometimes when you cannot remind yourself-that change is possible.
Community does not replace clinical expertise; it amplifies it. Therapy, dietetic support, and medical care are essential. But without a sense of belonging, recovery can feel like a set of instructions, delivered into a vacuum. Community gives recovery somewhere to land.
In Nottinghamshire Adult Eating Disorder Service, this truth has come to life through a Recovery Through Activity group. This occupational-therapy focused group, adapted to meet the needs of those with eating disorders, is a 10-week course designed to help participants reflect on their occupational lives-the everyday activities, roles, and routines that give structure and meaning to life-and to begin rebuilding these in healthier, more sustainable ways. It is underpinned by occupational therapy theory which encourages opportunities for occupational participation to enhance wellbeing (Parkinson, 2014).
Many individuals entering the group describe lives that have become smaller over time. Eating disorders often narrow the world: routines become rigid, activities fall away, and social connections fade. Work, hobbies, relationships, and rest can all be overtaken by the illness. The group creates a shared space to notice this loss-not in isolation, but together. Week by week, participants reflect on how they spend their time, what matters to them, and what they would like their lives to hold beyond the eating disorder. They explore building balanced routines that support recovery rather than reinforce illness. Importantly, they do this alongside others who understand. That shared understanding changes everything.
Participants who initially came to the group feeling disconnected, are now beginning to recognise their experiences in others' stories. Conversations that might feel risky in one-to-one settings become easier when heads nod around the room. Shame loosens its grip when it is met with empathy instead of silence. The group becomes a place where participants can experiment-trying new routines, re-engage with meaningful occupations, and reflect honestly on what helps and what does not.
One of the most powerful outcomes from offering the Recovery Through Activity group so far has been the reduction in isolation. Participants frequently name connection itself as a key part of their progress. Knowing that others will notice if they show up-or if they don't-creates accountability rooted in care, not control. Encouragement from peers often feels differently than encouragement from professionals; it carries the weight of lived experience.
Community also helps people imagine a future. Eating disorders can make it hard to picture life beyond recovery, especially for adults who may have lived with illness for many years. Seeing others take steps-however small-towards fuller occupational lives can spark hope. It reminds people that recovery is not about becoming someone else, but about reclaiming parts of themselves that were pushed aside.
As we mark Eating Disorder Awareness Week 23 February - 1 March 2026, it is worth challenging the idea that recovery is an individual battle fought behind closed doors. Of course, recovery involves personal effort and courage. But it is sustained by relationships. It is strengthened in groups, communities, families, and services that create spaces for connection.
If eating disorders isolate, then community is a powerful form of resistance.
Whether through structured groups like Recovery Through Activity, peer support networks, or simply being willing to sit with someone without trying to fix them, we all have a role to play. Recovery does not happen in a vacuum. It happens when people are seen, heard, and supported-together.
This week let's widen the conversation. Awareness is important, but connection is essential.
Find out more about the Trust's Nottinghamshire Eating Disorder Service here.
To find out more about eating disorders visit Beat's website The UK's Eating Disorder Charity - Beat
Esther Dark
Specialist Occupational Therapist
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