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What's Eating You? Daily Sentinel (Rome, NY)
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https://www.mvhealthnews.com/5-things-you-should-know-about-eating-disorders/
ED Referral
https://www.edreferral.com/journal/the-eating-disorder-journal-february-2026-vol-27-issue-2-no-235
"Weighing In on Eating Disorders:
When Trauma Teaches the Body Not to Trust Itself By Stephanie Hall. When most people think of eating disorders, they imagine calorie counts, mirrors, or the pressure to look a certain way. What they rarely picture is trauma. For many individuals, the journey into an eating disorder often begins with the erosion of safety, stability, self-worth, or other key aspects of well-being. Trauma isn’t always a dramatic event. It’s often the quieter, chronic kind: years of abuse, instability, relentless stress, bullying, or growing up in an environment where emotional needs were routinely ignored. In those conditions, the nervous system learns to stay alert, braced for the next painful event. The body becomes a battlefield long before anyone notices there is even a problem. Eating disorders often function as survival strategies. For someone carrying trauma, hurtful eating behaviors can be powerful, if only temporary ways to regulate overwhelming feelings. Restricting might create a sense of numbness where bingeing might offer comfort in a moment of panic or loneliness, and purging might feel like release. These are not “choices” in the casual sense; they are instinctive attempts to cope when other tools were never taught, or when safety was once tied to having no needs at all. Trauma also reshapes the body’s internal signals. Anyone who has lived through chronic fear knows how hunger can simply disappear or how cravings arrive with tidal force. Stress hormones don’t just cloud emotions; they disrupt the cues that tell us when we’re hungry, full, tired, or overwhelmed. For someone healing from trauma, reconnecting with those signals can feel like learning a new language. Treating an eating disorder without acknowledging trauma is like trying to stop a leak without turning off the water. Real recovery requires building emotional safety, not just weight restoration. It means replacing shame with understanding, rigidity with flexibility, and isolation with connection. Most importantly, reframing eating disorders through the lens of trauma helps dismantle the myths that keep people silent. These illnesses are not about vanity. They are about survival. They are about bodies doing the best they can to navigate pain, fear, or instability. If we want healing to be possible, we have to start in a safe environment with compassion, with curiosity, and with recognition that sometimes the most misunderstood behaviors are actually stories of resilience, waiting to be heard.
Stephanie Hall, a New York State–certified Peer Specialist, serves as the founder and facilitator of " What’s Eating You," free in-person and virtual support groups for individuals affected by eating disorders. Her work emphasizes trauma-informed practice, structured peer support, and the creation of safe, collaborative recovery oriented environments. Visit her at What's Eating You" Website: https://whatseatingyou2022.wixsite.com/my-site