#just ARFID things

[barbie-necromancer]

ARFID really kicking my ass on multiple levels the past like 72 hours

[barbie-necromancer]

Heads up, this has been impacting every aspect of my life since I was 6… months old.

According to my mother, I would pick up foods with my hands, and if I didn’t like it, It Would Not Go In My Mouth.

I am happy to report that eating disorder clinics ARE starting to take this more seriously, and I was actually surprised when I was able to finally find treatment after all these years (I was in my late 20s)

Do I still have ARFID? Yeah:). That’s probably never really going to go away, but at least now I was able to expand my palette from about 30 safe foods, to over 60 in like two months! It was so freeing to understand and get more comfortable with food on the whole.

I still struggle, I have thrown up still, but its with a lot less frequency and I am more willing to think twice about maybe putting something in my mouth I wouldn’t’ve before.

Its still seen as a boys disorder, since it often goes in hand with other “boy disorders”, like ADHD and Autism, and it can be harder for teens and adults to get treatment.

Basically… There’s a raising awareness in the medical industry about the condition, and bigger cities might have treatment.

Here’s a copy of the booklet I used, and still refer to, in treatment.

Im also more comfortable talking about ARFID with strangers, like no this is a legitimate thing added to the imperfect but still useful DSM-5 in 2013, some 20~ years after my birth.

I know for a FACT my parents would have sought treatment if it was available at the time, but it wasn’t. It’s here now.

It’s not perfect, but for the first time in my life, I can think about traveling and have slightly less anxiety over what I can eat.

autism allies (and even a substantial number of autistic people) when you tell them your autism-induced picky eating is not “picky eating” but is in fact an eating disorder that you can’t magically get over in the next 5 seconds:

[saturnsocoolioyep]

In the same vein as "I've been taking my medication for long enough that I haven't experienced any symptoms in a while, I must not need to take it anymore! (Spoiler alert: the meds are why you haven't had symptoms)" I present to you a similarly clownish thought process- "I haven't experienced that trigger in a long time, maybe I was just exaggerating how bad it was and it'll be fine to engage with this! (Spoiler alert: take a fucking guess babes)"

[sunnibits]

loving reminder as someone who struggles with food: you are allowed to add joy to your food. you are allowed to add a little joy even if it’s a tiny thing, something silly or something weird. you are allowed to do it whenever you want, as many times as you want. anything that makes food easier and more enjoyable for you is worth it!! it’s your food, you can decide what to do with it!! you can add rainbow sprinkles to your ice cream. you can cut your food into little heart shapes. you can pack your snacks into cute little bento boxes. it is not pointless or childish, it is an effective and active coping tool that you are allowed to use.

give yourself a little joy. the little things add up.

[aropride]

[barbie-necromancer]

This is the ARFID representation in media I deserve

cooking show but the judge is just a random kid with autism related food issues. no one can figure out what criteria they use to judge "good food" from "bad food" least of all the judge themself.

[lacedwithfemtanyl]

me after getting up too fast ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

[ibetittering]

Just realized my mom MIGHT'VE been a bit abusive

[sophisticatedheart]

Somehow got roped into having dinner at my friend's house and am forcing myself to eat things I don't like who is proud of me

[shitpostingforserotonin]

Eating nothing but a McDonald’s nugget happy meal for the 3rd day in a row because it’s the only thing you can eat without literally wanting to rip out your own stomach and set it on fire 🙃

[barbie-necromancer]

one thing about me is that i will always experience some kind of food insecurity

[jess-total-mess]

for a lot of people, making food is a labour of love. my grandparents were all like that (admittedly for some of them it was also growing up with ww2 rationing), and my aunt is like that and many of my friends parents are like that

and i recognise that. and it feels awful to step into the dinning room and see a food ready that you know isn’t compatible with you, because im being fed. someone made that. it cost time and money and expertise. i want to partake in the ritual

it sucks, to tell your friends parents as a kid that you ate before you came, no, really! you’re not that hungry! FUCK my mom literally used to CALL in advance when i went to friends houses and tell them “if you have a meal, it has to be [something on list]”

have you ever sat at your aunts table and had her give you more then you know you’ll eat despite your protests and be told “you need to eat more” or picked through halloween candy to remove what you won’t eat and be left with less then half of what you started with or partake in cooking class at school and giving your portion away because no matter how hungry you are, it’s not happening?

its isolating.

its staring at your body in the mirror before you shower, and wondering how long it’ll last. its being cold no matter what and any time you feel ill being told “you need to eat more”. its wanting more then anything for there to be a pill you take that replaces a full meal. its knowing, perfectly rationally, that you need food. and knowing, irrationally and rationally, that it’s not going to happen.

[brittlebutch]

really really hate how “eating food together” is such a common social activity. i do not like doing that with other people, y’all Have to leave me alone

[trainerethan]

Red: mixes food/needs to eat each food in equal portions

Green: needs foods to be seperate and eats them in a certain order but one at a time.

[sideblogformentalhealtshit]

having arfid is like if someone diagnosed you with "hates poop disorder" then told you that you either have to start eating bowls of horse diarrhea with human nail clippings in it or you die. that would fucking suck now wouldn't it

[autumnal-sapphic]

ok ik this is mostly a vent blog but I need help and i don't want my friends to see this bc they're neurodivergent and I feel like a pick me

I will be tagging this aggressively because I'd really like help lol if even one person takes this it'll help <3

pls don't scroll through my blog if you see this, it's entirely unrelated. It's literally me scream-venting about my friends.