Healing means living better within the challenges of mental illness.

So often I want my daughter to be “all better” or I want feel “all better” in my eating disorder. But in reality, we can’t necessarily be “all better” with a mental illness like we can a cold or stomach ache.

Mental illness is ongoing, with days that are really good and feel great and other days that just suck. However, I’ve come to learn that while my daughter and I may not be all better, we can learn how to live better within our illnesses, celebrating good days, understanding our triggers, caring for ourselves on down days, and managing/adjusting treatment as needed.

Accepting and learning how to live WITH our mental illnesses as part of life has created, for us, a general sense of living better. This frame of mind has been healing for our whole family.

— Leanne Sype

Love Eats