Surgery & therapy for eating disorder recovery

Hi, my name is Meggie. I have struggled with clinically diagnosed Binge Eating Disorder (BED) since 2014 (cycling through the "moderate" and "severe" classifications of the DSM-5). After experiencing sexual violence in college, I began using food to cope, and it soon spiraled into multiple binging episodes per week alongside a severe substance use disorder. I was admitted to the ER multiple times over a span of only five months from 2014-2015 for my substance use disorder, and while I've been in recovery from that disorder since then, my BED has only worsened as it has filled the void my substance use did.

BED is clinically classified as a severe, life-threatening but treatable disorder. From 2018 to 2019, around 3,110 individuals in the United States died due to binge eating disorder.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1230552/us-deaths-due-to-eating-disorders-by-condition/

https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/by-eating-disorder/bed

I have gone through multiple periods of stability in the past few years since then, alternating with periods of increasingly worsening binges. If anyone is familiar with BED, it's extremely difficult to stop. It causes intense shame, guilt, embarrassment, and suffering and is incredibly stigmatized. In comparison to treatment programming and resources for anorexia and bulimia, services for BED are scant. Only two people in my personal life know I have BED. I have struggled with immense self-loathing, disgust, and depression as a result of this disease, and it has cost me thousands of dollars over the years.

I have been in therapy for the past 8 years with a psychotherapist who specializes in trauma but not in eating disorders. After receiving concurrent therapy for several months with a therapist at my university who specializes in EDs, I will be graduating from my graduate program next month and will lose access to the free ED services available at my university.

Luckily, I recently found out I actually live in the same city as the first BED-specific program in the country, called Bodywise located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After receiving a quote for a consultation appointment and ongoing therapy at this agency, it's clear I come nowhere close to making enough money to afford these critical services. Additionally, due to health issues caused by my recurrent BED, I also need to obtain an outpatient surgical procedure that is not covered by my limited insurance. Because I was forced to cut down my job hours to part-time during my graduate program to attend school, I also have nowhere close to enough money saved up to afford the Bodywise services and surgery.

I haven’t gone an hour in 8 years without hating my body and feeling ashamed about my disorder. I legitimately can’t remember the last time I dressed how I wanted to and now how my disorder made me feel. My BED has affected my sense of self, my social interactions, my fashion sense, my finances, my confidence, and worst of all, my health. Without these services and surgery, I will continue to be at risk for multiple additional health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, worsening of my depression, and a continued descent into an eating disorder that is constant and all-consuming.

I am hoping to raise $10,000 to cover the surgery cost and the consultation fee for a Bodywise appointment and 6 months of BED Bodywise therapy while I get back on my feet and regain full-time employment after graduation. Paying for this surgery and these services as my finances currently stand would put me in debt.

Any amount you can spare helps. Thank you so much.