Trauma and Eating Disorder Recovery

“I don’t know why I do this.”

You’ve done the meal plans. The therapy. The mindset work. Maybe you’ve made progress—eating more regularly, challenging fear foods, practicing self-compassion. And yet… something still feels unresolved.

Maybe you still feel that pull, that urge—not necessarily to restrict, binge, purge, or over-control food, but to reach for something that feels safe. Maybe eating still feels like a fight, or your body still doesn’t feel like home. Maybe, no matter how much work you’ve done, there’s a quiet undercurrent of something keeping you stuck.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Many people in eating disorder recovery find themselves at this crossroads—having addressed food and body image directly, yet still feeling trapped by patterns that seem to run deeper. The missing piece? Trauma.

Can Trauma Cause Eating Disorders?

Yes. Research shows that up to 75% of individuals with eating disorders have a history of significant trauma—whether that’s childhood neglect, emotional invalidation, sexual abuse, or other distressing experiences that left an imprint on the body and mind.[1]

Eating disorders don’t develop in a vacuum. They often emerge as a way to cope with:

• Hyperarousal: A nervous system that’s always on edge, making food control feel like the only way to create stability.

• Dissociation: Feeling disconnected from your body, sometimes to the point where hunger cues don’t register or eating feels surreal.

• Self-punishment: The belief that you don’t deserve to nourish yourself, often rooted in shame from past experiences.

• A need for control: After experiencing powerlessness, food becomes one of the few things you can micromanage.

For many people struggling with eating disorders, especially those with trauma, food and body control are survival mechanisms—not just about weight loss or body image.

Why Food Still Feels Unsafe in Recovery

One of the most fascinating (and frustrating) things about trauma is how it rewires the brain’s reward system.

Studies show that early trauma alters dopamine pathways, making it harder for the brain to register pleasure in expected ways.[2] This is why:

• Food may feel like the only source of comfort, or like it doesn’t bring comfort at all.

• Hunger and fullness cues may be completely dysregulated.

• Even after eating disorder behaviors subside, emotional eating or food-related anxiety may persist.

In other words, if your brain still feels like it’s in survival mode, recovery will feel like an uphill battle—because, to your nervous system, survival mode is still necessary.

This is where trauma healing comes in.

How to Heal Trauma & Eating Disorder Recovery

If trauma is still running the show, food will continue to feel like the battleground—even if you’re making progress on the surface. Healing needs to happen at a deeper level, where the nervous system finally gets the message:

"You’re safe now."

1. Regulating the Nervous System

Trauma recovery isn’t just about talking through the past—it’s about helping your body experience safety in the present. Practices that calm the nervous system (breathwork, somatic exercises, grounding techniques) can make an enormous difference in reducing the urge to control food.

2. Healing Your Relationship with the Body

Many trauma survivors have a complicated relationship with embodiment. Reconnecting with sensations (through gentle movement, mindfulness, or even noticing how different foods feel in the body) can help build trust again.

3. Rewriting Survival Patterns

If restriction, bingeing, purging, or food obsession became a survival strategy, healing means giving your brain new ways to feel safe. This might involve therapy, but also practical, in-the-moment skills that help disrupt old patterns.

4. Addressing the Root of Self-Worth Struggles

For many, eating disorder recovery isn’t just about eating—it’s about untangling the belief that they must earn nourishment, rest, or love. Trauma work helps rewire the core messages that say, I am unworthy or I am too much.

FAQs: Trauma & Eating Disorders

Can trauma cause eating disorders?

Yes. Trauma alters brain function, making food and body control feel like necessary coping mechanisms. Many people with eating disorders have a history of trauma, even if they don’t initially recognize it.

Why do I still struggle with food even after eating disorder recovery?

If food still feels like an emotional battleground, unresolved trauma may be at play. The brain may still associate eating with control, safety, or punishment. Addressing trauma helps reduce the underlying fear response.

How do I heal my relationship with food after trauma?

Healing involves both nervous system regulation (to calm survival responses) and relearning safety with food. This can include somatic therapy, trauma-informed care, and mindful eating strategies.

Healing With Rebound

If any of this resonates with you, we’re a team of survivors and psychologists who built a program to help.

Trauma healing is a whole-body process. Our tools are designed to help you get out of survival mode, retrain your brain’s stress response, and build a relationship with your body that’s rooted in safety—not fear.

It’s designed to be used 10 minutes a day, and most members start seeing results in 2-3 weeks of daily use.

Healing is possible. Not just from disordered eating, but from the deeper wounds that fuel it. 

References

1. Brewerton, T. D. (2019). Neurobiological and clinical evidence of the association between trauma and eating disorders. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 993. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00993

2. D’Agati, D., & Pitman, R. K. (2021). Neurobiological mechanisms linking trauma and eating disorders. Current Psychiatry Reports, 23(11), 71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-021-01273-2