How do I avoid my parents forcing me into recovery again?
Trigger warning
The title makes me sound like an awful person, I know, but I’m just not ready yet.
I have recently relapsed with anorexia after about 16 months in recovery. I thought I was hiding it well, but my parents have noticed that I have been eating less lately. I think I’ll be able to blame it on autistic burnout (which I’m also very much going through right now), but I can’t be forced back into recovery again, not already.
I’m barely underweight, but now I don’t know if I should prioritise eating just a little under maintenance or go full-fledged relapse and strain my relationship with them and hope they don’t force me into treatment before I’m sick enough. I’m 18 (about to turn 19) and was discharged from ed services a year ago, right before my 18th, so I don’t know how much I can actually be forced to by my parents now that I’m a legal adult.
I’m not ready to recover yet and I know exactly what I’m doing to myself, I just don’t know how to go about relapsing while my parents know. Do I just refuse to eat when they ask me to for months until I’m critically underweight again? I’m a little desperate
Posted Jan 27, 2026, 11:44 AM UTC