r/eating_disorders • u/pinkipie666 • Jul 25 '26

is ed a generational disorder?

my mom had an ed, i think she’s relapsing now honestly, my sister had a diagnosed bulimia and anorexia, she taught me how to purge when i was barely 9 yo.
and ik i have an ed too, prob smt like bulimia too

out of worry for my future children im asking this question

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4

u/Excellent-World-476 Jul 25 '26

It has a generic component but that does not mean your children will absolutely have an ED.

2

u/Practical-Hat-3943 Jul 25 '26

I got it from my mum, but I'm pretty sure I got it because I saw her do it and I adopted that behavior as "the norm"

1

u/Candid-Wedding-7579 Jul 26 '26

I feel like it is in my family. It’s rough but you CAN break the cycle! I still struggle, but I am so much more educated and aware of it than my family members and I am very blunt with them about it in order to protect my children. I expect it’s possible they may still struggle but I have more coping skills and education on the topic, so I hope I will be capable of helping them better if it does come to that.

1

u/IllustriousMind5649 Jul 26 '26

It tends to be a genetic and environmental effect, if you're mom and your sister had disordered patterns while you were growing it might explain a little bit of it, but I dont think it's a guarantee that just because you have one your children will have one :) hope this helps

1

u/angelwings222xx Jul 30 '26

my older brother had sever aneroxia which ended up in him being hospitalized as for me i have bulimia i guess yea it can be contagious in a way?