# How do people with lived experience of Anorexia Nervosa and mental health professionals working with people with eating disorders conceptualise recovery?

## TL;DR

This study explores how people with Anorexia Nervosa and mental health professionals define recovery and what factors help or hinder it.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the differing perspectives on recovery between patients and professionals, emphasizing the need for a more holistic definition.

## Key findings

- There is disagreement on whether full recovery from Anorexia Nervosa is possible.
- Professionals emphasize weight markers, while people in recovery focus more on cognitive and behavioral changes.
- Social support is important for motivation, but intrinsic motivation is needed for long-term recovery.

## Abstract

Understanding the reasons for recovery or relapse in individuals with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is vital to improving post-treatment care. However, progress has been limited by a lack of consensus on defining recovery, with calls for including patient and clinician perspectives. This qualitative study explored how individuals with lived experience of AN and mental health professionals conceptualise recovery from AN, and the factors they perceived as contributing to or preventing recovery or relapse.

We conducted three focus groups with people with lived experience of AN (n = 15 in total) and three focus groups and one individual interview with mental health professionals (n = 7). Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

We identified three themes. Theme 1 "Recovered, Yet Still Recovering" highlighted the ambiguity around what constitutes full recovery or whether it is possible and how people with lived experience and professionals’ views differed. Theme 2 “Disentangling Recovery and Weight Gain” highlighted different views between the groups on whether weight markers should be included in recovery definitions. Theme 3 “The Role of Others in Recovery: A Motivator or a Hinderance?” showed that people in one’s life can be the primary source of motivation to recover, but this is not sufficient for sustaining recovery and intrinsic motivators are needed.

Our study highlights that discrepancies between professional and lived experience definitions of recovery may be hindering therapeutic alliances, and that social support is crucial to promoting long term recovery. Additionally, we emphasise the importance of differentiating between cognitive, behavioural, and physical recovery in definitions.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40337-025-01432-6.

Anorexia Nervosa is a serious eating disorder with high relapse rates after treatment. This study explored how people who have recovered from Anorexia and mental health professionals define recovery and what they believe makes it harder or easier. We held discussions with 15 individuals in recovery and 7 mental health professionals. We found that both groups agreed recovery is a long process, but they disagreed on whether full recovery is possible. Professionals saw recovery as managing symptoms, while people in recovery often felt that the presence of persistent disordered thoughts meant they were never fully recovered. Additionally, many people who have recovered from Anorexia felt that too much focus is placed on weight gain when defining recovery, whereas the professionals saw weight markers as very important. Additionally, social support was seen as important for motivation to recover, but not enough to sustain recovery alone. Participants suggested that finding personal goals and desires for recovery is important. Finally, participants highlighted the importance of having some support after leaving treatment, but they made clear that this should not take away from patients’ autonomy. Ultimately, this study sheds light on how best to define recovery which can help highlight important targets for aftercare following treatment.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40337-025-01432-6.