A Mental Health Expert Tells Us How To Stay Stress-Free This Holiday Season
Looksmaxxing, for those who have not encountered it yet, is a social media trend centered on maximizing your physical attractiveness through any available means. Skincare routines, jaw exercises, specific diets for body recomposition, grooming protocols, and for some, cosmetic procedures and more extreme interventions. The goal is to reach the physical maximum of what your genetics allow by becoming the best looking version of yourself. This also goes beyond genetics, promoting things like plastic surgery and other cosmetic ways to change your appearance.
Maybe your child only eats a small number of foods or reacts strongly to certain textures. Perhaps your meals feel stressful, or eating just doesn’t come easily. If that sounds familiar, you’re not imagining it, and you’re not alone. For some people, these patterns are part of an eating disorder called avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). But what causes ARFID?
Like all eating disorders, ARFID doesn’t have a single cause—it typically develops from a mix of biological, environmental, and psychological factors. One thing that makes ARFID different, though, is that it isn’t driven by body image or a desire to lose weight. It’s often shaped by things like sensory sensitivities, differences in appetite, and fear or anxiety around eating.
If you are reading this after a hard night, or in the quiet that comes after a binge, I want you to know that you are not alone. I have sat with so many clients who described that same feeling, the deep exhaustion of making the same private promise over and over and watching it slip away again. I have sat with clients who carried this for years before they ever said the word “binge” out loud to anyone, certain that the problem must somehow be them. I want to say plainly, to you, that binge eating is not a failure of willpower, and it is not a sign that something is wrong with who you are. Binge eating responds to understanding, gentle work, and the right kind of support. Over time with these solid things in place, it can genuinely start to shift. This guide is here to help you make sense of what you have been living with, and to point toward what actually helps.
