Do you or a loved one ever feel like you were born on the wrong planet? Livia Sara and Dr. Marianne Miller both know what it’s like to experience life as a neurodivergent alien. The existential loneliness that comes with this sense of alienation can be so unbearable that the eating disorder becomes an escape – a way to create a sense of meaning and purpose when you feel lost.

In today’s episode, Livia and Marianne discuss how eating “disorders” are adaptive responses to a threatening world, emphasizing the importance of listening to stories of lived experience.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Growing up feeling existentially lost as an autistic person in a neurotypical world
• How eating disorders can be viewed as a form of autistic masking – a way to compensate for your innate sense of being “wrong”
• Unpacking the “atypical anorexia” diagnosis and dismantling harmful hierarchies in eating disorder treatment
• The difference between autistic routines vs OCD rituals
• How eating disorders can be considered a form of stimming in neurodivergent individuals

🌈 Grab your copy of Rainbow Girl, Livia’s memoir of autism and anorexia
👯 Join the Autistically ED-Free Membership
💗 Apply for 1-1 Coaching with Livia
📷 Connect with Livia on Instagram

Mentioned episodes:

• My episode on Marianne’s Podcast
• Existential Suffering AFTER an Eating Disorder
• What if I Can’t Handle Being Healthy?

About Marianne:

Dr. Marianne has been in the mental health field for 27 years and has specialized in eating disorders for the last 12 years. She was a full-time academic for 12 years and had a part-time eating disorder practice for much of that time until she left the university and went into private practice full-time in 2018. Dr. Marianne loves working with eating disorders as a therapist and an online course creator (her newest course is on ARFID and Selective Eating). She takes a non-diet, feminist approach that helps people of all genders live empowered, authentic lives. She embraces the Health at Every Size (HAES®) model, and is neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ affirming. Dr. Marianne is neurodivergent herself.

Connect with Marianne:

Instagram @drmariannemiller

Website drmariannemiller.com

ARFID and Selective Eating Course on Teachable