ABSTRACT
Eating disorders without comorbid diabetes are severe conditions and lead to the most deaths of any psychiatric diagnosis. Psychiatrist know this also holds true in type 1 diabetes, where eating disorders are associated with the early onset of medical complications and an increased risk of mortality. Women's ideas about the risk factors that may have made them prone to developing an eating disorder can be translated into ideas about prevention by creating changes in diabetes treatment. They spoke of things like perfectionism, rigid food rules, deprivation, seemingly unrealistic glucose goals, and negative judgment. They wanted the sense that they were working together toward mutually constructed and realistic goals for their diabetes care. Regardless of what they wished they could tell another woman in the midst of her eating disorder, these women were also keenly aware that receptivity to these messages takes readiness. They instill realistic hope that recovery is possible and that it is deeply worthwhile.
