A smile makes all the difference in eating disorder recovery

Blog entry

Published on 11 January 2026

By Sophie, mid-20s, recovered, anorexia nervosa

I think humour is often underestimated. It can be a defence mechanism deflecting from what’s really going OR it can be the ultimate key to helping you find the snippets of joy that might have been squashed for a long time. Either way it’s powerful stuff.

I do believe in the cliché ‘laughter is the best medicine’. Obviously not laughing AT someone, but when you are able to find the humour in a situation (be it a serious one or something more trivial) I don’t know the exact science but it can totally alter the way you feel in that moment. Of course the tough things need to be dealt with in a serious way at some point but as I moved through recovery, the more I was able to make light of scenarios that might have felt world ending at one time, which not only helped me process it but also allowed me to connect more with family as we collectively chose to find the funny side to something that had been so life destroying for us all.

Your laughter muscles are the only muscles I would actively ENCOURAGE you to exercise whilst you recover. The eating disorder to me felt a bit like the DeathEaters (who guard the wizard prison) in Harry Potter- they literally try and suck out your soul (I’m not being melodramatic here that’s the actual purpose of the DeathEaters in the books) and when they are present it’s cold and all feelings of joy are sucked away. Much like Harry in the books, the strength to fight them off has to come from within and by keeping the positive and joyful thoughts alive in your mind, not succumbing to the fear. I’m aware I’ve gone very cheesy and metaphorical here (I make no apologies for the Harry Potter reference though as they will always be my comfort books especially when read by Stephen Fry!) but I genuinely believe that one of the best ways of fueling your inner strength is with laughter.

Laughter can feel like a connecting force when sharing the humour with other people – something that becomes harder to do in the depths of an all-consuming eating disorder that aims to isolate you. For me, it was something I used to actually feel guilty about doing and if I felt a laugh rising I would try and stifle it because I believed if I laughed then it invalidated all my struggles. In reality two things can be true at the same time – you can be at your lowest point, struggling but laughing at something doesn’t take away from that or make it any less real. It CAN be an aid to helping shift to a slightly more positive mindset and be a healthier coping mechanism for moving away from the illness, but it will NEVER invalidate what you have and are continuing to go through and to fight.

The ability to make someone else laugh is probably what gives me the most joy and did especially in the early days. It can feel particularly poignant to be able to give someone the gift of a good laugh and again, I am not meaning to sound over the top but being the source of someone’s smile and giggle is an undeniably good feeling and allowed me to find parts of my personality (new or old) that I actually liked and would like to work towards growing.

There’s a reason why shows like FRIENDS continue to have so much success – comedy can be escapism which is very different to avoidance but can provide a respite to the inner turmoil going on in a person’s mind. The physical action of laughing is almost unavoidable and I believe works to physically break you out of what is going on in your brain and focus your energy on another part of your body.

The most difficult part of laughter is actually allowing yourself to do it. But once you let yourself let’s be honest you’ll find it’s a lot more fun laughing about some of the ridiculous situations I KNOW you can end up in when grappling with an eating disorder than it is crying about them. Of course, process things in your own way, be serious when you need to be and don’t brush things to the side but the best advice I could possibly give to any human in general – LET THE LAUGHTER IN, you’ll never regret a good giggle!