Living with Adult ARFID: Relationship Challenges No One Talks About

2025-06-27

What happens when your eating disorder doesn’t just affect your plate—but every relationship in your life? In this solo episode, Dr. Marianne explores the hidden struggles of living with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) as an adult. From dating and long-term partnerships to parenting, friendships, and work dynamics, adult ARFID can create chronic stress, disconnection, and grief—especially in a world that misunderstands sensory needs and neurodivergent eating. You’ll hear how ARFID shows up in romantic relationships, what it’s like to parent while navigating your own food limitatio...

What happens when your eating disorder doesn’t just affect your plate—but every relationship in your life? In this solo episode, Dr. Marianne explores the hidden struggles of living with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) as an adult. From dating and long-term partnerships to parenting, friendships, and work dynamics, adult ARFID can create chronic stress, disconnection, and grief—especially in a world that misunderstands sensory needs and neurodivergent eating.

You’ll hear how ARFID shows up in romantic relationships, what it’s like to parent while navigating your own food limitations, and why shame and social exclusion are such common parts of the adult ARFID experience. Dr. Marianne also shares a powerful lived-experience story and affirms that your food needs are not broken—and your relationships canbe built around what truly supports you.

Whether you’re living with adult ARFID or supporting someone who is, this episode offers validation, insight, and a trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming perspective on how ARFID impacts connection.

👉 Want support? Learn more about Dr. Marianne’s self-paced ARFID and Selective Eating Course.

LISTEN TO OTHER EPISODES ON ARFID

Complexities of Treating ARFID: How a Neurodivergent-Affirming, Sensory-Attuned Approach Works on Apple & Spotify.
Stuck on Empty: Autistic Inertia, ARFID & the Struggle to Eat on Apple & Spotify.
ARFID in Adults vs ARFID in Children on Apple & Spotify.

INTERESTED IN HANGING OUT MORE IN DR. MARIANNE-LAND?

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