Liv Label Free | Neurodivergent Eating Disorder Recovery

This is one of my favorite conversations on PDA to date! Livia Sara and Allyson Inez Ford sit down to discuss the connection between demand avoidance and eating disorders in neurodivergent folks, highlighting the importance of autonomy and purpose on the discovery journey.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Why traditional eating disorder treatment fails people with PDA
• The need for meaning and purpose beyond abstract recovery goals like “food freedom”
• How eating disorders create boundaries in a boundless world and serve as distractions from existential overwhelm
• Why shifting “recovery” to “discovery” helps remove the pressure that healing has to look a certain way
• How the “why” for discovery must be self-defined, not externally imposed

📚 Read my books! https://livlabelfreebooks.com
💗 Work with Livia: https://www.livlabelfree.com/coaching
🌿 Work with Allyson: https://www.eatingdisorderocdtherapy.com/

In this vulnerable episode, Liv opens up about how her OCD has resurfaced since moving back home. Liv and Sharon also discuss how traditional treatments for OCD and eating disorders fail neurodivergent people when the approach isn’t person-centered.

📚 Read my books! https://livlabelfreebooks.com
💌 Sign up for my newsletter! https://livlabelfree.com/join
👯 Liv Label Free Membership: https://livlabelfree.com/membership

My episode on Sharon’s podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CUp3I6AqyQ

Connect with Livia: https://www.livlabelfree.com/contact
Connect with Sharon: https://www.instagram.com/unmaskingsocial1/

How much of your existence is shrouded in resistance?

Something a lot of us gifted autistics feel resistance towards is the needs of the human body.

Food, water, sleep, bathroom…

Every bodily demand feels like an interruption, a violation of autonomy. As Kathi shared in today’s group podcast, her father literally says “I want to decide when I want to eat. I don't want my body to tell me when to eat!”

If you have PDA (officially “Pathological Demand Avoidance” but I prefer the term “Pervasive Drive for Autonomy”), rejecting bodily needs is an attempt to preserve autonomy.

Through this lens, the eating disorder – the ultimate rejection of bodily needs – can almost be seen as an extreme manifestation of PDA.

Of course, the paradox is that the ED itself is a violation of autonomy…because when your every next move is decided by the ED force, well you ain’t so much “in control” anymore, eh?

In today’s episode of the Liv Label Free Podcast, we dive DEEP into eating disorders and PDA, as well as:

• How diagnoses help validate our struggles
• Intergenerational patterns of resisting bodily needs
• Why mental hunger is a legitimate hunger signal (Kathi shares a great metaphor!)
• Franz Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” and existential loneliness
• Why recovery requires surrender before proof

I know how “claustrophobic” it can feel to be an infinite soul contained in a human body costume. But as I’ve been reminding myself lately, suffering is amplified by resisting what is.

XO Liv

P.S. Want to join these live group calls and connect with other neurodivergent beings on this discovery journey? The Liv Label Free Membership includes 3x monthly group calls, 24/7 WhatsApp support, my extreme hunger course, continued access to the Autistically ED-Free Academy, and hours of previously recorded coaching calls. 🌈 Join the Autistically ED-Free Membership: https://www.livlabelfree.com/membership

🎙️ Listen to my free audiotraining on Autism and Eating Disorders https://www.livlabelfree.com/free-audiotraining