This exercise might seem odd to you at first, but doing it can be very helpful. The alcoholic picks up alcohol early in life and the alcohol becomes a friend. It represents a place to go to in order to feel safe and secure. It may help him/her to be animated, take a risk, or have friends. In the same way, this intimacy anorexia has become your friend. This massive protective entity, your anorexia, came along somewhere in your life to serve you knowingly or unknowingly and you began to trust this entity for many things in your emotional life. This entity helped you survive but it cannot help you really live. On a piece of paper, write a thank you letter. Thank your anorexia for all it has done for you over the years. When you are finished, read it to one of your support group people.
