What to Know
Jinger Duggar has opened up about struggling with an eating disorder during her teenage years before, but this time, she’s offering advice to others that some people are deeming unsafe. According to Jinger, all it took was talking to her family and getting on an “accountability track” to end up on the road to recovery.
Obviously, that’s not going to work for anyone — and at no point during her spiel did Jinger say anything about speaking to anyone in the medical profession.
Jinger talked about telling her family she was struggling with food and her body image.
In the latest episode of Jinger and sister Joy-Anna Duggar‘s Call Your Sister podcast, Jinger looked back on a time when she “broke down” while talking to her older sister, Jana Duggar, about how she was avoiding food in fear that it would make her “fat.”
“I remember talking to Jana and maybe Jill was there too, but I told them, I said, ‘I don’t want to do this, and I want to get accountability,’” Jinger said on the podcast. “We were not at home, so when I got back home, I told Mom everything, that I was struggling, how I was avoiding food. She met me with such grace and kindness and she said, ‘Jinger, I struggled with bulimia when I was young.’”
Michelle Duggar offered her a plan to recover.
Jinger said she was “reassured” after talking to Michelle, who made a plan for her.
“She was not like, ‘Oh my goodness, here’s three cheeseburgers, eat them all,’ but she was like, ‘No, it’s okay, you can eat healthy food and be healthy,’” she said. “She also said, ‘You don’t need to avoid food because that’s going to harm your body later.’ And so, she got me on an accountability track.”
That “accountability track” included documenting all of her meals in a text message to her mom.
She continued, “She would also check in on me. So, we were eating meals, but if she was gone, I would text her and I would have accountability from somebody else who was there, like, ‘This is what I’m eating.’”
People were unimpressed with Jinger’s advice to others facing the same struggle.
Duggar critics are alarmed by Jinger’s advice for those struggling with eating disorders, sharing their concerns on Reddit. As multiple people pointed out, having an “accountability partner” can lead people down a dangerous path that only makes their eating disorder worse.
Another person pointed out, “The problem with their circles is that if they did recommend therapy, it would likely be through a church and not through an actual licensed therapist.”
It’s good to know that Jinger is feeling healthier and happier about her body image these days, but her advice may not be the best for everyone who is dealing with an eating disorder. That’s what doctors and therapists are for, after all.
