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Jinger Dugger credits her mother for her eating disorder recovery.
Even though she has faced backlash from loved ones over exposing the toxic Duggar cult and church, Jinger has maintained ties with her family.
She has even gone to great lengths to praise her parents when she feels that they actually did something right.
One example was Jinger’s adolescent eating disorder. She says that Michelle helped her through it — using her own experience with bulimia as a guide.
Jinger Duggar developed an eating disorder as a teen
For years, Duggar fans and critics alike have known about Jinger Duggar’s adolescent body image issues and the eating disorder related to it.
(We say “related to” rather than “that caused” because other factors, including the oppressive cult lifestyle and toxic family, certainly contributed to Jinger seeking that sense of control over her own body)
But while many Duggar critics have pointed to Jinger’s eating disorder as just one more symptom of what was wrong with that household, Jinger doesn’t seem to see it that way.
Jinger Duggar was a guest on a recent episode of the Unplanned podcast with Matt and Abby Howard.
There, she explained how Michelle had helped with her eating disorder. Michelle had suffered from bulimia, and clearly understood how easy it would be for Jinger to lapse into skipping meals again.
Apparently, Michelle suggested that she and Jinger would text each other every day about what they ate. “We can eat healthy together,” Michelle reportedly told Jinger of the plan.
Michelle Duggar’s eating disorder intervention worked for Jinger
According to Jinger, this was the best thing that happened to her.
Not only did it help with her disordered eating patterns, but going through this recovery and accountability journey helped Jinger to feel less lonely and less isolated.
She also began to view food in a more healthy manner. Jinger came to realize that she actively wanted to give her body the nutrients that it needed, focusing upon restoring her health and energy.
Previously, some Duggar critics on social media have discussed how unusual it is for the Duggars to treat Jinger’s eating disorder in this manner.
True, they didn’t handle it like a normal family. But Michelle did at least take a practical approach of mutual accountability with Jinger. Getting a text about what your friend ate for breakfast can be a great reminder to eat your own breakfast, after all.
In so many cases, the Duggar household responds to a crisis with secrecy, shame, abuse, and with attempts to quietly pray a problem out of existence. This approach with Jinger shows that things may be different when a parent personally understands a problem.
How do things stand with Michelle these days?
Jinger also delved into how she doesn’t see “eye-to-eye” with her parents on numerous topics.
However, she continues to love Michelle and Jim Bob, even though critics of the family know that neither of her parents could ever deserve the affection.
As for Josh, Jinger admitted: “All I can do is just pray for his family, his victims.” She does not and will not speak to him, she explained.
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