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Jinger Duggar credits her mother for her recovery from her eating disorder.
Even though she’s faced backlash from loved ones for exposing the toxic Duggar cult and church, Jinger has maintained a relationship with her family.
She will go to any extent to praise her parents when she feels they have really done something right.
An example of this was Ginger’s teenage eating disorder. She says Michelle helped her with this – using her own experience with bulimia as a guide.
Jinger Duggar had an eating disorder as a teen
For years, Duggar fans and critics alike have known about Jinger Duggar’s teen body image issues and her related eating disorder.
(We say “related to” rather than “because of” because other factors, including an oppressive cult lifestyle and toxic family, certainly contributed to Ginger gaining a sense of control over her body.)
But while many Duggar critics have called Jinger’s eating disorder another symptom of what was wrong in that house, Jinger doesn’t see it that way.
Jinger Duggar was a guest on a recent episode unplanned Podcast with Matt and Abby Howard.
There, he described how Michelle had helped him with his eating disorder. Michelle suffered from bulimia, and clearly understood how easy it would be for Ginger to give up food again.
Apparently, Michelle suggested that she and Jinger text each other every day about what they ate. “We can eat healthy together,” Michelle reportedly told Jinger about the plan.
Michelle Duggar’s eating disorder intervention worked for Jinger
According to Ginger, 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 Ginger feel less alone and less isolated.
She also began to view food in a more healthy way. Ginger realized that she wanted to actively give her body the nutrients it needed while focusing on restoring her health and energy.
Previously, some Duggar critics on social media had discussed how unusual it is for the Duggars to treat Jinger’s eating disorder this way.
True, they didn’t handle it like a normal family. But Michelle at least took a pragmatic approach of mutual accountability with Ginger. Receiving a message about what your friend had for breakfast can be a great reminder to finally eat your own breakfast.
In many cases, the Duggar family responds to a crisis with secrecy, shame, abuse, and attempts to quietly pray a problem out of existence. This approach with Ginger shows that things can be different when parents approach a problem individually.
How are things with Michelle these days?
Jinger also discussed how she doesn’t talk to her parents face-to-face about many topics.
However, she still loves Michelle and Jim Bob, even though critics of the family know that neither of her parents could ever deserve this affection.
As for Josh, Jinger admitted: “I can just pray for his family, his victims.” She doesn’t and won’t talk to him, she explained.