Why Chronic Illness Changes Your Relationship With Your Body

Living with a chronic illness fundamentally changes your relationship with your body. Learn how body betrayal, cultural messages, and healthism shape body image. This article explores the first step toward rebuilding a more peaceful relationship with your body: understanding why it feels so difficult in the first place.

As a Health At Every Size dietitian, one of the most common questions I hear is, "How can I build a better relationship with my body when it's chronically ill?" Your relationship with your body is both deeply personal and a reflection of your external environment. It is shaped by lived experiences and cultural messages about beauty, health, and worth. That means there isn't a simple solution for improving body image, especially when living with a chronic illness. This article explores how chronic illness intersects with cultural factors that shape body image for everyone. Whether you're living with a chronic condition or simply trying to understand why body image feels so complicated, you're in the right place. 

Why body image is so complicated

Before we can talk about healing your relationship with your body, it's important to recognize that body image isn't just personal. Cultural messages shape how you see and value your body: 

• Gender norms teach us that bodies should look a certain way. For example, women are often expected to be simultaneously thin, youthful, feminine, and curvy

• Capitalism profits by labeling normal body experiences as problems and selling us a solution. For example, cellulite is marketed as a problem so that creams and products can be sold as a solution

• Social media highlights and amplifies ever-changing body ideals. Currently very thin thin bodies (influenced by the popularity of GLP-1 medications) are being promoted

• Ableism devalues disabled and chronically ill bodies by limiting access, opportunity, and social acceptance 

• Racism values eurocentric beauty standards and promotes devaluing bodies that differ from this ‘standard’

Whether you agree with these norms or not, bodies that conform to the cultural ideal have more privilege. These messages shape your relationship with your body. And for folks living with chronic conditions, they add another layer to an existing feeling of being let down by your body.

When you feel betrayed by your body 

Many of my clients with chronic conditions describe feeling personally betrayed by their bodies. When a body doesn’t work how you expect it to, it’s common to feel disappointment, loss of control, anger, or shame. These feelings are reinforced by a system that blames bodies for their struggles. Body blame can look like ‘if you lost weight maybe this condition would go away’ or ‘If you just worked harder your chronic conditions would resolve’. Body betrayal feels especially heavy because you’re conscious you will live in this body forever. Betrayal can also trigger a sense of hopelessness: how can I ever have a trusting relationship with my body if it already betrayed me? 

Why it’s so easy to blame your body

The reaction of body blaming doesn’t come from nowhere. It’s rooted in another cultural system of oppression called Healthism. This is the belief that health is primarily a personal responsibility and that if you make all the "right" choices, you can avoid illness. This mindset leaves little room for genetics, disability, access to care, or plain old bad luck. Both healthism and ableism treat chronically ill bodies as broken and less valuable. When your body feels culturally marginalized, it’s hard not to internalize a sense of betrayal or brokenness. If you feel betrayed by your body, trusting it feels almost impossible. 

Where do we go from here? 

Given the climate of betrayal and marginalization, is it possible to find your way to a more neutral or accepting place with your body? Of course it’s possible, and it’s complicated. 

Chronic conditions profoundly change how you experience life and even your own body. We’ve touched on several cultural and personal factors that make it complicated. Body image always starts with uncovering the foundations of how you relate to your body. It’s tempting to jump right into rebuilding or improving your relationship with your body. But first we have to understand why your body relationship broke down in the first place. The answer isn’t to rush past this and pretend to feel positive. Rebuilding trust may feel impossible…but it’s not! In my next post we’ll explore how to rebuild trust. Hint: it’s slow, steady, and grounding. 

Reach out for support

If you are struggling with your relationship with food and body image, reaching out for support is one of the most empowering things you can do. McArtney Nutrition offers specialized support for those navigating eating disorder recovery or living with chronic illnesses. Reach out for a discovery call to chat about finding food peace and body acceptance! 

About the author: Georgia McArtney, MS, RD, CEDS, is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals. Her practice, McArtney Nutrition, specializes in eating disorder recovery and chronic illness nutrition. By blending anti-diet principles, Intuitive Eating, Health at Every Size, and medical nutrition therapy, she helps clients rebuild trust in their bodies.

Disclaimer: the information provided in this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.