#LIKE DON'T GET ME WRONG OF COURSE FOOD AND SHELTER ARE ESSENTIAL THEY ARE THE BASIC HUMAN NEEDS TO SURVIVE

[stormyoceans]

HE REALLY SAID 'IS YOUR DEFINITION OF 'CARE' WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR SON REALLY JUST PROVIDING HIM WITH FOOD AND SHELTER WHEN EVEN ANIMALS NEED ENTERTAINMENT AND COMPANY AND LOVE' RIGHT TO DAY'S MOTHER'S FACE GOD I LOVE MORK SO MUCH

[alexiablackbriar13]

Hope you don't mind me sending this to you but I was thinking about Oliver and the possibilities of him having an eating disorder after the island, and it got me thinking about Felicity being raised by a single mother and probably not knowing when her next meal is going to be. How do you think they would react if they realised they had similar disorders but for different reasons and how they would help each other through it.

I don’t mind you sending me this at ALL. In fact, I would love to answer this. I’m not exactly an expert on eating disorders, so if I get anything wrong and anything is medically inaccurate, I apologise in advice. I realise I might get hate for this, but to be honest, the fact that somebody even trusted me enough to ask for my opinion on this counteracts that. This is going to be a long post, ya’ll. Sit down and strap in.

TW: Eating Disorder and Medical Disorder Discussion.

The chances of Oliver having an eating disorder after the island are extremely high. I wrote about it in my fic ‘Re-adjustment Period’. I’ll summarise what I said there here though.

During his five years in hell, Oliver would have hardly eaten at all. Even during his time in Hong Kong and in Russia. On the island, when he did eat, it would have been little and not often, as game was hard to hunt on the island, as shown in the flashbacks. They would have eaten rare unseasoned meat and hard, barely-cooked roots, and whatever berries and edible plants they could possibly find. His stomach would have shrunk in order to cope with that. In Hong Kong, ARGUS would only have fed him as much as he would have needed to survive to make him weak and reduce his chances of escape. In Russia, in the Bratva, mobs often starve their candidates to prove their hardiness. Coming back to Starling City and suddenly having a three-course gourmet meal stuck under his nose would have been a massive shock to Oliver’s system, so much so that half a plate of food would have caused him to have cramps, or throw up. Artificial preservatives, sugar, spices and herbs would have also been a massive problem. Oliver’s stomach after shrinking and being accustomed to his island diet would have rejected all of them, not used to processing them. That’s the reality of it.

I imagine Oliver has a medical disorder concerning eating that’s resulted in an OSFED. An ‘Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder’. His symptoms and the cause of his eating disorder don’t fit the specified ones. Essentially, I imagine Oliver would have avoided eating unless absolutely necessary, not because he didn’t want to eat, but because so often he’d throw up and end up feeling sick due to his incapability to digest civilian food. He’d want to avoid that because it would make him much weaker and less capable out in the field as the Hood. He would probably eat very little, organic foods with no real substance to them, and not very often. High protein to keep up his energy levels and muscle mass. He’d probably have a deficiency of some vitamins and minerals, especially after the island. So Oliver’s eating disorder is mainly been based on a medical disorder rather that psychological.

I feel like Felicity’s possible eating disorder would be similar to Anorexia Nervosa, but once again not very similar, meaning she has an OSFED too - due to unavailability of food resulting in minor starvation, rather than just not eating. Not having very much food in the house most probably resulted in Felicity not eating very often, but when she did eat, in a large amount. As a result of that, her body would have adapted to take in as many nutrients and minerals as possible when she did eat so she would have begun taking in too many of them once on a stable, regular diet in Starling - which once again would result in her being sick.

Not knowing when her next meal would be would also have a psychological effect on Felicity, most likely resulting in a compulsive food hoarding disorder. I’ve met a lot of people with this kind of disorder due to working out in the local community - essentially, because these people have very low incomes and rely on dry and canned food donations from shelters and food banks, they hoard the food and avoid eating it as much as possible until they know it’s unavoidable and they have to eat it, otherwise they’ll end up passing out or dying. I feel like that would be Felicity - terrified of running out of the food that she and Donna have, so only eating it when absolutely necessary.

As for how I think that Oliver and Felicity would react to finding out each other have eating disorders. Well:

I think that Felicity would already suspect Oliver having an eating disorder. She’s around Oliver so much (okay, not in Season 1, but in Season 2, 3, 4, 5, she definitely is) she would have noticed something going on with him. Hanging around in the Arrow cave and bunker with him, working as his assistant at QC and LIVING with him - she would have definitely noticed SOMETHING going on with Oliver’s infrequent eating habits. I don’t think she would have confronted Oliver about it though - she’s more the helping out subtly type. I imagine she would have very subtly encouraged him to eat more by taking up a hobby like cooking and baking; maybe getting take out and encouraging Oliver to join her in eating it. Stocking up the Arrow cave/bunker fridge with food and telling the others - loudly - about it so that Oliver is aware that food is constantly available. Looking after him and helping him recover without Oliver even realising what she’s doing to help him.

As for Oliver finding out about Felicity’s eating disorder… I imagine that would happen during their road trip, post-S3 and pre-S4. He would have found out when cooking and baking for her that she’s incredibly careful around food. Probably would have been most visible when going to the supermarkets and farmer’s markets, with Felicity being antsy and nervous about what type of food they’re getting.

Confrontation wise… something small. Something personal and not very dramatic. Perhaps Oliver skipping breakfast and lunch because otherwise, he’d be too full, and Felicity asking quietly how long he’s been struggling with eating for. Maybe Felicity insisting on buying several canned vegetables and Oliver questioning hesitantly if she’s had trouble with buying food in the past. It could be that both of them reveal it to each other at the same time, because after a rich meal after going out for dinner, they both end up throwing up in the bathroom late into the night afterwards.

So yes. After finding out about each other’s eating disorders, I imagine both of them would try and help each other as much as possible. There wouldn’t be therapist visits, but there would be a lot of self-help. Oliver would cook small, bland meals for them both for a while. Felicity would do research on what the best foods and diets are for people suffering from medical eating disorders. Oliver would take that research into account and slowly reintroduce them back to a regular eating schedule and regular foods. Felicity would limit herself to taking inventory of their food stock only once a week, as that’s how often they go shopping for groceries.

It’s the small things, but those are the ones that count. And together, Oliver and Felicity would aid each other in recovery. Maybe not complete recovery, but they would both get better with each other’s support. Sometimes all you need is to know that you’re not alone – and with the strong connection those two have, they would get through rehabilitation and heal mentally.