This episode is built for anyone who's ever used food, control, or a perfect Instagram grid to cope with something they couldn't quite name.

More info, resources & ways to connect - https://www.tacosfallapart.com/podcast-live-show/podcast-guests/mental-health-meg

This episode of Even Tacos Fall Apart dives into eating and mood disorders with mental health counselor Meg, also known online as Mental Health Meg. Meg works with clients of all ages, from five year olds to adults, covering everything from anxiety and trauma to eating disorders and identity. She brought real clinical insight and a willingness to get personal about her own relationship with self-care and mental health.

The conversation opens with what pulled Meg into counseling in the first place, including her time on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the long road through grad school rejections before landing in outpatient therapy work. From there the talk turns practical: journaling, mood tracking, getting outside, and why Zoom hangouts can be more draining than face to face ones, all useful tools during a stretch when everyone was stuck looking for ways to cope at home.

The heart of the episode is eating disorders. Meg breaks down some of the biggest misconceptions, starting with the idea that eating disorders are about vanity or chasing a certain look. In reality they are often about control and frequently tied to trauma. She also pushes back hard on the myth that you have to be underweight to have an eating disorder, pointing out how that idea erases binge eating and other restrictive patterns that do not fit the stereotype. The numbers get real too: eating disorders carry the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, something most people, including the host, had no idea about going in.

Meg and MommaFoxFire also get into body image and the pressure social media puts on young girls especially, talking through the gap between curated Instagram bodies and what actual healthy bodies look like. They talk about choosing accountability partners carefully, since the wrong influence (even a well meaning one) can blur the line between fitness focus and disordered eating.

The episode closes on resources. Meg shares where to find crisis hotlines and text lines, a CBT based workbook she uses with clients, and why eating disorder recovery specifically is some of the hardest work to support from a weekly therapy session, since so much of it plays out day to day around meals.

Along the way there is plenty of the usual mix that makes this show what it is: true crime tangents, work culture rants, and a few laughs about journaling pens and broken ankles. But the core of the episode is a clear eyed, compassionate look at how eating and mood disorders actually show up in people's lives, and how to support yourself or someone you love through them.

If you or someone you know is struggling, reach out to a crisis line or text line, or talk to a licensed professional. You are not alone in this.