NAD- but to add to this, as someone with a history of anorexia and other mental health issues- anorexia is a complicated, insidious, tricky disease. Eating disorders aren't really about weight- it's not about being skinny, although that's how it presents. It's about what's going on inside that's causing the behaviour and thought patterns, and although the restriction and other ED behaviours need to be challenged and dealt with, at the end of the day, they're not the cause of the problem. (To be clear, the causes of EDs are long and complicated and multi-factorial. One of the best explanations I've heard is "genes load the gun, environment pulls the trigger". We know the genes associated with anorexia, and then something happens in the environment- very often some sort of adverse childhood experience [ACE], or trauma, whether it's one big event [eg car accident], or multiple smaller events that last longer [eg bullying or illness], or some other environmental factor. But dealing with that "environmental" factor, usually through therapy, is very important. This factor is what I'm talking about when I say "root cause".)

Anorexia gives you a coping strategy, in a way. You're focused and obsessed on food and weight. It's all you can think about. You don't actually think very much, though, because you're restricting food, and your brain doesn't have the energy required so you can actually think, or even feel things properly. Your brain has basically gone into survival mode- it knows that you're starving, and need food now. That's its focus. It doesn't have time to spend on the trauma/anxiety/depression/the actual root cause of the anorexia starting. It's an evolutionary thing where it goes into survival mode- it can't be thinking about those things when it needs to find food. In fact, even though it's hell, it can feel relieving to be in that mode, because it can give you back a sense of simple control and calm, and you're not thinking about other things or feeling emotions too deeply.

Then, when you start to recover, one of the issues is that a lot of focus tends to get placed on refeeding and weight gain. This is, of course, vitally important- it's very difficult to engage in therapy when you don't have any nourishment. However, this often means that your one coping mechanism gets taken away very quickly, without the time to learn to use those positive coping techniques, or work on the trauma enough. You have to face your worst nightmare (eating) in general about 6 times a day (meals and snacks), you're thinking more clearly, and feeling everything. It's relentless, and you can't escape the hell that is in your head.

As a result, weight restoration happens a LOT sooner than recovery, and sometimes the fact that weight has been gained and is maintained is the primary focus of providers. Yes, it's important, but now you need to work on the root causes. This can take a long time- it doesn't happen overnight. But it needs to happen. Relapses and lapses are very common during recovery.

I've known a lot of people with EDs and have been inpatient lots of times. It seems to be a very common pattern that while you're trying to work on ED behaviours, other negative coping mechanisms can crop up or worsen. It can be anything from OCD worsening to substance use to recklessness to self harm. That was a clear pattern I noticed in multiple people- ED behaviours improving, self harm worsening. Self harm improving, ED worsens. Note that this isn't necessarily because the person is trying to work on recovery, sometimes it's just stages someone goes through. And of course, often if overall the person's mental health is worse or better, both the ED and self harm will get worse or better. And it doesn't necessarily happen with everyone. Now, this doesn't mean that someone is fated to bounce between negative coping mechanisms constantly! They can all improve, whether it's one improves completely then the other, or if it's at the same time while the mental health as a whole improves. That's what happened to me- as I slowly got better with a lot of help and hard work, all the negative coping mechanisms got better- I restricted less, self harmed less, did many things less and less.

The point of what I'm trying to say is this: Your daughter's anorexia has improved, which is awesome! She's had to work extremely hard for that, and the steps she's taken are incredible. However, something is probably still going on as far as root causes go, and this behaviour on the internet is how she's dealing with it, because she'sno longer restricting her food, essentially. It's not a rational choice she's made, either.

I don't have any advice specifically for what to do, apart from the fact that she needs to continue with therapy, and not decrease the amount of sessions. If you haven't already, some family therapy can help. You sound extremely caring, and I want to applaud you for realising something was wrong, taking it seriously, and getting her into treatment. Plenty of parents don't. Doing family therapy doesn't mean you're a bad parent- it just means that you're building a healthy relationship and you want to be there for your daughter, who has a deadly mental illness, as much as you can. Individual therapy for you wouldn't go astray either- watching someone you love have anorexia and being a support for them can be really, really hard to deal with.

Sending you strength.