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Subcutaneous… you are my Friend
May 10, 2008 in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Anti- Diet Campaign, Behavioral Strategies and Eating Disorders, Blogs, Body Acceptance, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Cognitive Processing and Effects of Dieting, Community Health Education, Diet Breaking, Dieting Behaviors, Dieting Industry, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Recovery, Eating Disorder Research, Eating Disorders, Eating Patterns and Weight Related Issues, ED Hope & Recovery, ED recovery, EDNOS, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Environmental factores influencing ED's, Evidence Based Treatment for Eating Disorders, Evidence-Based Medicine, Family & Culture, Genetic Analysis and Eating Disorders, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Imprinting and Addictive Processes, Love Your Body, meta-analysis, Mind & Body, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Personal, Personal Stories, Public Health, Research and Recovery, Size Accpetance, Size Esteem, Society and Weight Related Issues, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, Symbolic Imagery, Thoughts | Tags: BDD, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Diets Don't Work, DNA & ED's, Eating Disorder Recovery/Support, Eating Disorder Research, Eating Patterns and Weight Related Issues, Effects of Dieting, environmental factors influencing ED's, Epigenetic Inheritance, Evolutionary Biology and our Bodies, Fat & Metabolism, Fat Acceptance, Genetic Analysis and Eating Disorders, Genetic and Environmental causes of ED's, Gentetic Analysis and Eating Disorders, Health & Wellbeing, Health at Every Size, Karolinski Institute and Obesity Study, Love Your Body, neo-Lamarckian Researchers, Parent Support and Eating Disorders, Pathophysiology of Eating Disorders, Size Acceptance, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, Weight and Self-Perception | Leave a comment
Most of us realize that we need “fat” not only in our diet, but within our bodies– I say most since when you have an eating disorder, know someone with an ED, or care for someone suffering with this illness, specifically anorexia nervosa, which is hallmarked by the intense fear of gaining weight, this is a very difficult truth to swallow as well as visually accept within ones’ physical body.
There are also some studies that suggest for some this “fear” can be a precusor to eating disorders among the array of environmental, behavioral influences as well as genetic and/or biochemical predeterminers that scientists are still compiling and discovering that can leave some individuals much more susceptible than others to either severe eating disordered behavior, EDNOS, or a severe diagnosed eating disorder that requires serious and comprehensive treatment.
What’s also intriguing is the work by researchers continuing to unfold in evolutionary biology, genetic imprinting, and epigenetic inheritance which I’m certain there are correlations within these findings and eating disorders that have yet to be fully available and utilized, but may be able to provide us with a much more inclusive picture behind the illness and how to improve prevention and treatment.
There was a recent study highlighting the benefits (mostly catching everyone’s eye with the glorification of our ever evolving rump, or as writer Debra Dikerson slammed in Salon.com last year about mainstreaming “Gi-normous butts”) of subcutaneous fat, which produces hormones known as adipokines found to boost metabolism (of course, I’m assuming this study will also fuel the weight-loss industry and war-on-obesity too) found in the booty area as well as belly and showing to be protective against type2 diabetes, but also reaffirming the adage that “diets don’t work” and briefly explains why this is part of the reason it’s difficult to keep that weight off once lost; and that our fat cells are set during adolescence and don’t decrease, but do actually expand in size.
And while I don’t embrace the the good/bad dichotomous thinking and categorization of really anything when it comes to our daily living and Life– you tend to find things more in shades of gray or muted with other colors vs just a pigment of one– the study is looking at two types of fat: subcutaneous and visceral , and where they are found within the body. Subcutaneous tends to be in the booty and stomach area, and has more benefits vs visceral, which tends to be the gunk blocking arteries, causing damage to organs– sorry to say you’re bad visceral, or maybe scientists just haven’t fully found out what you’re doing and why you are getting such a bad wrap.
Another study that continues in similar dialogue and highlights the complications of metabolic syndrome and that this can be triggered by overeating, which is correlated with weight gain, especially if done consecutively over a sustained period of time, and makes me wonder about endocannabinoids and their role cause/effect in obesity and how this, if at all correlates. The study also points to our fat cells being set during adolescence, but Dr Stephen O’Rahilly of Cambridge remains unconvinced, and isn’t prescribing to this determination just yet.
Maybe another more basic message to keep at forefront is that it’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature– she rises up with a vengeance. Our bodies have evolved over time and there is inherit wisdom to what we carry around with us everyday.
-Love Thyself
: Soutenir :
May 8, 2008 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Art Therapy and Eating Disorders, Artistic Therapy and Healing, Behavioral Health, Behavioral Strategies and Eating Disorders, Carer Support, Carer Support/Healing, Community Health Education, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Recovery, Eating Disorder Treatment, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, EDNOS, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Engaged Families, Evidence-Based Medicine, Family Based Therapy, Family-Based Therapy and Eating Disorders, FBT/Family-Based Therapy, Finnish Culture, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Health Care For All, Health Insurance Discrimination, Hindu Mythology, Hope & Recovery for ED's, Insurance Coverage and ED's, Insurance Disparity, Medicine, Mental Health, Mental Health Parity, Mind & Body, Neuroscience and Eating Disorders, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Parent Support, Parent/Family Support and Eating Disorders, Personal Empowerment, Residential ED Treatment Centers, Self-Care, Society, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, Symbolic Imagery, Thoughts | Tags: Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Blogs, Eating Disorder Hope & Recovery, Eating Disorder Recovery, Eating Disorders, Empowered Parents/Families, Erase Stigma of Eating Disorders, Ganesha the Benevolent, Mind & Body, Parent Respite and Eating Disorders, Parent Support and ED's, Personal Journeys, Soutenir, Thoughts | 2 comments
While I’m playing with WP Themes -my creative side itches- I’ve been curious what other parents and those who have found their path towards healing, recovery and well being from their eating disorder find gives them greatest support and sustains them throughout? At your most difficult times, what has buoyed and held you steady, lifted you up and got you through (like my friend Ganesha up there)?
Do you wish some things could have been done better in hindsight, wished clinicians, treatment providers, community resources, insurance, etc. could have known perhaps more than you, practicing with up-to-date, evidenced-based research and data vs rehashing false and painful stereotypes that can keep a family from getting the best care possible? And that everyone worked more as a cohesive whole vs fragmented, inconsistent, and leaving too many gaps for uncertainty and misunderstanding– or worse barely any informative communication or basic follow up to keep focus on the best methods towards recovery and support?
And if you were/are a parent(s), caregivers, extended-family, siblings do you wish there would have been services that encompassed and included the entire family, and not just for weekly family therapy sessions, the once a month “Family & Friends” events held at treatment centers. But further additional healing and supportive measures like what is comprised in most respite centers/facilities and typically standard for family members when a child has cancer, or any other major life-threatening illness.
All of us know that ED’s are potentially life-threatening if proper treatment and nutritional support are not addressed, and the sooner diagnosis is made and intelligent, comprehensive action taken, the better the chances recovery can be, and less relapsing and monumental expenses for the revolving door of IP, OP, residential, IOP, etc. care.
Being a parent of an adolescent with an ED, there are unique aspects to what parents and family members need, your life and “time” seem to come to complete stops and starts depending on where the progression of the illness may be, how many extra hands there are to pitch in when you need time to take care of yourself, take care of other siblings, reconnect with spouses, get some perspective, and to keep centered and strong.
If I were to draw a graph of how our family has progressed through our daughter’s illness, it would have some deep dips and high escalations, and many dotted straight lines– but not always clearly defined and consistent (thinking about this makes me want to create just such a map/graph!) Sometimes things seem to just “click” and things move forward without much ado; but there are other times when it seems the cyclone of ED can just demolish the very health and Life of an entire household, leaving pulverized rubble and ruin that needs the utmost and gentlest of care and compassion– those are the moments when all your resources get pulled together and you roll up your sleeves and get down to business– you take action and you may find setbacks galore, but you also find incredible inner resilience, Hope, courage and more Love than you ever realized was always there.
Moments like these can also be some of the most magnificent and humbling of points within our human experience …
I feel a deep human need to collectively share these experiences, swap stories- like sharing a recipe!- connect with others who “get it” and aren’t going to be dismissive, discourteous, judgmental or even worse, think I’m a bit over-the-top… off my rocker… box ‘o crack ‘o jack, etc.
And I think if it weren’t for the Internet of collective voices, fellow parental-comraderie and individuals such as an incredible Mom who hosts a forum for parents to find one another, along with so many of you whom I’ve met virtual-via email, your websites/blogs, etc. and found such amazing insight and resolve into this illness– I do feel I would have felt much more isolated and possibly a bit more despairing (I say a bit since my Finnish ancestry is laced with “SISU” = strength… so this would not have lasted long) but it also points to the reality of the importance to support and encourage one another through the recovery and healing process within eating disorders. To make certain adequate treatment is delivered, proper support and resources are available in all demographics.
Change is still quite snail-paced within ED’s, so I think our collective voices and efforts however big or small DO matter and make a difference.
Now if only I could get some of the ladoos (Indian sweet) that Ganesha is holding… my rant would be complete.
-shanti
Bon Anniversaire INDD!
May 6, 2008 in Adolescent Eating Behaviors, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Anti- Diet Campaign, Behavioral Health, Behavioral Strategies and Eating Disorders, Blogs, Body Acceptance, Books, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support, Cheri Erdman EdD, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Cognitive Processing and Effects of Dieting, Community Health Education, Constructs of Pyschological Distress, Culture, Diet Breaking, Dieting Behaviors, Dieting Industry, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder News, Eating Disorder Recovery, Eating Disorder Research, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, ED's and the Media, EDNOS, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Engaged Families, Environmental factores influencing ED's, Evidence Based Treatment for Eating Disorders, Evidence-Based Medicine, Family & Culture, Family Based Therapy, Fat Acceptance, Genetic Analysis and Eating Disorders, Genetic and Environmental causes of ED's, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Imprinting and Addictive Processes, INDD, International No Diet Day, Karen Stimson, Largesse, Love Your Body, Mary Evans Young, Mind & Body, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Parent Support, Personal, Personal Narratives, Public Health, Public Health and Nutrition, Raj Patel, Self-Care, Size Accpetance, Size Esteem, Society and Weight Related Issues, Socio-Cultural Factors and Advertising to Promote ED's, Stuffed and Starved, Thoughts | Tags: "No Diets", anorexia, Anti- Diet Campaign, Body Acceptance, Books, Cheri Erdman EdD, cognitive processing and Eating Disorders, Cognitive Processing and Effects of Dieting, Community Health Education, Constructs of Pychological Stress, Diet Addiction & Society, Diet Breaking, Dieting Behaviors, Eating Disorder Recovery/Support, Eating Disordered Behaviors, Eating Disorders, Empowered Parents, environmental factors influencing ED's, Evidence-Based Medicine, Fat Acceptance, Genetics and Body Composition, Health, INDD, International No Diet Day 2008, Karen Stimson, Largesse, Life, Love Your Body, Marketing and Diets, Mary Evans Young, Media and Promotion of Dieting, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Adovcates and ED's, Parents Against Diets, Public Health and Nutrition, Public Health News and Information, Raj Patel, Recovery, Self-Care, Self-Esteem and Dieting Behaviors, Size Acceptance, Size Esteem, Society and Weight Related Issues, Socio-Cultural Factors and Dieting Behavior, Stuffed and Starved, The Network For Size Esteem, Thoughts, Weight-Loss Industry | 2 comments
I love how the birth of International No Diet Day began “from a picnic in Mary’s living room” in the early ’90’s and fertilized it’s magnitude world-wide. Ms Evans-Young is herself a recovered anorexic and wrote the book Diet Breaking: Having it all Without Having to Diet and it couldn’t be a better time than now to let the message sink in– deep and with reflection.
Largesse gives the background on the term: size esteem which was initially coined by Richard Stimson, husband to a contributing director/writer at the site, Karen Stimson who explains it perfectly:
– Feeling acceptance of, respect for, and pride in one’s body, whatever its size or shape –
But I like this analogy even more highlighted by Cheri Erdman EdD who wrote the book Live Large! and thought about it as a simple yet poignant equation: Size Acceptance + Self Esteem = SIZE ESTEEM
Either way you think about it, the insanity of dieting, wanting to force our bodies to be a size/shape it was not genetically determined to be– and thankfully so for the beautiful variety of shapes, sizes, colors, we all add to the collage of life, is quite dubious.
It’s even further magnified when you or a loved one suffer from an eating disorder and are trying to regain your health and follow through with recovery and maintaining wellness in a seemingly endless fat-phobic, diet-crazed, fashion-consumed environment. Our daughter at times can take on this incessant self-doubt and accusational inquiries about why she has to eat what she has to when others, her classmates, etc. eat less than she does and are constantly discussing “fat” laden topics— it’s enough to make anyone go a little bonkers. Advertisers, marketing, the health ins field, even health care (hey, let’s face it– those mega-million dollar hospitals that now look more like shopping malls want to treat the ill business) and the all time winner: the diet industry.
Stuffed and Starved is a title from researcher Raj Patel more about food prices, the global-glut, etc. but I had to think about this a little bit more this morning how it really ties into so many other layers of Life– and will be worth dissecting and playing off the similar as well as dissimilar dualities we can only pretend don’t exist, or just think is someone else’s “problem” to fix, get over, medicate– like the cliched remark I’ve heard countless times since our daughter was diagnosed with anorexia- “why doesn’t she just eat?!”, then the instant turn against parents when our children don’t eat = it’s your fault, you did something “wrong”, etc.
Yes, INDD is a day we find relative and meaningful in our family. And with the weather reaching low 70’s, sun shining– I think a picnic is just what we’ll do to celebrate this day!
-shanti
“The Disorder Next Door”
April 23, 2008 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, Adolescent Eating Behaviors, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Body Acceptance, Body Image & Writing, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support, Carer Support/Healing, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Community Health Education, Constructs of Pyschological Distress, Consumer Alert, Culture, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Dr Cynthia Bulik, Dr Margo Paine, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder News, Eating Disorder Research, Eating Disorder Treatment, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, Eating Patterns and Weight Related Issues, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, ED recovery, ED's and the Media, EDNOS, eliminating stigma, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Engaged Families, Environmental factores influencing ED's, family, Family & Culture, Family Education/Resources, Family supported ED treatment, Genetic and Environmental causes of ED's, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Imperfect Bodies, Improvement of Psychological and Behavioral Treatments, Mental Health, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Support, Personal, Power of the Media & Perception, Public Health, Research and Recovery, Society and Weight Related Issues, Socio-Cultural Factors and Advertising to Promote ED's, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, thin idealization, women/psychology | Tags: American Consumerism and Dieting, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Body Acceptance, Body Image and the Media, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Calorie Prisoners, Career Dieters, Carer Support, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Community Health Education and Eating Disorders, constructs of psychological distress, Culture/Society and Dieting, Disordered Eaters, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Dr Cynthia Bulik, Dr Diane Mickley, Dr Margo Paine, Eating Disorder News, Eating Disorders, ED News, ED-NOS, environmental factors influencing ED's, Food Addicts, Malnutrition in a Modern World, Media Overkill, Medical News Today, Mental Health, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Adovcates and ED's, Parent Support and Eating Disorders, Personal Stories, Power of the Media & Perception, Psychological Harm of Dieting, Public Health and Nutrition, SELF Magazine, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, University of North Carolina Eating Disorders Program, Women's Health | 5 comments
Tula Karras
When your child is diagnosed with an eating disorder your life changes- permanently. There is no looking back (though you do, and weep and grieve for the child you once knew and still know lies underneath the ED just waiting to find his/her way back– and they do!) there is no denying the obvious even when this illness can completely blindside and throw you off your center until you fully understand and grapple with its complexity– and even then you can still be utterly perplexed.
But you take action, keep your son/daughter safe, provide nutritional sustenance, comfort and support. You find the appropriate medical care, treatment facilities and resources that will help him/her, as well as yourself, find their way back to health, well being and continuing to work towards their full recovery– however that needs to happen- you just do it. We’re parents, Moms&Dads, families, grandparents, cousins, all taking those measures and lending a hand because we love each other and want to see those suffering find their way back to their true selves, living their dreams, passions and finding happiness- not perfection- in what gift of our Lives we have been given. Life is certainly not an easy journey, and growing up, becoming an adult, raising a family, fumbling through difficulties– these are all illuminating lessons to help bring us back to grace and compassion, wisdom and understanding.
Something within my own inner perspective and thinking is having a bit of a snag though. Maybe because I know how damn hard it is to wrestle with an illness our daughter was diagnosed with over a year ago. Knowing how hard she has worked to get to where she is now, how much more persistence and vigilance she will continue to have, especially now that she is fully discharged from the eating disorder program she has been intensely involved with for several months, and facing a culture and society that seems to be ironically having increased insecurities, issues and numbers of individuals (especially within older adult populations) with “disordered eating” patterns and behaviors, which to me on the outside look and behave just like our daughter did prior to her being diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa.
There is this surreal sensation that comes over me when I briefly skim over an article in SELF Magazine that highlights a partnered survey studythat was done in collaboration with Dr Cynthia Bulik and the University of North Carolina that states that “3 out of 4 American Women have disordered eating” and the magazine survey whose participants numbered over 4000, and probably still counting on both the survey, forum and follow up, continue to show an increase in disordered eating patterns and ranges of destructive habits that clearly as Dr Margo Paine boldly states exemplifies, “Dieting is a national pastime for women” and “as a society, we don’t see the problem“.
The survey also goes further into describing additional categories that 6 out of 10 (1 out of 10 have eating disorders) women who are categorized as “disordered eaters” describe themselves into specific subsets:
* Calorie Prisoners
* Secret Eaters
* Career Dieters
* Purgers
* Food Addicts
* Extreme Exercisers
Of course, none of these descriptors are new. But while some studies and stats have been pointing towards an increase of younger individuals being diagnosed with eating disorders, which may indeed be on the rise, though it’s always difficult to know whether we are only getting better at earlier diagnosing and intervention; and if some of the outcry and attention to the issue is creating the continued awareness, discussion, research and treatment standards. But this survey, as some previous others, is showing the age range to be in the adult category of a 25-45 year old female base, and from what I’ve read in some previous studies, this seems to be more consistent and increasing if you are to follow the conclusions.
Yes, I’m perplexed and even angry. I don’t want to see anyone needlessly suffering with any disordered eating behavior(s) that can have even the subtlest of impact upon ones’ health- period. But I also have another irritating irk in thinking about the continued impact these findings, if they are showing continued rises in eating-disordered behavior have upon our youth and young adults who are watching, reading, and taking in this information too. What, if anything does this ultimately translate to and what can be done to counteract this deranged preoccupation with dieting, body-dissatisfaction, and just overkill of the human body? When will the craziness stop just long enough to take a step back, breathe, and find acceptance and compassion for who you are as you are being enough, being worthy– because we all are.
And our kids need us to model and reinforce these strong capabilities and common-sense practicalities. When I see a book titled: My Beautiful Mommy I think this is a joke, right? But I find that it’s written by a plastic surgeon, and really set on promoting this “upkeep” ideal while cunningly proclaiming under a guise of “help”. Are we so far gone into our self-absorbed psyches that we are so easily swayed and coerced into finding this worthy of publication to begin with? Apparently so, as the book is being sold and bought, joke or not– some are taking the bait and seem to be biting hard, though not into much that will keep one nutritionally and mentally stable.
Our daughter has to not only find safety, stability and assurance within her home environment, but the world outside as well. And this rant of a thread I’ve lowered myself to in this post just proves what an apparently obnoxious mother on a mission I am (imperfections and all- silicon free and able to eat minus fear thankfully) to keep my daughter moving towards a healthy, happy and internally sustained recovery and passionately what that means to me.
Ladies and Gentlemen, can this insanity please begin to find it’s way back in the hole from where it came? Like a fire out of control, can we begin to find some means of putting this insatiable flame to some simmering rational end? Will these studies and polls just continue to bloom, boggle and frustrate so many of us, while invoking the opposite within others to think less of themselves, and to possibly court a potential ED, especially for those who are either biologically, physiologically and/or genetically predisposed and vulnerable?
To continued Health, Strength & Insight for us all.
: Monday Siva Meditation :
April 21, 2008 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, Adolescent Eating Behaviors, anorexia, Anorexia & Yoga, Anorexia and Meditation for Adolescents, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Behavioral Strategies and Eating Disorders, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support, Carer Support/Healing, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Culture, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Divine Meditation and Healing, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Treatment, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, Eating Disorders CAM Treatment, ED Hope & Recovery, ED recovery, EDNOS, Emotional Healing, Emotional Journeys, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Engaged Families, Family & Culture, Family supported ED treatment, Healing Through Meditation, Healing through Ritual, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Hindu Mythology, Holy Mount Kailash, Holy Siva Mantras, Hope & Recovery for ED's, Life, Meditation and Healing for Eating Disorders, Meditation Communities, Meditation Practices&Healing, Meditation Therapy and Eating Disorders, Mental Health, Mythology and Healing, Neuroscience and Eating Disorders, Om Namah Shivaya, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Parent Support, Parent/Family Support and Eating Disorders, Parental Support, Personal, Personal Empowerment, Personal Stories, Psychology & Counseling, Psychology and Meditation Practices, Psychology and Myth, Rudra Yaamala Tantra, Self-Care, Shiva Mantra, Spirituality, Stories that Heal, Symbolic Imagery, Thoughts, Yoga Therapy and Eating Disorders, Yoga&Meditation studies for Eating Disorders | Tags: Adolescent Eating Behaviors, anorexia, Anorexia and Meditation for Adolescents, Anorexia and Yoga, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Strategies and Eating Disorders, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support/Healing, COE, Complimentary Approaches to Eating Disorder Treatment, Divine Meditation and Healing, Eating Disorder CAM Treatment, Eating Disorder Recovery, Eating Disorder Support and Treatment, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, ED-NOS, Emotional Healing and ED's, Empowered Parents, Family & Culture, Family and Healing, Family supported ED treatment, Health, Hindu Mythology, Holy Mount Kailash, Mediatation and Healing for Eating Disorders, Meditation studies and health research, Meditation Therapy and Eating Disorders, Mental Health, Mythology & Healing, Neurological Research and Meditation, Om Namah Shivaya, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates for Education on Eating Disorders and, Psychology & Myth, Psychology and Meditation Practices, Rudra Yaamala Tantra, Shiva Mantra, Siva, Spirituality&Healing, Symbolic Imagery and Healing, Western & Eastern Medicine, Yoga & Meditation within healing, Yoga Therapy and Eating Disorders, Yoga&Meditation for Eating Disorders | Leave a comment
Kar Men Shreshth Kamandalu Chakra Trishoodlharta
Jagkarta Jagkarta Jag Palankarta
Om hara hara Mahaadevaa
Charte d’engagement voluntaire sur l’image du corps…
April 16, 2008 in anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Body Image & Film, Carer Support, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Community Health Education, Constructs of Pyschological Distress, Consumer Alert, Culture, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder News, Eating Disorder Treatment, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, Eating Patterns and Weight Related Issues, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, ED recovery, ED's and the Media, EDNOS, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Engaged Families, Environmental factores influencing ED's, Evidence Based Treatment for Eating Disorders, F.S.P., family, Family & Culture, Family Based Therapy, Family supported ED treatment, France Legislataion & ED's, Government, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Health Care, Hope & Recovery for ED's, Marketing scams for ED's, Mental Health, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Personal Empowerment, Personal Narratives, Policy & Action, Power of Media & ED's, Public Education of ED's, Public Health, Public Policy, Self-Care, Society, Society and Weight Related Issues, Socio-Cultural Factors and Advertising to Promote ED's, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, thin idealization, Thoughts, U.M.P., Valerie Boyer lawmaker | Tags: Add new tag, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Body Wars, Bouches-du-Rhone, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), constructs of psychological distress, Eating Disorder Recovery, ED News International, ED-NOS, Environmental Factors in ED's, Europe and Media Censorship, F.S.P., Family Empowerment and ED, France Legislation and ED's, France Legislation on Body Weight/Images and Anorexia, French Lawmakers, Government & Health Policy, Health Law Advocates, Health Policy & Action & Legislation, Image/Body Perception and the Media, Mass Communication, Media discourse and debate, news, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Perpetuation of Idealized Media Images, Personal Empowerment, Policy & Action, Power of the Media and ED's, Profit/Media & Eating Disorders, Promotion of Thin-spiration and Legislation, Society and Weight Related Issues, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, U.M.P., Valerie Boyer lawmaker | Leave a comment
APF/Getty Images Bertrand Guay
There is quite a bit of debate heating up lately, even over at ATDT parents are sharing their thoughts on this topic, regarding recent legistlation created by France lawmaker Valerie Boyer that France is passing towards imposing strict fines, even imprisonment against the proliferation and promotion of “pro-ana/mia” within websites, media images, the fashion industry and beyond that continue to hightlight clearly unhealthy anorexic/ED’d-looking, emaciated ultra-thin bodies– “legislating body weight” some are finger-waging.
The reviews and feedback are certainly mixed, some downright misinformed– stiil -and so sorely one-sided which to me only illuminates just how complex these issues are; and more importantly how much more of this conversation and dialogue needs to keep happening and developing.
I haven’t delved into a full exploration of my opinions on this yet, but I do think while we can’t police every site, ban every image, twisted ideal there certainly is something that we are all responding and reacting to when we see someone who looks so severely malnourished, skeletal and unwell.
As a mother of a daughter who suffers from Anorexia Nerovsa I do have an immediate heartwrenching reaction to this issue, and do believe there is not just a “personal” responsiblity but public and social conscience we all need to be connected to and address at some basic level without turning a blind-eye and pretending none of this has any impact on society whatsoever– clearly it does.
EDC Lobby Day 2008
April 11, 2008 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, Accurate Information Campaigns in ED's, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Community Health Education, Consumer Alert, Culture, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Coalition, Eating Disorder News, Eating Disorder Research, Eating Disorder Treatment, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, ED advocacy, ED Coalition, ED Hope & Recovery, ED recovery, EDC Lobby Day 2008, EDNOS, eliminating stigma, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Engaged Families, Evidence Based Treatment for Eating Disorders, Evidence-Based Medicine, F.R.E.E.D. Foundation, family, Family & Culture, Family & Friends Network (PFN), Family Education/Resources, Family supported ED treatment, Family-Based Therapy and Eating Disorders, Government, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Health Care, Hope & Recovery for ED's, Human Rights, Improvement of Psychological and Behavioral Treatments, Insurance Disparity, Mental Health, Mental Health Discrimination, Mental Health Parity, Neurobiology of Treating Eating Disorders, news, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Parent Support, Parent/Family Support and Eating Disorders, Paul Wellstone Mental Health & Addict Equity Act, Personal, Personal Empowerment, Personal Stories, Policy & Action, Policy Analysis, PSA's, Public Education of ED's, Public Health, Public Policy, Public Support for Parity, Research and Recovery | Tags: Access to ED Treatment, Access to Mental Health Care/Eating Disorders, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support and Eating Disorders, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Eating Disorded, Eating Disorder News, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, Eating Disorders Coaltion, ED Hope & Recovery, ED Treatment, EDC Lobby Day 2008, EDNOS, Eliminating Stigma with Eating Disorders, Empowered Families/Parents and Eating Disorders, Evidence Based Treatment for Eating Disorders, F.R.E.E.D. Foundation, Government, Health Care, Health Insurance Discrimination, Health Insurance Reimbursement for ED's, Insurance Disparity and Eating Disorders, Legislation for ED Advocacy and Education, Parents with Eating Disordered Children, Policy & Action, PSA's, Public Health, Public Support for Parity, Support to further ED Research | 1 comment
Some incredible individuals and parent advocates have been hard at work the past two days in Washington working with legislators on Capital Hill for the annual Eating Disorders Coalition Lobby Day to push forth further measures and legislation in the continuation to further progress within treatment, research, prevention and education of eating disorders.
This is vital and necessary work. I for one am so very grateful, since I was not able to attend, for all of these individuals who have committed themselves towards improving the lives of those affected by this devastating illness and the families that are doing so much of this work solo, without much support, treatment resources, and clinicians adequately trained to best help their loves ones.
Thank you EDC and its sponsors, Ms Laura Collins— you are the best!
: America The Beautiful :
April 9, 2008 in America The Beautiful, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Bodies and Film, Body Acceptance, Body Image & Film, Chicago Film Makers, Chicago Films, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Community Health Education, Constructs of Pyschological Distress, Culture, Darryl Roberts, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder News, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, Eating Patterns and Weight Related Issues, ED Hope & Recovery, ED recovery, EDNOS, eliminating stigma, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Environmental factores influencing ED's, Family & Culture, Family Education/Resources, Film & Society, Film and Critique/Review, Film Documentary, Film Genres, Health & Wellbeing, Improvement of Psychological and Behavioral Treatments, Mental Health, news, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Support, Parent/Family Support and Eating Disorders, Personal, Personal Empowerment, Personal Stories, Public Health, Self-Help Narratives, Society and Weight Related Issues, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, Symbolic Imagery, Thoughts | Tags: America The Beautiful, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Bodies & Film, Body Acceptance, body image, Body Image & Film, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Chicago Film Makers, Chicago Films, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Collective Discussion of Film and Weight Related Issues, Community Events, Community Health Education, Constructs of Pychological Stress, Darryl Roberts, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Recovery, Eating Disorders, EDNOS, Film and Critique/Review, Film Documentary, Film Genres, Health Issues, IAEDP, Mental Health, news, Obsessive Preoccupation with Weight, Parent Advocates, Parent Support/Education and ED's, Personal, Personal Empowerment, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, Thoughts, Weight & Stereotypes, Weight Issues and Film Documentaries | Leave a comment
Oh yeah! May 9th (or from what others have been stating but I haven’t found listed: April 25th) heading to the ‘Windy City’- Chicago to check out this city’s native film-maker, Darryl Roberts documentary that has gotten plenty of accolades; and additional kudos from those who attended last week’s IAEDP conference.
It’s interesting that within the past year two male film-makers (perhaps more– feel free to share if you know) the other is Glenn Gers and his film: Disfigured (which a Cali friend of mine got to see during the film festival and loved) have dared to dig deeper into our culture’s preoccupations within this topic– I say it’s bloody fantastic and about time!
Join the caravan if you are able.
ciao-
Life as it is…
April 5, 2008 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Books, Buddhism, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Constructs of Pyschological Distress, Culture, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Treatment, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, ED recovery, EDNOS, Emotional Healing, Emotional Journeys, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Engaged Families, Family & Culture, Family Based Therapy, Family supported ED treatment, Healing Through Meditation, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Health Care, Mental Health, Neuroscience and Eating Disorders, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Parent Support, Parent/Family Support and Eating Disorders, Personal, Personal Empowerment, Personal Narratives, Personal Stories, Psychology & Counseling, Research and Recovery, Self-Care, Self-Help Narratives, Spirituality, Symbolic Imagery, Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Vajrayana Master, Trungpa tulkus, Writing & Healing | Tags: Activism and Support for Eating Disorders, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Books, Buddhism, Buddhist Psychology, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Eating Disorder Recovery & Hope, Eating Disorder Support, Eating Disorders, ED advocacy, ED Recover, EDNOS, Emotional Healing, Empowered Parents, Engaged Families, Family & Culture, Family Based Threapy and Eatiing Disorders, Health, Health Care, Human Collectives, Humanity, Loving-Kindness, Meditation and Eating Disorders, Meditation Community, meditation practice & healing, Meditation studies and health research, Mental Health, Nalanda Arts Program, Parent advocacy and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Parent Support and Eating Disorders, Parents with Eating Disordered Children, Personal, Personal Stories of Healing, Psychology&Healing, self-help, Shambhala, Spirituality&Healing, Symbolic Imagery and Healing, Therapeutic Healing Modalities for Eating Disorders, Tibetan Vajrayana Master, Trungpa tulkus | 1 comment
Facing the bluntness of reality is the highest form of
sanity and enlightened vision… Devotion proceeds
through various stages of unmasking until we reach
the point of seeing the world directly and simply
without imposing our fabrications… There may
be a sense of being lost or exposed, a sense of vulnerability.
That is simply a sign that ego is losing its grip
on its territory; it is not a threat.
-Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Heavens… Spring IS in the Air!
March 25, 2008 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, Adolescent Eating Behaviors, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, anthologies, Behavioral Health, Body Acceptance, Body Image & Writing, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Constructs of Pyschological Distress, Culture, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Treatment, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, Eating Patterns and Weight Related Issues, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, ED recovery, EDNOS, eliminating stigma, Emotional Healing, Emotional Journeys, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Engaged Families, Environmental factores influencing ED's, Erase Stigma of Anorexia, Evidence Based Treatment for Eating Disorders, family, Family & Culture, Family Based Therapy, Family supported ED treatment, Family-Based Therapy and Eating Disorders, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Hope & Recovery for ED's, Improvement of Psychological and Behavioral Treatments, Journal writing and ED, Mental Health, Mythology and Healing, Parent Advocates, Parent Support, Residential ED Treatment Centers, Seasonal Festivals, Self-Care, Symbolic Imagery, Thoughts, Writing & Healing | Tags: Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, Adolescent Eating Disorders, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Body Acceptance, body image, Body Image & Writing, Bulimia, Bulimia Nerovsa, Carer Support and Eating Disorders, Constructs of Pyschological Distress and Anorexia, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Eating Disorder Activism, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Hope&Recovery, Eating Disorder Treatment, eating disordered, Eating Disorders, Eating Patterns and Weight Related Issues, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, ED recovery, Emotional Healing and ED's, Emotional Journeys, Empowered Families and Eating Disorders, Empowered Parents and ED's, family, Family Support and Eating Disorders, Family supported ED treatment, Family-Based Therapy and Eating Disorders, Fesitvals and Ritual/Culture, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Life, Mental Health, Personal Empowerment and ED Recovery, Personal Stories, Recovery, Sacred festivals | 7 comments
This month is such a busy month… I’m very blessed and so very happy that I’ve sold two paintings (not current work, but nonetheless- yeah!) and it was a carefree act on my end, thinking nothing would move someone to be so compelled for work that honestly doesn’t resonate for me personally right now– but all good!
Easter was nice, we are a culturally diverse family (hubby from India) so we partake in other various festivals and events, Holi (see above) being one this month too– my birthday is coming up (not telling how many candles- tsk!) and having our daughter home from residential after nearly three months of treatment is no light lot.
I love spring! New green shoots pushing forth from the ground– and the snow is finally melting here- yippee! New life, new beginnings… change.
And while our daughter is definitely on her road to recovery, this is not a easy road for her to travel– she still needs lots of love, encouragement and support. She is also quite young, so the decision to “just do it” and fully connect both physically and intellectually to what has taken place over the past year is not all there for her to wade through and have immediate light-bulb moments and decide that today is the day she knows ED is behind her- for good. She herself has openly admitted she “is not ready” to say ado to her tango with ED– not yet.
She has however been slowly “emptying” and “letting go” of ED– one day at a time. A deep breath in and a very long exhale out…
“What will become of me if I let go of my eating disorder?”
“How many times have you tried to let go by hanging on?”
It doesn’t work… and it doesn’t happen all at once. One day, one step, one mouthful at a time.
Our daughter did something incredibly powerful a few weeks back. She wrote a “good-bye” letter to ED and she opened herself up to share this moving note:
ED,
I need to leave you. You have made me do some relapses and only made me think about shapes, sizes or weights. I feel really bad for leaving you but it’s the only way I can stay on the path of recovery and be able to achieve my goals in life. I will miss you a lot.
You have helped clear my feeling of stress out and do something that makes me feel comfortable (restrict). You have really hurt me. My friends and family have been here supporting me, and it seems that you want to shove my parents away. You also have not made me be able to hang out with my friends and then just isolate.
ED, I plan to take care of myself and to listen to myself more than YOU. I plan to become a ballet dancer and veterinarian, and enjoy my life and live my dreams. You may come back to me when I look into the mirror but I won’t let you take my passions away.
Good-bye ED-
Indeed. With the snow continuing to melt, the extended light of the days and the darkness of winter slowly turning more and more towards spring, I feel a renewed sense of Hope and Strength for our daughter’s continued striving forward towards full health, full Life. There will be days, as there already are, that will challenge and the proverbial two steps forward, three-five steps back… but she’ll get there and we’re all right there behind her cheering her on!
Happy Spring- Happy Holi-Hai!
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