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Better Coverage Days Ahead
October 4, 2008 in Access to Eating Disorder Treatment, Access to ED Care/Treatment, anorexia, Behavioral Health, blog, Bulimia, Carer Support/Healing, Consumer Alert, Early Identification of Eating Disorders, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder News, Eating Disorder Treatment, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, ED Recovery-Education-Support, eliminating stigma, Empowered Families, Government, Health & Wellbeing, Health Care, Health Insurance Discrimination, Insurance Coverage and ED's, Insurance Disparity and Eating Disorder Treatment, Mental Health Discrimination, Mental Health Parity & Eating Disorders, news, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Personal Empowerment, Public Support for Parity | Tags: Access to Mental Health Care/Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders Advocacy, Mental Health Advocacy for Equality in Insurance Covera, Mental Health America, Mental Health Parity, Paul Westone Mental Health & Addiction Equity Act 2 | Leave a comment
President Signs Mental Health Parity Legislation!
Thanks to the thousands of Advocacy Network members who lent tireless support to our years-long effort to win enactment of legislation to end discrimination in mental health coverage. Today we won! After House passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act today, 263-171, President Bush has at last signed mental health/addiction parity into law.
Click here to learn more about the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
-Fantastic news worth celebrating!
Recovery of a Different Order
May 15, 2008 in Anicca-Impermanence, Avalokitesvara, Blogs, Bodhissattva, Buddhism, China, Chinese Buddhism, Chinese Taoism, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Culture, Divine Meditation & Healing, Divine Meditation and Healing, Dogen Zenji, Earthquake in China, Earthquake Recovery, Emotional Healing, Engaged Families, Family & Culture, Global Crisis, Goddess of Mercy, Government, Healing Through Meditation, Healing through Ritual, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Kuan Yin, Kuan Yin's Veneration, Life & Death, Malnutrition and the Modern World, Natural Disasters, news, Non-Self, Prayers & Thoughts, Relief Efforts for Chinese Earthquake Victims, Samantabhadra, Sichuan Province/Earthquake Victims, Sogyal Rinpoche Teachings, Spirituality, Tibetan Masters, United Efforts/Relief Campaigns, World News | Tags: Activism & Eating Disorders, Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa and Family-Based Therapy, Anicca-Impermanence, Anorexia Nervosa, Avalokitesvara, Bodhissattva, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, China, Chinese Buddhism, Chinese Taoism, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Divine Meditation & Healing, Dogen Zenji, Earthquake in China, Earthquake Recovery, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Hope & Recovery, Eating Disorder Recovery, Eating Disorders, EDNOS, Engaged Families & ED's, Engaged Parents & Eating Disorders, Family & Culture, Global Crisis, Goddess of Mercy, Healing through Ritual, Health & Wellbeing, Kuan Yin's Veneration, Life & Death, Malnutrition in a Modern World, Natural Disasters, news, Non-Self, Parent Advocates & Eating Disorders, Prayers & Thoughts, Relief Efforts for Chinese Earthquake Victims, Samantabhadra, Sichuan Province/Earthquake Victims, Sogyal Rinpoche, Spirituality, Tibetan Masters, United Efforts/Relief Campaigns, World News | Leave a comment
By now everyone has read and seen the devastation caused by the earthquake measuring a magnitude of 7.9 in the Sichuan province of China. We have been holding our breath these past couple of days since dear friends of ours were living and working in China but were extremely fortunate and arrived saftely back home in India.
Many, many others are yet to be accounted for, and have not been left untouched by this horrific natural disaster– something of this extent not witnessed in over thirty years.
There are several relief organizations scrambling to help those who have been affected by this catastrophe, though what’s growing increasingly frustrating is how the local government is really making things difficult for aid-workers to get through and deliver assistance ASAP.
We continue to send our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to all those affected by this tragic event.
-shanti
“This day is a special day, it is yours
Yesterday slipped away, it cannot be filled anymore with meaning
About tomorrow nothing is known.
But this day, today, is yours, make use of it.
Today you can make someone happy.
Today you can help another,
This day is a special day, it is yours.
-INDIAN POEM-
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-
Three Cheers- A Seven Year Slump is Slowly Moving Forward
March 6, 2008 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, Accurate Information Campaigns in ED's, anorexia, Anorexia and Depression, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Big Pharma, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Consumer Alert, DSM-IV Criteria for ED's, DSM-V and Expanded ED Criteria, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, ED advocacy, ED Coalition, ED Hope & Recovery, Eli Lilly, eliminating stigma, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, family, Family & Friends Network (PFN), Family Education/Resources, Government, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Health Care, Health Care For All, Health Insurance Discrimination, Human Rights, Improvement of Psychological and Behavioral Treatments, Insurance Coverage and ED's, Insurance Disparity, La Follette School of Public Affairs, Mental Health, Mental Health Advocacy for Equality in Insurance Covera, Mental Health America, Mental Health Discrimination, Mental Health Parity, news, NYSE LLY, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Paul Wellstone Mental Health & Addict Equity Act, Personal, Personal Empowerment, Personal Stories, Policy & Action, Policy Analysis, Public Education of ED's, Public Policy, Society, Thoughts | Tags: Anorexia Nervosa, Anorexia Nervosa and Mental Health, Behavioral Health, Bulimia Nervosa, Business and Corruption, Corporate Greed and Mental Health Parity, Eating Disorder Coalition, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Insurance Coverage, EDC Lobby Day, Eli Lilly and Bias, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Empowered Patients, Erasing Mental Health Stigma, Families Against Mental Health Discrimination, family, Government, Health, Health and Family Services, Health Care Advocacy, Health Care For All, Health Law Advocates, Human Rights, Insurance, Insurance Coverage and Eating Disorders, Insurance Disparity, La Follette School of Public Affairs, media, Mental Health Parity Bill Hr 1424, NAMI, news, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates to End Insurance Discrimination for Ea, Parents against Eating Disorder Discrimination/Stigma, Paul Wellstone, Personal, Policy & Action, Policy Analysis, Public Policy and Mental Health, Recovery, Social Policies, Society, writing | 2 comments
“It’s about opening up the doors and ending the shadow of discrimination against the mentally ill.”
-Patrick Kennedy
Today’s news is quite uplifting. And the 268-148 vote does speak to the dire need to continue towards enacting mental-health parity and mandating health insurance coverage equal to that of physical illness for mental health and addiction. I think Paul Wellstone would be encouraged to see some progress being made after nearly a decade of back and forth bi-partisan bickering and huge corporate influence , (and currently, to no one’s surprise, big-ph-arm Eli Lilly is really throwing a tantrum!), to strangle this vital legislation.
And there are plenty of critics who are rallying this victory as “mental-health insanity” and clearly looking only at their own financial dunk, but it’s truly time to stop stigmatizing those with mental illness who clearly need the same standard of quality care and treatment that any sane society would not withhold or financially ruin one with personally while working towards full health, healing and recovery.
I, unfortunately live in a state that does not currently have mental-health parity- yet. But I was impressed to read an in depth study done last spring by the La Follette School of Public Affairs in our state, that despite not having all the conclusive data to make absolute recommendations regarding mental-health parity, has incredibly convincing and thought-provoking details putting to bunk some of the primary reasoning against implementing mental-health parity that I would encourage anyone interested in advocating for mental health disparity to read. These studies really can be applied and adapted for further critique and implemented across all states, so that we will eventually see more than thirteen states that have adopted mental-health parity law.
-shanti
DSM in Need of Broadened ED Criteria
February 8, 2008 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, American Journal of Psychiatry, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, APA/NIH Conference Series, Behavioral Health, Biostatistics, Brown University, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Community Health Education, Diagnostic Deficiencies Identified in DSM-IV, Dr Mark Zimmerman, DSM Definitions, DSM nomenclature, DSM-IV Criteria for Anorexia Nervosa, DSM-IV Criteria for ED's, DSM-V and Expanded ED Criteria, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder News, Eating Disorder Research, Eating Disorder Treatment, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, EDNOS, Empirical Research/Studies and ED's, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Evidence Based Treatment for Eating Disorders, Evidence-Based Medicine, Genetic Analysis and Eating Disorders, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Health Care, Improvement of Psychological and Behavioral Treatments, Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, news, Psychopharmacology, Research and Recovery, Rhode Island Hospital, Science | Tags: Access to Mental Health Care/Eating Disorders, Accurate Diagnosis of ED's, American Psychological Association, anorexia, APA/NIH Conference Series, Bio Med Psych, Brown University, Bulimia, Comprehensive Review, Diagnosis of Eating Disorders, Dr Mark Zimmerman, DSM-IV, DSM-IV nomenclature problems, Eating Disorders, EDNOS, Empirical Research for ED's, Health, Human Behavior, Improved ED Treatment/Care, Mental Illness, MIDAS-Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Serv, news, psychiatry, Research Agenda for DSM-V, Research/Studies, Rhode Island Hopsital | Leave a comment
Continued studies, most recently published by Dr Mark Zimmerman for Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services (MIDAS), and additional colleagues of both Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University, indicate that the current DSM-IV lacks adequate “diagnostic criteria for eating disorders”, and that “researchers recommend a broadening of the criteria” since currently only anorexia and bulimia are “officially recognized and formally defined”.
Makes definite sense. Especially since DSM-IV was published back in 1994, and in reading the current DSM-V “white papers” , “DSM definitions are virtually devoid of biology, despite a large body of research that indicates a neurological basis for most mental disorders”. And that for over the past ten to fifteen years, there has been a steady increase of research and findings developed within eating disorders expanding beyond just AN and BN, but also EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) which counts for “more than half of the patients in treatment centers”, as well as Binge Eating, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), and other “subthreshold variants” that clearly expand the scope of eating disorder symptoms and diagnosis.
From what the DSM-V timeline indicates, this much needed and updated manual will be published sometime in 2011, which seems like an eternity for many of us already too familiar with the complexity of eating disorders and more often inadequate care/treatment of our loved ones.
So it’s encouraging to see the continued efforts and commitment of researchers and clinicians in the trenches (along with the rest of us!) collecting the data, and analyzing the results for peer review, publication, and improved teaching/training- which ultimately leads to better treatment and recovery options for those in need.
Nuggets Become Boulders for Change
January 16, 2008 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, Accurate Information Campaigns in ED's, Adolescent Eating Behaviors, American Journal of Psychiatry, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Community Health Education, Dr Cynthia Bulik, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Research, Eating Disorders, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, Erase Stigma of Anorexia, Evidence Based Treatment for Eating Disorders, Genetic and Environmental causes of ED's, Health, Health Care, Insurance Coverage and ED's, Insurance Disparity, International Journal of Eating Disorders, Mental Health, Neuroscience and Eating Disorders, news, Policy & Action, Questionnaire Studies/Data, Research and Recovery, Science, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, UNC study | Tags: Access to ED Treatment, biology, Blame-Based Stigma, Dr Cynthia Bulik, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Research, ED Support, Environmental Factors in ED's, Erase Stigma of Anorexia, Evidence Based Treatment for Eating Disorders, genetic/biological components to ED's, Health Care, Insurance Coverage and ED's, International Journal of Eating Disorders, journalism, media, Mental Health, Michele A. Crisatulli, news, Questionnaire Studies/Data, research, Science, Sociocultural Factors in Eating Disorders, UNC study, UNC.edu, University of North Carolina Eating Disorders Program | Leave a comment
The news of UNC’s study has been bustling about, but it’s worth posting this fine gem of a quote from senior author and director of UNC’s Eating Disorders Program, Dr Cynthia Bulik: “even a nugget of accurate biological information can influence how health care professionals preceive the illness” -and similarly can change the perceptions of others as well.
Nuggets of Information- Boulders of Truth… “POW!”
When Silence is Deadly
January 16, 2008 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, Adolescent Eating Behaviors, Anorexia and Depression, Anorexia Nervosa, Community Health Education, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorders, ED advocacy, ED Coalition, ED Hope & Recovery, Empowered Families, Family & Friends Network (PFN), Family Based Therapy, Family History of AN, Forensic Psychology, Genetic and Environmental causes of ED's, Health, Improvement of Psychological and Behavioral Treatments, Mental Health, Neuroscience and Eating Disorders, news, Parent, Parental Support, Policy & Action, Research and Recovery, Women and ED | Tags: Access to Eating Disorder Care, Anorexia and Depression, ED Awareness, ED Coalition, ED Hope&Recovery, family, Family Supported ED Treatment/Recovery, Forensic Psychology, Genetic and Environmental causes of ED's, Health Policy & Action, Mental Health, Mental Health Parity, National Eating Disorder Coalition, news, Parental Support, Research and Recovery, Women and ED | Leave a comment
Extremely tragic news of a mother who “believed there was no hope” for her daughter who was suffering from anorexia and depression, which ironically she herself began battling around the same age- but seemed to be particularly well hidden from the rest of the family’s awareness– ends in the death of a promising young life.
This heartwrenching loss brings to mind many who struggle in silence and isolation, but what few still come to terms with is that this illness can indeed take lives not fully lived, and at any age.
Families, parents, and sufferers affected by disordered eating and self-starvation need and deserve compassion, effective treatment, and ongoing support. Public awareness, insurance coverage and access to quality care, along with early intervention are still what we all need to keep pushing for so that HOPE becomes reality; and lives can be restored.
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