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: Muutokset :
July 27, 2010 in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, anorexia, blog, Books, Bulimia, Carer Support and Eating Disorders, Creativity, Eating Disorder Blog, Eating Disorder Recovery & Advocacy, Empowered Familes, Personal, Poetry/Literature | Tags: Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, blog, Bulimia Nervosa, Changes, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorders, Life-Love, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, poetry icons | Leave a comment
The lilies bloomed within the sedge,
And we were lingering to and fro,
Where none will track thee in this snow,
Along the stream, beside the hedge.
Ah, Sweet, be free to love and go!
For if I do not hear thy foot,
The frozen river is as mute,
The flowers have dried down to the root:
And why, since these be changed since May,
Shouldst thou change less than they.
And slow, slow as the winter snow
The tears have drifted to mine eyes;
And my poor cheeks, five months ago
Set blushing at thy praises so,
Put paleness on for a disguise.
Ah, Sweet, be free to praise and go!
For if my face is turned too pale,
It was thine oath that first did fail, —
It was thy love proved false and frail, —
And why, since these be changed enow,
Should I change less than thou.
Trimming The Budget-Not Just For Arts&Music Anymore…
February 6, 2010 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, anorexia, Bulimia, Carer Support and Eating Disorders, Eating Disoders and Media Publications, Eating Disorder Recovery & Advocacy, Insurance Coverage and ED's, Insurance Disparity and Eating Disorder Treatment | Tags: Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, blog, Bulimia Nervosa, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Insurance Disparity, Empowered Parents/Families | 3 comments
Albany’s governor proposed budget eliminates funding for eating disorders in order to keep the focus on obesity and diseases related to obesity.
“In comparison to obesity and diabetes, eating disorders affect relatively few New Yorkers,” said Claudia Hutton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.
The governor’s budget will end the $1.7 million annual subsidies to the state’s three eating disorder centers, including $500,000 to Albany Medical Center. The cut would eliminate Albany Med’s entire budget and close the eating disorder program.
“It creates a huge void in the services we’ve been able to develop,” said Dr. Sharon Alger-Mayer, medical director of the Northeast Comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders at Albany Med.
The program serves about 2,000 people through outpatient services and 50 people who need to be hospitalized each year at Albany Med for dehydration, malnutrition and organ problems related to eating disorders.
Christie Macfarlane was hospitalized at Albany Med when she was 10 years old. She was transferred to Rochester for more intensive residential services and then returned to Albany where she has received therapy, nutritional advice and medical treatment for five years.
“I don’t know if I would be standing here right now with my 15-year-old daughter thriving if those services hadn’t been there,” said Christie’s mother, Deborah Macfarlane. The Macfarlanes and other families lobbied legislators this week to restore the funding.
“This money is critical,” said Michael Ruslander of Delmar, the father of a teenager who was in dire health because of anorexia. “The treatment my daughter received, as well as the education my wife and I received on how to deal with, communicate and eat with your child who has an eating disorder was invaluable,” Ruslander said. “It’s horrible that you have to go through something like this, but the end result is we came out a better, stronger, more communicative family.” His daughter Molly is now a healthy, successful student at Maria College.
As the state seeks to close a $6.8 billion budget gap, agencies like the DOH are focusing on core issues.
The Department of Health’s mission is safe drinking water, obesity education, childhood vaccinations, investigating disease outbreaks and hospital complaints, Hutton said.
“Those are the kind of things that are the core of public health,” she said. “They are based on what affects most New Yorkers and things that people, frankly, expect somebody to do.”
Looking at the disease statistics, eating disorders trail far behind obesity. Among New Yorkers, 25 percent are obese, nearly 8 percent have diabetes and less than 1 percent suffer from anorexia nervosa.
The eating disorder programs should see *more support from private insurance companies since the state passed “mental health parity” legislation, which requires insurers to pay for mental health services, Hutton said.
* Yea, right! Who’s dreaming now?
Obama Administration Getting On Board With Mental Health Parity
February 4, 2010 in Access to ED Care/Treatment, anorexia, Behavioral Strategies and Eating Disorders, blog, Bulimia, Carer Support and Eating Disorders, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Coalition | Tags: Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Bulimia Nervosa, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorders, EDC, Empowered Parents/Families, Mental Health, Mental Health Parity/Policies | 3 comments
Great news to implement MHPAEA!
BDD – Half the Picture
February 3, 2010 in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, anorexia, Body Image & Eating Disorders, Bulimia, Carer Support and Eating Disorders | Tags: Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, blog, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorders, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders | Leave a comment
: 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!
:Prayer to the Bodhisattva:
March 19, 2008 in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa, Adolescent Eating Behaviors, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Artistic Therapy and Healing, Behaviora Strategies, Behavioral Health, Books, Carer Support, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders and Mental Health, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, ED recovery, Emotional Healing, Emotional Journeys, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, Engaged Families, Erase Stigma of Anorexia, family, Family Education/Resources, Family supported ED treatment, Healing Through Meditation, Health, Health & Wellbeing, Hope & Recovery for ED's, Improvement of Psychological and Behavioral Treatments, Life, Literary Genres, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Parent Support, Parent/Family Support and Eating Disorders, Personal, Personal Narratives, Personal Stories, Poetry, Poetry/Literature, Rabindranath Tagore, Self-Care, Spirituality, Sutras, Symbolic Imagery, Thoughts, visual Koans, Writing & Healing, Zen calligraphy, Zen Koans | Tags: Adolescent Eating Disorders, anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Bengali Poets, Buddhism, Carer Support and Eating Disorders, Eating Disorder Hope & Recovery, Eating Disorders and Recovery, Emotional Healing, Emotional Journey, Empowered Parents and Eating Disorder Recovery, Engaged Families and Eating Disorder Treatment/Recovery, family, Family Empowerment and ED, Family Resources for ED Treatment, Healing and Eating Disorders, Healing Through Meditation, Heath and Recovery, Life, Literary Genres, Literature, Parent Activism and Eating Disorders, Parent Advocates, Parent Support, Personal, Personal Narratives, Poetry & Healing, Rabindranath Tagore, Self-Care, Sutras, Thoughts, Upanishads, visual Koans, Zen calligraphy | Leave a comment
Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain
but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not look for allies in life’s battlefield
but to be my own strength.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved
but hope for patience to own my freedom.
-Rabindranath Tagore
-Sarvamangalam!
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
: Eclipse Solaire :
February 21, 2008 in anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, anthologies, Behavioral Health, Body Acceptance, Body Image & Writing, Books, Bulimia, Bulimia Nervosa, Carer Support, COE (Compulsive Over-Eating), Community Health Education, Disordered Eating Behaviors, Dr Anita Johnston, Eating by the Light of the Moon, Eating Disorder Advocacy, Eating Disorder Treatment, Eating Disorders, Eating Patterns and Weight Related Issues, ED advocacy, ED Hope & Recovery, Empowered Families, Empowered Parents, family, Family Education/Resources, Health, Health Care, Improvement of Psychological and Behavioral Treatments, Lunar Eclipse, Mental Health, Mythology and Healing, Parent Advocates, Personal Empowerment, Personal Narratives, Phases of the Moon, Psychology & Counseling, Psychology and Myth, Public Health and Nutrition, Relationships, Self-Care, Self-Help Narratives, Stories that Heal, Women & Writing, Women and ED, women/psychology, Writing & Healing | Tags: anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa, Behavioral Health, Body Acceptance, Books, Bulimia, Bulimia Nerovsa, Carer Support, Dr Anita Johnston, Earth Cycles, Eating by the Light of the Moon, Eating Disorders, Eating Patterns and Weight Related Issues, ED advocacy, ED Awareness, Empowered Parents, family, Family Support for Eating Disorders, Food, Health & Wellbeing, Life, Lunar Eclipse, Mental Health, Mindful Eating, Mythology for Healing, Nutrition, Phases of the Moon, Psychology & Counseling, Psychology and Myth, Recovery, Self-Acceptance, self-awareness, Self-Care, Self-Healing, self-help, Stories that Heal, Support for Eating Disorders, Writing&Healing | 2 comments
I find Eating By The Light Of The Moon to be a fitting thought for the day…
Your body is precious.
It is your vehicle for awakening,
treat it with care.
-BUDDHA
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