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Tag: anorexia

  • What Is Drunkorexia?

    What Is Drunkorexia?

    Experts discuss the relatively new disorder and the way it affects the body and mind.

    Eating disorders and substance use disorders are overlapping more often, according to registered dietitian and author Cara Rosenbloom. 

    What Rosenbloom is referring to is “drunkorexia”—when an individual, often female, does not eat all day or eats very little leading up to an evening of consuming alcohol. They may also exercise aggressively or purge before drinking alcohol. 

    “Drunkorexia addresses the need to be the life of the party while staying extremely thin, pointing to a flawed mindset about body image and alcoholism among college students, mostly women,” Rosenbloom writes in the Washington Post. 

    Drinking in this manner is dangerous, particularly because the lack of food in the stomach means a faster absorption of alcohol. According to Tavis Glassman, professor of health education and public health at the University of Toledo in Ohio, this can lead to more issues. 

    “With nothing in her system, alcohol hits quickly, and that brings up the same issues as with any high-risk drinking: getting home safely, sexual assault, unintentional injury, fights, blackouts, hangovers that affect class attendance and grades, and possibly ending up in emergency because the alcohol hits so hard,” he tells Rosenbloom.

    Drunkorexia may also lead to nutrient deficiencies such as calcium, B-vitamins, magnesium, fiber and protein, registered dietitian Ginger Hultin says. 

    “Alcohol can negatively affect the liver or gastrointestinal system, it can interfere with sleep, lower the immune system and is linked to several types of cancers,” Hultin tells Rosenbloom.

    Because drunkorexia is a fairly new disorder, our knowledge of the disorder is limited, while the existing research varies widely. 

    Glassman, along with others in the field, is hoping to have drunkorexia added as a legitimate diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. They hope that doing so could establish some guidelines for professionals to identify the disorder, Rosenbloom writes.

    The addition to the DSM would also increase likelihood of insurance coverage for those who may need treatment.  

    Glassman and colleagues are working to combat the issue at the University of Toledo by bringing more awareness to healthy body image and decreasing body shaming.

    “We try to emphasize that the human body comes in different shapes and sizes, and remind students that when they look at the media, with computer enhancement and airbrushing, even the model may not really look like a model,” Glassman tells Rosenbloom. “We remind students to value people based on things besides their appearance.”

    Hultin adds, “If students see friends engaging in this type of behavior, they can intervene and encourage different choices or offer support or resources to address a potential problematic relationship with alcohol and/or food.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How To Help Those With Eating Disorders During The Holidays

    How To Help Those With Eating Disorders During The Holidays

    Experts offer a variety of useful tips on how to help those living with eating disorders navigate the triggering holiday season.

    The holiday season isn’t fun for everyone. Spending time with family members, paired with indulgent meals, can be overwhelming in and of itself. For some—including people living with eating disorders—it can be a triggering time.

    An estimated 30 million Americans struggle with an eating disorder, defined as “serious and often fatal illnesses that cause severe disturbances to a person’s eating behaviors,” according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). If your loved one is among them, you can support them this holiday season.

    Bustle asked a few experts on how best to approach this issue.

    “The holiday season usually means three things: Lots and lots of… food, lots of time with extended family, and lots of unstructured time. Those three things can be incredibly rewarding, but for someone who is struggling with an eating disorder, they can also be incredibly difficult,” says clinical psychologist Dr. Stephanie Zerwas.

    Help them prioritize their recovery

    Their recovery comes first. Let them know it’s okay to sacrifice some holiday traditions in the name of feeling well. “Your loved one likely has a difficult time putting themselves first. They may need you to do it,” says Alex Gonçalves, PhD, Assistant Vice President and Clinical Director of The Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders in Philadelphia.

    Go over what to expect

    Having a conversation with your loved one may help suss out their fears, and how you can help. “Ask what your loved one is anticipating the holiday will be like, both the joys and the challenges. Ask what might be helpful. The discussion can provide some relief from the intense feeling of isolation that often accompanies an eating disorder. And you just might gain an idea or two about how to help,” says Gonçalves.

    Come up with a plan

    It may help to have a relapse prevention plan ahead of time, so your loved one is not caught off guard in the middle of a gathering. This may involve checking in with his/her treatment provider before and after the holidays.

    Sticking to a routine, like an eating schedule, can provide structure and keep your loved one from getting off track.

    Know the symptoms

    Does your loved one seem anxious or emotional? Intense mood swings, depression, anxiety and feelings of isolation are all symptoms of eating disorders.

    “They may experience intense self-judgment for not feeling so happy when everyone else appears to be,” says Goncalves.

    At their worst, eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa can cause thinning of the bones, damage to vital organs, infertility and death. Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any mental health disorder.

    It’s not your place to minimize your loved one’s eating disorder

    Even if you are being nice, it won’t help to downplay an eating disorder. “Eating disorders don’t respond to logic and argument. They do respond to love, empathy and compassion. Instead of trying to fix your family member by showing them the error of their eating disorder thoughts, let them know that you have empathy for how they are feeling, and ask them what kind of help they would like,” says Zerwas.

    For eating disorder help, call the National Eating Disorder Association helpline: 800-931-2237

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • 6 Tools That Empowered Me to Quit My Lifelong Eating Disorder

    6 Tools That Empowered Me to Quit My Lifelong Eating Disorder

    There are no simple answers or all-encompassing solutions for the complex state of being that is abstinence from compulsive overeating.

    I wouldn’t wish an eating disorder on anyone else, not even on those who bullied me about my weight as a child and adult. Growing up both depriving myself of food regularly and being fat was a dual hell for me, and I’ll never forget the many days walking by the school cafeteria and feeling so hungry, inhaling the aromas, having had no breakfast and no lunch to look forward to eating myself. From the time I went on my first diet at 11 years old, I woke up every morning on a diet for decades; it just didn’t always last through the day. People want to label fat people as lazy or foolish, with no concept of the complexity that actually goes into the eating disorders behind changes in size.

    Psychology Today reports that eating disorders are the most dangerous of all psychological disorders, and they bring so much pain along with the physical dangers. However, today I am happily in recovery from my compulsive overeating disorder, and I work to stay that way every day, often relying on the practices that empowered me to quit the eating disorder that plagued me since early childhood. Today, I am walking the road of recovery with the help of these tools.

    1. Radical Journaling

    Writing in my journal has been a passion of mine since I started a “Little House on the Prairie” diary as a kid. It brings me such joy to express my feelings on paper. In addition to keeping a diary for fun, I engage in what I call radical journaling. I’ve made a commitment to myself to write at least three pages every day, and within those specific three or more pages, I write about the deepest thoughts and feelings I’m having that day. These may include thoughts I have about my old tendency to self-destruct or how I feel about the future. I just try to get out the innermost feelings I have. Getting them out on paper helps me to make sense of things and no longer feel that I’m repressing the pain or longings of the day. That’s especially important for me since repressing my feelings can be a trigger for my old behavior.

    2. Being Kind to Myself

    Compassion for others has always come easy for me, but I was always extremely hard on myself. The simple notion of being kind to myself was a difficult concept to put into practice. I’d spent so much time berating myself for all the times I’d binged and hurt myself. For my own recovery, I had to learn to be kind and extend compassion to myself. And you know what? When I looked back and delved into the origins of my eating disorder in therapy, it was impossible not to have compassion for my younger self and understand how I’d waged a hard battle against my eating disorder before I had the tools to truly recover.

    Professionals agree that finding compassion for oneself is a strong tool for recovery. Carla Korn, LMFT, who specializes in treating those with eating disorders and body image issues, advises, “Have compassion for yourself. Disordered eating develops as a way to help a person cope with uncomfortable feeling and emotions. The eating disorder probably helped you to function when you didn’t know a better way to do so.”

    3. Maintaining My Motivation

    At the start of my recovery from disordered eating, I was very enthusiastic. I was on a sort of beginner’s high and couldn’t wait to see my progress. That’s how I’d also started every diet of my life, too. I soon remembered that it’s impossible to sustain that level of enthusiasm over the long haul. It’s just not practical. Human nature is such that motivation ebbs and flows. So, to stick with my recovery, I had to figure out ways to maintain my motivation.

    4. Eating Regularly

    Eating may seem like a darn weird tool for staying abstinent from compulsive overeating, but eating regularly is definitely among the more important things I do for my health and recovery each day. By making sure I eat regularly and don’t skip a lot of meals, I avoid getting too hungry, which triggers me to eat far more than I need.

    Stacey Rosenfeld, Ph.D., CGP, CEDS, and author of Does Every Woman Have an Eating Disorder? Challenging Our Nation’s Fixation with Food and Weight, cautions that it is important to eat regular meals and snacks to avoid getting too hungry. Feeling hungry and deprived can trigger eating disorder behaviors.

    5. Surrounding Myself with Support

    I have a team of people who are there to offer me support, which is a huge blessing. If I’m in crisis, or just need someone to be there for me, I know I can turn to a dear friend who coaches me, a therapist, other friends and loved ones, and support groups.

    A variety of support groups are available for compulsive overeating and other eating disorders. Overeaters Anonymous is probably the largest group with meetings all over the country, including online, telephone, and face-to-face meetings. The Overeaters Anonymous website allows you to easily search for a meeting that works for your schedule. Other support groups include Compulsive Eaters Anonymous and SMART recovery groups. If you don’t know where to start, you can contact the helpline at the National Eating Disorders Association at 1-800-931-2237.

    6. Making Choices Before Temptation Comes

    If I wait to see how I’m going to feel about eating an entire chocolate cake before I am sitting alone in a room with a delectable vegan chocolate cake, I’m probably going to want to scarf it down as quickly as possible at the earliest opportunity. However, if I carefully assess the situation and make a decision about eating the cake beforehand, I am able to pause before the desire to binge and whatever else may be fueling the temptation at the moment take over.

    Making advance decisions on how to fill the empty feeling and raw pain that fueled the addictive behavior is crucial to my ongoing recovery. Before I am at an event with that chocolate cake or even if I’m going to have it all to myself, I decide exactly how much I am going to eat and why. That doesn’t mean I won’t eat other, healthier foods at the event if I’m still hungry, but I won’t binge on any of my trigger foods. I know what moderation means to me and I choose that before I’m in the heat of the moment when I may be unable to make any rational decisions.

    Finally, I’ve found that there are no simple answers or all-encompassing solutions for the complex state of being that is abstinence from compulsive overeating. However, I do know that not one penny spent on the hugely profitable diet industry got me any closer to releasing the pounds than I was before and that relying on these tools has seen me through some difficult times of my recovery. I believe there is hope for anyone.

    View the original article at thefix.com