Answer Addiction

Tag: eating disorders

  • 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

  • Apple Donates Smartwatches To Bulimia Initiative

    Apple Donates Smartwatches To Bulimia Initiative

    Participants will use the Apple Watch to monitor heart rates over a month-long period.

    Apple has pledged to donate 1,000 smartwatches to a study about bulimia nervosa patients.

    The purpose of the University of North Carolina study—called the Binge Eating Genetics Initiative (BEGIN)—is to better understand the genetic factors associated with binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa.

    Participants will use the Apple Watch to monitor heart rates over a month-long period. The smartwatches, which can provide detailed heart data and share data with researchers, will be able to detect any “spikes” in heart activity before a person binges. According to Engadget, if this is the case, “it might be possible to alert caregivers and patients before these acts take place.”

    With every new model, the Apple Watch offers better heart-monitoring technology. The latest iteration, “Series 4,” includes an electrical heart sensor that will eventually work with an app that takes EKGs, according to the New York Times.

    Bulimia nervosa is defined as a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder where people “binge and purge.” This refers to the act of consuming large amounts of food, then attempting to purge it from the body to prevent weight gain, by vomiting or abusing laxatives, weight-loss supplements, diuretics and enemas.

    Complications from bulimia nervosa include dehydration (which can lead to more serious complications such as kidney failure), heart problems (such as irregular heartbeat or heart failure), severe tooth decay or gum disease, absent or irregular periods in females, digestive problems, anxiety, depression, personality disorders, self-injury and suicidal thoughts.

    Participants in BEGIN will also spend 10 minutes per day recording their diets, goals and moods. Researchers will search for common genetic traits among participants using at-home gene and micro biome sample kits.

    As smartwatches offer more health-monitoring tools, some people are taking a less conventional—and arguably misguided—approach at applying technology to harm reduction.

    In July, CNBC reported that some adults are using the health-tracking technology of smartwatches and Fitbits to stay “safe” while using drugs.

    “If someone says, ‘Let’s do a line,’ I’ll look at my watch. If I see I’m at 150 or 160, I’ll say, ‘I’m good.’ That’s totally fine. Nobody gives you a hard time,” said “Owen,” a man from San Francisco who says his Fitbit keeps him from overdoing it at parties, nightclubs and even Burning Man.

    “I don’t really know what’s happening in my body when I smoke some weed or do some cocaine. I can read information online, but that’s not specific to me. Watching your heart rate change on the Fitbit while doing cocaine is super real data that you’re getting about yourself,” he said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Florence Welch On Sobriety: "Performing Without Booze Was A Revelation"

    Florence Welch On Sobriety: "Performing Without Booze Was A Revelation"

    “Before, I thought I ran on a chaos engine, but the more peaceful I am, the more I can give to the work. I can address things I wasn’t capable of doing before.”

    Florence Welch, the voice of Florence and the Machine, is at a different pace in life. She’s more at peace, less afraid, and sober as well.

    The singer admitted that she was “drunk a lot of the time” in the band’s last phase. “That’s when the drinking and the partying exploded as a way to hide from it… The partying was about me not wanting to deal with the fact that my life had changed, not wanting to come down,” Welch said in a recent interview with the Guardian.

    The English singer and songwriter decided as she approached the 10th year of her illustrious career that she would sober up.

    “When I realized I could perform without the booze it was a revelation,” she said. “There’s discomfort and rage, and the moment when they meet is when you break open. You’re free.”

    Welch admits that every now and again, she’ll be tempted to go back to her old ways. But it never lasts. “It’s still there. This, ‘What if I could take a day off, a break from this magical energy?’ But, it passes,” she said.

    Sobriety went hand-in-hand with inner peace. “Before, I thought I ran on a chaos engine, but the more peaceful I am, the more I can give to the work,” she said. “I can address things I wasn’t capable of doing before.”

    Through self-reflection, Welch also came to terms with her eating disorder, addressing it for the first time in the single “Hunger” from the band’s upcoming album High as Hope. “At 17, I started to starve myself,” she sings.

    She said the terror of admitting this to anyone, let alone the whole world, inspired her to sing about it. This terror, she says, has been with her for most of her life, fueling some of the “self-destructive” behavior that she’s now working on undoing.

    “I learned ways to manage that terror—drink, drugs, controlling food,” she told the Guardian. “It was like a renaissance of childhood, a toddler’s self-destruction let loose in a person with grown-up impulses.”

    Welch admits she’s “still figuring it out,” but is learning more than ever how music can be invaluable to her self-discovery journey, by helping her realize that she is not alone.

    “I’ve realized that that nugget of insecurity and loneliness is a human experience. The big issues are there however you address them,” she said. “The weird thing is, that as personal as it feels, as soon as you say it, other people say: ‘I feel like that, too.’”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "I: The Series" Exposes the Underside of Trauma and Healing

    "I: The Series" Exposes the Underside of Trauma and Healing

    We Q&A with filmmaker Mary Beth Eversole on trauma, the inspirations for her new series, and the challenges of making an indie film.

    Mary Beth Eversole is the creator and executive producer of I: The Series, in pre-production. The short film series explores the damage of trauma—from ordinary events to major catastrophes—and its impact on individuals as they learn how to heal. Episode 1 takes us into the mind of MB, a traumatized person dealing with an eating disorder, body dysmorphia, and PTSD from multiple traumas. Using “the magic of mirrors, lighting, prosthetics, and CGI editing, we watch as MB’s nightmare comes to life right before her eyes.”

    The Fix recently had the pleasure of discussing this project with Eversole. 

    The Fix: What spurred you to pursue filmmaking?

    Mary Beth Eversole: I am an actress, voice over (VO) artist, musician, and content creator. I have acted and taught and performed music since I was very young. Voiceover came after I had a traumatic car accident that ended my operatic and musical theater singing career. I had to re-evaluate how I would still have my voice be heard as an artist. It was a very troubled time for me that included PTSD and depression.

    One of my student’s parents suggested I try voiceover work and got me an audition at iHeart Radio in Northern Colorado. The producer signed me as a contracted VO artist that day! From there, I continued to do plays and began to study the art of acting in film, which is different from acting on stage. I love the pace of it, the fact that I could play several different characters within the span of a short time frame, and that I met so many amazing creatives and collaborators. As I booked more on-camera and voiceover work, I began to learn a lot about the behind-the-scenes work and what goes into making a film or TV show happen. I realized that my voice could continue to be heard through filmmaking, not only in characters that others wrote for me, but also in what I wrote for others and myself.

    I have had a very traumatized life. I have battled anorexia, body dysmorphia, drug use, depression and PTSD. I have been hospitalized, worked through a treatment plan, been in continuous therapy, experienced 12-step programs, and done a lot of healing through music, film, theater, and other healing forces. People tell me my life story is inspiring to them and that I should share it. I realized a few years ago that it was through filmmaking that I would be able to do that and inspire others to know they are not alone and they can heal.

    Describe some challenges that you encountered at the start.

    I will say I encounter challenges all along the route during the process of making a film or TV series as I think most filmmakers do. Many of the challenges have always come from funding or lack thereof. As an indie filmmaker, funding is usually scarce unless you know someone with deep pockets or have an in with a studio, which most indie filmmakers do not.

    The same challenges are popping up again for “I”, the film series I am currently working on. We need $65,000 in order to film and edit the first episode of “I”. Why? Because we are paying our crew what they should be paid and the film involves many prosthetics and computer generated imagery (CGI) effects, both expensive ticket items for a film. If we were a full feature film being created by a studio with the same storyline, it would cost upwards of $455k and that is on the super low end. Other feature films that have had similar amounts of prosthetics and CGI with studio backing have been around the $15 million range. Therefore, in the grand scheme, $65,000 is not much, but to a small indie film like us, it is a huge mountain to climb.

    While we are doing great at building our crowd, it has been more challenging to find those funds. Currently we are running a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo at www.ithemovie.org and we would love to have more people head there to make donations. The cool thing about crowdfunding is the donations do not have to be huge. While it will help us to get a few $1,000-$10,000 donors, the majority of the donations will come from people who donate $15-$100. Social media and direct message shares are also super helpful to get the word out and find more backers. If we do not reach our goal through Indiegogo, we will be applying for grants, but those are very competitive and the likelihood of us getting much funding that way is very slim.

    How did you arrive at the idea for the “I” film series?

    “I” was originally just one short film, based on my personal life experience with trauma and how it led to anorexia, body dysmorphia, depression, and PTSD. My traumas include growing up with a parent with an undiagnosed mental disorder, boyfriend emotional abuse as a teen, two sexual assaults, being diagnosed with 7 major food allergies and at least 15 other food sensitivities that put me in the hospital multiple times and led to organ failure, and two major hit and run car accidents, one that ended my music career as I knew it. I have had more trauma, but those were the major ones that resulted in the mental disorders I still deal with.

    I was watching the Netflix film To The Bone and I realized that this was the first time a dramatic film or TV show had gone this in depth with what actually happens with someone suffering from an eating disorder and body dysmorphia. I also realized this film, along with others about the same subject, still only focused on the external symptoms, what people see on the outside. While the film went into the thought process of an eating disordered person a bit through actions and dialogue, it still only skirted it. Furthermore, I realized it did not talk much about what led to the eating disorder.

    When the film was done, I had an overwhelming urge to write down my experience in script form, and to give a true inside account of what happens in my head when that “critical voice”—or as I call it ED—takes over my ability to function as a human being. The script was there, all there, instantly.

    I wrote it down. [Then] I read it, and read it again, and I realized this was how I was going to inspire others to seek help, heal, and how I might possibly be able to prevent these mental disorders caused by trauma from happening in the first place. From there I showed it to a good friend and director, Brad Etter, because I knew he needed to be the one to direct it. His eye for cinematography is beautiful and I knew he would instantly understand what I was going for. He said yes immediately. After that, we began cobbling together the crew heads to come up with ideas for how we could get this film made and what it would cost.

    All along the way, we have had doors opening and people who I never thought I could get to come on to this project attach themselves to it. In fact, it was Lori Alan, celebrity voiceover artist, actress, and the beautiful voice of episode 1 for this film series, who suggested I consider turning it into a series. I decided that instead of making it a series about just my life, I wanted to make each episode about a different trauma and set of repercussions and healing forces based on true stories from what our fan base shared on our social media pages.

    Which film or films have inspired you and why?

    The films that came out this past year and addressed true life events and movements in a dramatic way, like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and To The Bone, as well as TV shows like Chicago Med and Law & Order: SVU that take headlines and dramatically interpret them, have influenced me. My film is based on true stories, but told through dramatic film, which gives us the liberty to construct the inside of the mind and interpret how it is seen through the eye of the traumatized person artistically while still getting the story and the message across.

    My director, Brad Etter, and my director of photography, Terrence Magee, are both using inspiration for the look of the film from the Guillermo del Torro films The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Crimson Peak.

    What surprised you the most in the filmmaking process?

    First, how hard it is to fund a film. It truly is very hard! However, I think what has surprised me the most with this project has been the outpouring of support I have received from the people who are now crew, core team members for our campaign, and just fans of what I am trying to do by bringing awareness to trauma and how we heal from it, working to break the stigma surrounding these issues. I have received countless messages from friends and family saying “keep going, what you are doing is amazing.” I have received more specific messages from friends and colleagues who are or were in the social work and psychology fields that have given me advice, as well as words of encouragement saying they have been looking for a project to do this for a long time. We even have interest already from two health clinics who want us to share this series in their clinic when it is made!

    Find more info at Indiegogo and connect on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

    (This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.)

    View the original article at thefix.com