Sexual Abuse and Self-Injury

Sexual Abuse

1. Eating Disorders and Sexual Abuse

   What about sexual abuse correlations? Woman shares her observations along with response by expert at Columbia Health Services. (04/2003)

2. Child Sexual Abuse

   Child Sexual Abuse is all over the news right now because of allegations against members of the Catholic Church. But usually, this is a silent epidemic. At least half a million children in this country are sexually abused every year - in almost all cases by a family member or friend. We will hear excerpts from a recent Community Forum on Child Sexual Abuse. During this discussion, both a victim and a perpetrator talked about their experience. Their stories were followed by audience questions and comments from experts. We are joined by Evan Smith, program director of "Stop It Now," an organization dedicated to preventing and ending child sexual abuse. (04/2002)

3. 'No Secrets, No Lies': Preventing Sex Abuse:
   Facts About Abuse in the African-American Community

   No Secrets, No Lies by author and journalist Robin D. Stone is a resource guide for families seeking to understand, prevent and overcome childhood sexual abuse and its devastating impact on adult survivors. (04/2004)

Self Harm, Self Injury

• Cutting Edge

  People who self-harm have often been branded as 'attention-seeking' but self-harm is still mistreated and misunderstood, by professionals and friends of self-harmers alike. (10/2003)

• Self-Harm: Sarah's Story

  Sarah is 19 and she's been self-harming since she was 14. She decided to get help and, with the support of friends, her GP and her counsellor, and knowing that she's not the only one with this problem, she is getting better. This is her story:
  part 1 of Sarah's interview
  how she is coping
  Sarah discusses how she cuts her legs to hide her problem
  hear Sarah's advice on talking to someone else about self-harm

Related Issues

1. Pro-Anorexia Websites

   Pro-anorexia web-sites have sprung up on the internet offering tips and encouragement on being an anorexic. Shannon Bonnette, who runs a US website for eating disorders and Fenella Lamonski, an eating disorder sufferer join the show to discuss whether these these pro-anorexia web-sites should be banned. (07/2002)

2. Anorexia on the Web

   The web search engine, Yahoo, removed access to some internet sites that advocate eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. The sites offered tips on how to starve yourself, providing menus, poetry, and words of what they call thin-spiration, to help young girls become pro ana's. (07/2001)

3. Pro-Anorexia Websites

   Essayist Alfred Lubrano on the strange phenomenon of websites that celebrate the eating disorder anorexia. (11/2001)

4. Link Seen Between Anxiety, Eating Disorders

   Researchers find children who suffer anxiety are more prone to develop eating disorders later in life. The most common disorder was obsessive-compulsive disorder, present in almost half of the group. (12/2004)

5. The Link Between Bulimia and Shoplifting

   3% of young women in the UK suffer from the eating disorder bulimia nervosa, although experts believe the true figure is likely to be much higher. A quarter to a third of bulimics routinely shoplift as part of their illness. A young woman tells her story. (07/2004)

6. Eating Disorders as a Public Health Issue

   Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, M.D., discusses adolescent public health in the United States. This segment focuses on eating disorders and how public health can play a role.

7. Eating Disorders, Disordered Eating, and the Gender Politics That Support Them

   Full Living's Founder and Director is Karen L. Smith, MSS, LSW. She is a clinical social worker with a private practice in Philadelphia, PA. Her approach to analyzing Eating Disorders is grounded in feminism, believing it is through the lens of gender that we will decode this demographically female expression of distress. (2003)

8. In Berlin, a Special Restaurant for Anorexics

   There's a restaurant in Berlin, Germany, that caters to anorexics called Sehnsucht -- German for "longing." The owner touts the eatery as a great way to meet others who share similar eating disorders. (01/2005)

9. Anorexia Court Case

   A federal judge in Boston has ruled for now that Stonehill College does not have to readmit a student with anorexia nervosa. (01/2001)

10. The True Story of Sarah Jacob: The Original Anorexic

    We travel back to 19th Century rural Wales to hear about the story of Sarah Jacob, the original anorexic. She was said to have eaten and drunk nothing for 16 months yet stayed alive and healthy and who subsequently became a major tourist attraction and tabloid favorite.
    Author Sian Busby and Peter Webster Clinical Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London join us to discuss the phenomenon of fasting women in history and what they were trying to achieve. (02/2003)

11. Fasting Girls: A History of Anorexia Nervosa

    Creighton University's Dennis Mihelich talks with Joan Jacobs Brumberg, professor in the Department of Human Development and in the Women's Studies Program at Cornell University. Brumberg, a social and cultural historian, offers an historical perspective on anorexia nervosa as a modern disease and explores the changing historical experience of girls and their bodies as described in more than 100 diaries written since the 1830s. That research is the basis of her most recent work, Body Projects: An Intimate History of American Girls. (02/2000)

12. Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa

    Prize-winning author Joan Jacobs Brumberg says there's been a big change between "good work" to "good looks." (01/2000)

Overeating and Dieting

1. Why Do People Overeat?

   Dr. Rick Kausman is a nutritionist and runs his own eating behavior clinic in Melbourne, Australia. Kausman says "Being hungry is a lot like being in love. If you're not sure, you're probably not." He encourages people to take back control by checking to see whether or not that craving for food really is about hunger. Guilt should be banished along with pejorative terms such as junk food. Instead, allow yourself to enjoy a scone with jam and lashings of cream.

2. Compulsive Overeating

   Compulsive Overeating" - with Shelly, a compulsive overeater who's tried "everything." Shelly talks about how low self-esteem, depression, and a troubled marriage have left her with "food as my only friend." (10/2001)

3. Stigma of Obesity

   The news are full of stories about the increase in obesity in our society. Most of us know about the physical health risks associated with obesity - but what about the psychological impact of obesity? A new study on the stigma of obesity shows that negative opinions of people who are overweight are far more pervasive than previously believed. We'll discuss the stigma of obesity. (12/2003)

4. Is Obesity Really Bad For Your Health?

   Professor Paul Campos, author of The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight Is Hazardous to Your Health, is standing up against the current tide of opinion that obesity is bad.

5. Obesity

   Forty million adult Americans weigh more than twenty percent above their desirable weight, and the prevalence of obesity is increasing in all age groups.
   Here we explore the causes of obesity and the associated stigma, shame, and emotional pain.
   We'll be joined by psychiatrist Dr. Gerald Hanson, director of the Family Practice Residency Program at the Abington Memorial Hospital. We'll also be joined by one of his clients, a woman who is in counseling for obesity, and whose sister recently died from obesity (02/1999)

6. Childhood Obesity

   61 percent of American adults are either overweight or obese - and that means that our children are also at grave risk for obesity. Kids imitate their parents' eating and exercise habits. In addition, children today spend more time in front of the TV and computer than ever before. We'll look at who's at risk, and discuss the physical and psychological impact. (03/2002)

7. Night Eating Syndrome

   Several new studies conclude that more than half of all US adults are overweight, and obesity is increasing in epidemic proportions. We'll discuss a disorder called "Night Eating Syndrome" that mostly affects obese people and is characterized by nightly eating binges. (01/2001)

8. Obesity Surgery for the Morbidly Obese

   In the UK some 400,000 women and 124,000 men are classified as "morbidly obese." Joyce shares her struggle with eating and her weight and finally decided that gastric bypass surgery was her only hope. (06/2002)

9. Eating Disorders and Obesity in the 21st Century: Time to Work Together

   An NIH presentation: prevalence of obesity and causes. Interface between obesity and eating disorders.

10. Commentary: Dieting as a Way of Life

    Commentator Daphne Muse reflects on how dieting can become a way of life. (04/2004)

11. Diet Fads and American Eating

    Author Michael Pollan says the current aversion to carbohydrates is just the most recent manifestation of America's long-standing love affair with fad diets. (10/2004)

12. High-Fat Foodfight

    The Atkins diet. For three decades it’s been one of the biggest and most bitter food fights in the medical community. Now some long-time opponents are coming to the dinner table to chew the fat and admit that that might not be such a bad thing. (07/2002)

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Therapy, Insurance

• Finding a Therapist

  Few of us will be so lucky as Paul Vitti, the main character in the recent movie "Analyze This," and literally run into a great therapist in a car accident. For many people, it is a very big step to even decide that they want to start therapy, but once this step is made, the search for a therapist begins. In the age of managed care, our choices are considerably limited; some therapists refuse to deal with HMOs, and insurance companies will only pay for services provided by therapists on their list. What can and should we expect from a therapist, and where do we start looking? (04/1999)

• The Psychology of Getting Better

  Our guest, Susan, was sexually abused over 30 years ago. She's been diagnosed with major depression, PTSD, OCD and panic disorder and was hospitalized at least twice. Susan's spent the last 10 years in therapy trying to deal with what happened. Over that period of time, she's changed meds, changed doctors, tried to journal, tried meditation, tried keeping busy. At 45, she still can't deal with the sadness. She, like many who suffer from various psychological disorders, wants to know -- what's it take to get better?

• NEGATIVE THINKING: How to Avoid and Overcome It

  Are you plagued by negative thoughts about yourself and your future? If negative thinking is trapping you in a world where everything seems dreary and hopeless, you need to listen to this show.

• Managed Care and Eating Disorders

  Patients with chronic conditions like anorexia nervosa which require expensive treatments are most likely to have difficulty getting the care they need under managed care health plans. Anorexics are obsessed with weight gain and starve themselves. The condition requires long term medical and psychological treatment for which many insurers are refusing to pay. (09/1998))

• Race and Eating Disorders plus Insurance Coverage for Eating Disorders Treatment

  Stereotypes of eating disorders and insurance coverage for eating disorders. Answered by expert at Columbia Health Services. (04/2003)

• Christian Counseling

  It's psychotherapy from an evangelical Christian perspective, in which licensed clinicians treat clients with a mix of traditional psychotherapy, drug therapy, and Biblical teachings. The largest business in the field is the New Life Clinics. Founded ten years ago, the company has eighty outpatient clinics nationwide as well as day hospitals, residential treatment centers for eating disorders, and inpatient privileges at seventeen hospitals. (03/1998)

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Men: Eating Disorders and Body Image Problems

• The Adonis Complex

  From GI Joe to pro wrestling, to magazines to movies, everywhere we look, we see muscular, fit men. Millions of men and boys are feeling pressured to achieve the impossible goal of physical perfection. Men are spending countless hours in the gym, young boys are taking food supplements and diet aids, and many are using dangerous anabolic steroids and black market equivalents to push the limits of their physiques. More and more men are suffering from eating disorders; a recent study found that 40% of Americans who go on compulsive eating sprees are men. Our guests are Dr. Michael J. Pertschuck, the medical director of the eating disorders program at Friends Hospital and Dr. Harrison G. Pope, one of the authors of "The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession" (06/2000)

• Boys and Body Image

  The pressures on girls to be thin are well known, but do boys feel the pressure too when it comes to shaping up? (12/2003)

• Men and Dangerous Weight Loss

  For men is there a point at which weight loss becomes too dangerous? Answered by experts from Columbia Health Services. (04/2003)

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Social Issues

Teens and College Students

• Exploring Teenage Life

  What teenage behavior is normal and what should make parents and teachers worry? Covers what's being done to help teenagers with mental health problems - from virtual reality therapy for those with anorexia, to groups which try to reduce the chances of girls cutting themselves. And the show looks at the role of teenage magazines in the well-being of their target market. (05/2003)

• Ophelia Speaks

  Reviving Ophelia, a bestseller about the difficulties adolescent girls experience coming of age in a "girl-poisoning" society, inspired Sara Shandler to edit another book called Ophelia Speaks because she wanted the voices of teenage girls themselves to be heard. Issues such as eating disorders, reactions to old style feminism and the newer girl power, dealing with depression, sexuality and self-image as well the special issues of minority girls are all represented. Join guest host, Melinda Penkava and a panel of teens to discuss Ophelia Speaks. (05/1999)

• Eating Disorders on College Campus'

  Experts and a student who had an eating disorder in her 1st year at university all join in to discuss what students can do to help themselves - and what support friends and family can offer.

• School and Eating Disorders

  Are schools, especially single sex girls' schools and girls' boarding schools becoming a hot bed for eating disorders? How much should the school be responsible for their pupils' eating habits, or is this a matter for the parents only? (11/2002)

• Students and Stress

  When you think about the past, high school and college probably seems like a time when life was more about play than work. But today's adolescents and college students experience very high levels of stress and stress-related disorders. A survey done at the University of Pennsylvania lists the top concerns of students as stress, body image, substance abuse, mental health and sleep difficulties. Listen to this discussion about stress with students at the University of Pennsylvania. (04/2003)

Women

• Women and Mental Health

  Women in the US are more likely to be prescribed anti-depressants than men. Are women more likely to be depressed? Or are they more likely to seek help? Show guests are Harvard Psychologist Dr. Jessica Daniel and Harvard Psychiatrist Amy Elizabeth Banks. They have edited a new reference book called "The Complete Guide to Mental Health for Women." (10/2003)

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People Speak Out

1. Geri Halliwell on Battling with Bulimia

   British singer Geri Halliwell talks about her battle against bulimia. (09/2002)

2. Song: Starving for Attention

   From Geri Karlstrom: Geri's Recovery Music - "Eating disorders have devastated my life since I went on my first diet at age nine. I believe that child abuse and trauma were partly the cause of my compulsive overeating, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorders. I hope by sharing my recovery story and music you will find a friend who understands and the courage to reach out for help. (2004)

3. Recovering From Anorexia

   Unhappy at university, painfully shy and unsure about her future, Kate Chisholm retreated into a life of not eating. Twenty five years later, Kate, now a successful journalist, has finally been able to tell her story; not of anorexia but of anorexia overcome. (09/2002)

4. Eating Disorders as an Addiction

   Teen boys and girls talk about how eating disorders took over their lives.

5. Remembering Stephen

   Just over two years ago, 29 year old Stephen Wolfenden died. He was six foot tall but weighed only seven stone (98 pounds). From his early school days Stephen had struggled with eating problems and at the age of 24 was diagnosed with anorexia. Paddy Uglow and Kristian Hancock were close friends who witnessed Stephen’s struggle and decline. (2003)

6. Anorexia: A Boy's Story

   George is 15 and has suffered with anorexia for nearly a year. As anorexia in boys is less common, his doctor thought he had cancer.  (2001)

7. College Essay: Battling Anorexia

   High school senior, Clayton Kennedy, reads his college application essay about his battle with anorexia. (03/2001)

8. Interview with Tracey Gold

   Tracey Gold, who played Carol Seaver on Growing Pains, about her battle with eating disorders and her new book, Room to Grow. (2/28/03)

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