Blogs
Amanda_HP
Eating With Your Anorexic author and HealthyPlace blogger, Laura Collins, has a bold message for parents of children and teens with eating disorders - "It's not your fault!"
A lot of the information on the causes of eating disorders points the finger at parents. Parents, says Collins, are blamed by many researchers and treatment professionals as playing some role in the causes of eating disorders in their children. She wants more evidence-based research into the causes of eating disorders as well as eating disorders treatment recommendations.
I want to ask you a favor. Just for right now, try to set aside everything you’ve heard about eating disorders.
Forget all the magazines, movies, rumors, and that girl in science class. Forget the after-school special, the celebrity photo, and your own relationship with food and weight. Let's start over fresh. Before my daughter developed a life-threatening eating disorder, I had a lot of ideas I needed to forget. Let me offer you a new view.
If I keep getting better, I can be whoever I want to be. Today was a fantastic day. I listened to my affirmations, meditated twice this morning and then I put on my suit to go to a volunteer meeting at NAMI. I was so psyched. My dream of helping others like me was going to come true. And then we listened to what they wanted in volunteers and I sighed. I didn’t want to answer the phone or pay a membership fee. I wanted to get down to the nitty gritty. I wanted to be with my people. I wanted to make a difference.
So often I hear others talk about how they will be happy when they get a house, have a baby, get married, finish school; the list goes on and on. If money makes people happy, then why are there so many successful movie stars struggling with drug and alcohol abuse, torn families, and failed marriages? The reality is happiness is something we choose, no matter what our current circumstances are in life. It's something that happens on the inside of us, not from something happening on the outside.
In this video, learn how meditation is helping Cristina with her bipolar disorder. Can meditation help you better cope with bipolar?
I've noticed that the history of the online parent community around eating disorders somewhat mirrors how parents have fared in terms of the treatment of their child; it started off non-existent, involved a lot of blaming and shame in the middle, but I can now report a new attitude is spreading around the world.
Sometimes ADHD-fueled social gaffes come back to haunt us decades later. Years later you can bump into somebody and not remember why they were entertained/infuriated with you. Is it surprising? We do so much on autopilot. It's a wonder we remember anything at all.
Today was supposed to be the first day of my new, improved life. I made an appointment to see a therapist about helping me develop coping mechanisms toward the stress in my life. What I got was a therapist who spewed words at me like yoga, massage, acupuncture and journaling. Okay, lady, I’ve heard those all before! I need something that I can do internally to help my problem. Self help in a little bottle would be nice, but I’m not expecting miracles here. I just want good internal self talk that will point me in the direction of bipolar recovery.
A popular complaint for adults with ADHD is "I just can't get my act together!" What is not commonly known is that both the underachievers and overachievers with ADHD share the same complaint. How can that be?
Everyone reading this is probably looking for a way to be cured from anxiety. I have found that when I focus on words such as "cure" and "recovery," it tends to lead to disappointments. If I am doing really well, I may feel that I am close to recovery. Then if I get hit with a setback, I am really upset because I thought I was doing better.
Instead, I focus on finding the hidden lessons within the setback and use it to move forward. My philosophy is to treat anxiety as if you may have it the rest of your life. If you do this, you can learn ways to reduce and manage the anxiety symptoms so that you can still live a happy fulfilling life.
I read this book many years ago, just as I was entering the turmoil of remembering, questioning and doubting myself all the way (as I'd been covertly taught over a lifetime). I happened to mention to my two sisters one day, "This is so strange but I've been diagnosed with PTSD." Both my sisters surprised me by responding, "Me too."
THEN I happened upon an old book manuscript that my now deceased father had written (not published), wherein the protagonist was obviously based upon himself and he rapes his "fiancee," who had my unusual name. Yes, truly.
Then I made myself look at the peculiar memory I always had where he violently threatened me but somehow I had never been able to recall what came before or after the episode. I had to admit that was a bit strange.
The pressures and powers to forget sexual abuse are great, both in family and society. In fact, I've come to the sad conclusion that the vast majority of survivors never really deal with their childhood wounds (a neglect for which there are always repercussions).
To critique an encouragement of people trusting their intuition in such matters is really getting the prescription dangerously wrong.
Thanks!