My article appeared originally on Recovery Brands’ Pro Corner site.Dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT), as developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan, is a type of therapy that helps patients reduce emotional reactivity and improve thought patterns and interpersonal interactions. The therapy, a hybrid of cognitive-behavioral therapy and tenets from eastern philosophies (primarily Buddhism), was created to help those who struggle with borderline personality disorder and chronic suicidality. However, DBT has also shown promise in the treatment of substance use disorders and eating disorders.DBT is a problem-solving, but accepting approach – one that helps patients change, while accepting them for who they are. This duality (or “dialectical” view) seems to sit well with many patients as they struggle on the road toward recovery. The avoidance of
Category: eating disorders
Thanksgiving Goodness Without the Guilt
Thanks to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) for asking me to blog for them! You can check out my first post here, just in time for this week’s holiday. Happy Thanksgiving.You can find Does Every Woman Have an Eating Disorder? Challenging Our Nation’s Fixation with Food and Weight on Amazon (as a paperback and Kindle) and at BarnesandNoble.com.
Black or White
As a psychologist, I’m quick to point out all-or-nothing thinking – the kind of thought pattern that polarizes things into categories of good and bad or, really, any two camps – without leaving room for the middle ground.So, it may come as a surprise to hear me say that I think professionals and products and plans are either recovery-oriented or not – but I do.If a therapist is advertising her treatment program, designed to curb overeating, as a tool for weight-loss, I don’t see her as recovery-oriented. Part of the reason that people overeat is due to the diet mentality. If a yoga instructor promotes the slimming effects of her teaching, I don’t see her as recovery-oriented (or as the kind of
Primary care docs diagnose, but don’t refer, eating disorders
Research suggests more referrals are needed from primary care doctors to mental health professionals when dealing with eating disorders.
Why eating ice may give a mental boost to people with iron deficiency
A new study into pagophagia sufferers links the craving to low haemoglobinPatients suffering from pagophagia compulsively crave and chomp on ice, even scraping buildup off freezer walls for a fix. The disorder appears to be caused by an iron deficiency, and supplements of the mineral tend to ease the cravings. But what is it about ice that makes it so irresistible?A study proposes that, like a strong cup of coffee, ice may give those with insufficient iron a much-needed mental boost. Fatigue is the most common symptom of iron-deficiency anaemia, which occurs when the body can’t produce enough oxygen-carrying haemoglobinbecause of low iron. Continue reading…
Alzheimer’s drug may reduce urge to binge eat
The Alzheimer’s drug memantine may perform double-duty helping binge eaters control their compulsion. Researchers have demonstrated that memantine, a neuroprotective drug, may reduce the addictive and impulsive behavior associated with binge eating.
Exercise Addiction: Pushing the Limits of Healthy Behavior
My article appeared originally on Recovery Brands’ Pro Corner site.The statistics are staggering; millions of Americans don’t get enough exercise. In the early part of my career, as a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor, I focused on this end of the spectrum – helping people to incorporate exercise into their lives and adhere to regular exercise programs. But, as I trained to be a clinical psychologist, I saw more and more of other end of the exercise spectrum. On this other side sit those who have a compulsive relationship to exercise; that exercise despite pain or illness; that feel anxious, angry, or depressed if they miss an exercise session; that unhealthily use exercise to influence their weight or shape; and that engage in rigid
‘I feel guilty but I hate my body’: a feminist confesses
She’s a campaigner. She counts calories 24/7. Thinking about food takes up more energy than her career. Does Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett have an eating disorder?Here’s a fact I’m uncomfortable admitting: I could tell you, in order, every single food item that I have ingested in the last 72 hours. I could also, with a fair amount of accuracy, tell you how many calories each of those meals contained, and how I felt while eating them. (The Cheesy Wotsits I had on the way to a party the day before yesterday? Guilt. One hundred calories but, hey, I needed something to line my stomach. The lentil and Quorn sausage stew last night? Fine, but I made sure I didn’t have too many bits of sausage. The Marmite on toast
You Ate It – Now Move on with Your Life!
Just in time for Halloween, some frightening posts appeared on my Facebook feed. Titled, “You ate it. . . Now negate it!” the posts featured pictures of popular Halloween candies, alongside their calorie contents and the amount of exercise required to burn them off. That mini Snickers that sang to you from your leftover stash? That’ll be 50 burpees. Similar charts popped up on the websites of fitness and nutrition professionals, in newspapers and on newscasts, and, lest you think these warnings are targeted only at women, in a popular men’s magazine.In addition to the fact that nutrition science has largely dispelled the calories-in/calories-out myth, as we now know that weight is a complex biological phenomenon, these messages fuel a disordered eating mentality – suggesting that
Fat Girl Costumes
(photo via Jezebel)This week, Walmart landed itself in the latest controversy involving bodies and advertising. As Jezebel fist reported, the megastore’s online catalog featured a section of Halloween apparel called, “Fat Girl Costumes.” Jezebel speculated the heading may have been a web developer joke that eluded final editing.As a joke, this heading is offensive. But, let’s look at the larger picture. To start, I commend Walmart for featuring plus-size costumes. Not every retailer offers size-inclusive styles. And the offensive nature of the language itself is only a product of the relative value of fat versus thin in our current cultural climate. The fat acceptance movement, as evidenced by its name, has worked long and hard to reclaim the word “fat,” from something
I don’t know where I would be without the people I have met on my recovery journey
I am a very lucky person. For most of my adult life I have had many friends around me. But for years I felt like the loneliest person in the world. It is only now, after having gone through years of treatment that I have realised that it was only myself that I had to blame for my loneliness. For the most part I found that my friends and family have been supportive to me in recovery and it was only my own fears and insecurities that was making me push them away.I told almost no-one about my problemsFor nearly a decade I have struggled with eating disorders and depression – this has lost me places at university, jobs and in some cases, friends. For