Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia or overeating are very common in both men and women. Recovery is possible by finding the necessary help to overcome these addictions. Whether you are looking for addiction rehab for ED, body image issue treatment or maybe even a sober living halfway house for eating disorders, you can find the help you need now by using this simple directory of eating disorder treatment facilities. Locations can be found nationwide including Florida, Arizona, Texas and California. If you are still unable to find the facility you are looking for, be sure to complete the simple form at the bottom of this page and someone will assist you the same day. There is no charge for this service, all inquiries are free and confidential. We are here to help.
Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia continue to be the "silent killers." Eating disorders can often times be masked by other addictions such as drinking and pills. Binging and purging doesn't have to be a way of life. You can find recovery from eating disorders. Don't be confused by other issues either. Both men and women can have an eating disorder. Even if you are not sure whether or not you have an eating disorder, contact any one of the numbers listed above or simply fill out the form below for your free confidential assessment. Your information will be immediately forwarded to a professional who will contact you shortly. You don't have to live in the horror and pain of this addiction any longer. Help is available right now. If you or someone you know feels that you may have a food addiction or weight problem or even a body image issue, don't hesitate any longer. You can find recovery today!
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There is a girl in our community who posted on our thread "Ana, your friend?" (I'll call her Linda.)
Linda searched for an Ana-Buddy and some pro-ana-websites, because she wanted to hunger herself until she weighs XY. She also said she knows everything about Anorexia (yeah, but she doesn't understand anything). I told her that Anorexia is the worst and slowest way to lose weight, that it is an mental illness which has nothing do to with food or losing weight and that Anorexia is a kind of suicide. I finally show her ed_ucate, but I think she ignored it.
I asked her if she wants to lose weight or if she wants to become mentally disordered. Her response (I translate): "I want to lose weight and I want to take the mental illness upon me if it means that I can lose weight. Actually I understood the issue very well. I want to be thin and I want to use the extremest way to do so. I don't care if it leads to Anorexia. Btw: Ana doesn't mean that I have to go that far."
Another girl told her that you won't ever feel thin enough. Linda only responded: "If men and photographers think I am thin enough…"
Linda apparently wants to become a model and so she wants to hunger. She doesn't understand what Ana means and she doesn't care about the consequences. She thinks Anorexia is kind of religion. I think she is very desperate and I don't know if she can stop before it is to late - as I (hopefully) stopped before it was to late.
I want to prevent that Linda becomes anorexic. Yes, her current weight is pretty high and she needs an diet, but she doesn't need Anorexia. I want to write her a private message and talk to her about my experiences and I want to show her a blog of a girl who suffers from Ana, but who doesn't glorifies it. But I am not sure, if this is he right way. What would you advice me? I can't help her, can I?
____EDIT_____
Linda is 26 years old. She finally admit that she wants to become an famous actress ("like Sandra Bullock"… drama) and she is "already capable to hunger almost an whole week" - this really made me laugh, although… I think I am sort of pissed of. In her first entries she sounded just naive, but now she sounds like a wannarexic.
She also became aggressive - how we could dare to criticize her, because we are not her, we don't study medicine and we don't know her body. And she knows best how to treat herself. Linda also explained that she has a difficult metabolism (although she eats not very much she gains more and more weight (sounds something like a metabolic disease).)
I will send her some website like fishy and a blog of a German girl (as mentioned above).
I have a question concerning eating disorders and depression.
I've been in recovery for the last 9 months in an eating disorder clinic. I've been IP for months and now I'm in an IOP every day. The fact is that things are getting better. IP was fucking hard for me but IOP isn't as bad. I'm not recovered at all but I'm starting to eat correctly and I'm working on my body and self-image issues. And I can even go to college some hours per week.
The problem is that lately I've been feeling really depressed. I haven't been depressed in my life and even if I was really ill I was an optimistic girl with friends who loved to do things and who loved life.
And now that things are betting better (I have more than 5 hours of therapy per day and I have solved many of my emotional problems) I'm feeling fucking sad and I don't understand it.
I'm OK sometimes, mostly when I'm with people I love... but sometimes I have too problems with being alive. I haven't contemplated suicide or feel like this before and I'm fucking scared.
So... I just want to know if this is a normal process in recovery or if someone felt like this during recovery or whatever. I just need some kind of feedback. I'm feeling really alone and crazy with this. Most of the girls in IOP seem to be really happy with their lives after some months in recovery.
Thank you!
(English isn't my mother tongue. Sorry for the errors!)
NYT Article & Myers Briggs Hello! I used to be very active in these parts a few years ago (namely, the original purgatorium) but dropped off the radar while attempting to recover/work FT. Recently, two different things spurred my desire to post here - ironically, for the first time. Leave it to snowpocolypse! Anyway...
1. I was wondering what your thoughts were on this article from the NY Times, Narrowing an Eating Disorder. I think the article provides some good discussion; it's important to define ED-NOS so that it captures disorders that don't fit neatly into the categories of AN or BN, but it would be detrimental to keep the diagnosis so roomy that is reduces the perceived severity of EDs as whole l or leads to more ambiguity. Not sure I agree with the comment from the doctor about removing weight criteria from all the ED diagnoses, though. Other thoughts/comments/discussion welcome!
2. I apologize for segueing into a completely disparate topic but - what is everyone's Myers Briggs Type Indicator? I've always wondered if there is a link between certain enneagrams and having an eating disorder. I was reading the overview for my enneagram (INTJ) from some website, and it said we are prone to addition and stomach ailments as the result of consistently internalizing personal problems. There are other traits that make me think a link is possible. However, when I google I can't find much research on this topic. I'm sure there are pysch majors here who've wondered the same thing!
I once saw a Youtube video mentioning that 60% of restricting anorexics turn into b/p anorexics, bulimics, and compulsive overeaters, and I saw the number 50% in someone's comment on a blog entry. Does anyone know of a scientific source for this information? I've tried searching for it, but can't find anything.
Also, what is the exact mechanism behind restrictive anorexics turning into binge eaters, and why do some never turn into binge eaters?
In the early days of my disorder, I restricted, but after a few years, something inside me snapped and I found myself eating more and more and more. I'm guessing it's my body's way of rebelling against me for not giving it what it needs, but it'd be nice to have a more definite explanation of why this happened.
Her Power I wanted to make a post letting those who are interested know that my website promoting the power of creative expression in recovery has launched! I'd really love for you to check it out and share your feedback!
Everything on the site is written and designed by me! I would love your contributions as well! I hope you enjoy and receive something from it...this is only the beginning, too. ;)
I am working on a research paper on eating disorders. I was wondering if anyone could explain the relationship between serotonin, dopamine, and eating disorders to me. (I'm actually not sure if dopamine is related but I remember catching a glimpse of it while researching) So far, I have only come across abstracts for studies and the below excerpt. Can anyone direct me towards articles/studies discussing the relationship between serotonin and eating disorders? I just feel like this following source isn't credible enough.
"Serotonin is a brain chemical that plays a role in the control of emotions. Serotonin is also a factor in sexual response, impulse control, anger, sleep patterns, depression, anxiety, and hunger perceptions. Serotonin imbalances are associated with clinical depression and anxiety, two mental health disorders often found with anorexia nervosa.
The genetic variant in serotonin receptors found in anorexics may predispose them to high levels of serotonin. At high levels, serotonin can lead to health disorders such as anxiety. Serotonin levels decrease without access to food, so the self-starvation associated with anorexia will leave the person feeling calmer. As starvation reduces serotonin to very low levels, depression may set in.
Once the person eats again, serotonin levels rise again because the body requires certain amino acids to manufacture serotonin. The increase in serotonin may re-trigger anxiety symptoms. Some researchers fear this causes a vicious cycle in people predisposed to anorexia nervosa. Over time, the anorexic subconsciously learns to avoid anxiety by avoiding food thereby maintaining low serotonin levels"
Hi everyone - I'm new to this community. As a woman who has suffered through anorexia and bulimia, I have recently started work for a local zine to promote eating disorder awareness. If you or anyone you know has suffered from an eating disorder, would you write a short bit about your experiences for this local project?
Please e-mail foodfeelings@gmail.com, and I'll send you a confidentiality agreement (we will not disclose ANY of your personal information). Here are some questions to consider when writing:
1. How old were you when you first realized you had an eating disorder?
2. How old do you think you were when it first started?
3. Do you think that the modeling/advertising/movie industry had any influence on your attitudes towards food or your body?
4. How did you feel about dieting? How do you feel about diets now?
5. Have you ever sought help for your eating disorder? If so, in what form?
6. Do you idolize any celebrities now? Did you idolize any before or during your eating disorder?
7. Do you know anyone else who has had an eating disorder?
8. Do you have any personal stories about experiences related to your eating disorder that you'd be willing to share?
Thank you so much for your help and support! <3
Oh dear. I just got linked to an article which is apparently a "nice introduction to the Maudsley approach", but it's really rubbing me the wrong way. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! (I apologise in advance that I probably will sound a bit snarky, I, uh, do that when things bug me.
A surprising treatment approach for adolescents with anorexia nervosa By Linda Castor
Imagine you and your family just sat down together and are enjoying a lively conversation over a delicious meal. Laughing, you look up and notice that your teenager is slowly pushing food around on her plate.
After several minutes of observing her behavior, you conclude she has not been eating at all. You think back to other times when she would not eat in front of you and how truly thin she appears. Despite her unwillingness to eat, you recall that she has developed a strange, new preoccupation with food and weighs herself several times a day. A sinking feeling overwhelms you as you realize: Your daughter may have an eating disorder.
This scenario demonstrates the confusion, worry, anxiety, fear - and even denial - that most parents experience when dealing with anorexia nervosa. The adolescent will also experience intolerance to cold, dry and brittle hair and nails, fatigue, loss of menses and the need for excessive exercise. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, anorexia nervosa has one of the highest mortality rates of all mental disorders.I'm already annoyed that she makes it seem like AN is the only eating disorder out there, but hey, let's roll with it.) So, it is quite understandable when parents who have tried to resolve the problem and don't see any progress become desperate for answers. "What do we do now?" they ask. "Send her to a hospital? Our daughter reacts with hostility and refuses to eat when we encourage her. Individual therapy isn't helping. What are we doing wrong?" If the adolescent is medically stable, there is an option for parents: family-based treatment.
At a recent training I attended at the University of Chicago, I heard something profound that actually made sense.
"One of the worst things you can do to a teenager is take away her parents," said Dr. James Lock, one of the proponents and authors of the treatment manual for anorexia nervosa. Family-based treatment has been around for several years, and it is beginning to emerge in practices all over the country.
Ding ding! Congratulations Dr. Lock, you just completely disregarded the very important role families and childhood usually play in the development of eating disorders. Sure, I'm not denying that there are some families out there who took good care of their kids and they still ended up with EDs, but "One of the worst things you can do to a teenager is to take away her parents"? Really? All the time? To all teenagers?
Often referred to as the Maudsley Method, this insightful and research-based approach continues to show that parental involvement is an effective catalyst in helping the adolescent recover from anorexia nervosa. Parents become the primary treatment management team, and the therapist acts as the consultant who oversees the entire process. Siblings also are included, but the parents retain all the decision-making power until the adolescent overcomes the eating disorder. Of course, the adolescent doesn't like this one bit in the beginning, but as long as anorexia nervosa is in the picture, the teenager is unable to overcome it on her own. She needs the help of her family to fight this sneaky disorder. (Or maybe she needs to get out of there as fast as she can. Again with the generalisations!)
If you think about it, this is a sound approach. Having your child sit with a rotation of hospital nurses 24-7 in a strange environment, with tubes ready for feeding, is probably not quite the nurturing she was looking for. Yes, because that is what all IP treatment looks like. In fact, your adolescent may eat just enough to be discharged from the hospital, only to go home and repeat the eating-disordered behavior. One of my patients tearfully admitted that she decided to get smaller and smaller until someone said, "Are you okay?" She was really hoping a family member would "save" her. Having parents and siblings involved at the beginning of treatment, with the therapist acting as the coach, can encourage opportunities for healing within the family.
After all, home is where the child will return, so why not have the intervention be based there as well?
Lock and his colleague, Dr. Daniel le Grange, cite the following encouraging results from multiple studies in determining the efficacy of the family-based approach: There is no evidence to date that shows parents cause anorexia nervosa. (Pffft. There is not enough evidence to prove ANY eating disorder theory right now. Sure, new discoveries are made every day - one's about brain chemistry, one's about the media, there are plenty of options to choose from.) Hospital care is not superior to outpatient treatment. (Again, it depends on the individual.) Focus on treatment should ultimately be on individual adolescent control. (Control? I'm sorry, WHAT?) Individual therapy has not demonstrated superiority over family treatments. (Because family treatment has demonstrated superiority. Right.) Family treatments have been found to be effective for adolescents with bulimia nervosa. (W-what? You mean AN isn't the only eating disorder? Oh my!)
The authors note that a crucial window of opportunity exists for intervention in the childhood and adolescent years. Like any other treatment, family-based approach has its challenges, but it has been shown to be effective in ways that give parents an opportunity to heal their adolescent while improving relationships within the family. (I'm not touching the "heal their adolescent" thing with a five-foot pole. I'm just... not. ETA: Make that a ten-foot pole, five doesn't seem enough.)
Linda Castor, RN, LCPC, is a nurse and psychotherapist at Clocktower Therapy Center who treats children and adolescents with eating disorders. Sources cited can be viewed on her blog at www.lindacastor.com.
does anyone know if continuous prolonged restricting/purging would have an effect on focus/concentration even after behaviors have ended for a significant period of time?
does anyone have any articles/photos showing a change in brain chemistry due to the "addiction" effects of starving/purging?
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