Going Back to School Met with Mixed Emotions

CHICAGO, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Millions of students at all grade levels, from elementary to high school to college, will head back to school – and many times this is met with mixed emotions. Not because the "summer fun" has ended, but because school adds new pressures into the mix, with many kids focusing on trying to be popular, and some just to even fit in.

Many times these pressures can manifest physically, with young men and women trying to be an ideal body size and weight, just like they see in the people they idolize in magazines and movies. Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center, a leader in treatment for eating disorders, wants to educate students and parents about potential problems and let them know assistance is available.

As many as 10 million females and one million males are fighting a life and death battle with anorexia nervosa or bulimia and another 25 million are fighting a binge eating disorder, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. And because of this, body image and eating disorders are growing concerns in schools around the country.

"This is an especially critical time to be aware of potential problems and watch for warning signs," says Kimberly Dennis, M.D., medical director at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center. "During this time when schedules change drastically with the start of school, and new pressures are added into the mix, children and young adults can be more susceptible to body image issues and concerns."

Warning signs that there could be a potential problem in a loved one include:  

• refusal to eat
• difficulty concentrating
• denial of hunger
• obsession with body size and shape coupled with low self esteem
• skipping meals and making excuses for not eating
• eating only a few certain foods considered safe, usually those low in fat and calories

Recognizing these signs and symptoms in a loved one can be a critical first step in working to improve body image distortions. Through early intervention, treatment and therapy, a positive body image can be restored and a life free from the obsession of reaching an "ideal" body size and shape can be achieved.

About Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center

Timberline Knolls is one of the leading private residential treatment centers for eating disorders, substance abuse, and trauma, with or without a dual diagnosis, co-occurring disorder or addiction. Expert treatment staff offers a nurturing environment of recovery for women and girls (ages 12 and older) on a 43-acre campus in suburban Chicago. Women and families seeking Christian treatment have the option of working with a dedicated Christian therapist. For more information on Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center, call us at 877.257.9611.

SOURCE Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center

PHOENIX, AZ--(Marketwire - 08/25/10) - Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating and Anxiety Disorders reports in the past five years, self-injury, particularly cutting oneself, is becoming more prevalent among eating disorder patients.

"Approximately 40 to 50 percent of our patients have either reported a history of self-injury or are presently engaging in these behaviors," said Dena Cabrera, PsyD, psychologist and national speaker at Remuda Ranch. "This number seems to be consistent for the past five years. Studies have shown that adolescents engaging in self-injury behavior were more likely to have an eating disorder."

Cutting may be increasing in our culture because young women today are struggling with identity issues and dealing with challenging problems. They feel they have to go to extremes to show others that they are suffering. Often, they are suffering from depression. In a visual culture, cutting may be a voice to get needs met. Self-injury may represent that struggle visually while physiologically and emotionally numbing the pain.

Based on studies and direct patient reports, Dr. Cabrera lists the following as additional reasons for self-injury:

• Stimulation: Escaping dissociative experience through an intentional gesture to feel one's body, thereby using self-injury as a self-grounding technique.
• Emotional Release: Self-imposed when feeling guilt, shame, weakness, anger or punishment.
• Relaxation: A pleasure response to the warmth of the blood and to the physical sensation of pain.
• Distraction: Inducing dissociation or a trance-like state to avoid attending to an emotional trigger, issue, subject or suicidal thoughts.
• Social Attention: Obtaining self-affirmation by showing oneself and others one's strength and achieving protection through the response of others.
• Alteration: Altering one's body to make it unattractive to others through scarring.

At Remuda Ranch, Dialectical Behavior Therapy is used to teach patients skills to replace the self-harm behavior whether that behavior is an eating disorder, cutting, or both.

"We provide structure to the patient's environment to motivate, reinforce and individualize appropriate skills needed for recovery," adds Dr. Cabrera. "We also help remove negative behaviors as well as establish plans in case of relapse."

"If someone you know is practicing self-injury it's important to get help immediately," said Dr. Cabrera. "Cutting is not like biting your nails, it can be very dangerous. Further, it perpetuates low self worth and esteem. It becomes a vicious cycle."

About Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating and Anxiety Disorders
Remuda Ranch offers inpatient and residential programs for individuals of all faiths suffering from eating or anxiety disorders. Each patient is treated by a multi-disciplinary team including a psychiatric and a primary care provider, registered dietitian, master's level therapist, psychologist and registered nurse. The professional staff equips each patient with the right tools to live a healthy, productive life.

For more information, call 1-800-445-1900 or visit www.remudaranch.com.

 
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Mommy Not Always Dearest During Treatment For Eating Disorders

CHICAGO (July 22, 2010) – One underlying cause that surprises many women during treatment for an eating disorder is the relationship an adolescent girl has with her mother, according to Catherine Weigel Foy, a family therapist at Timberline Knolls, a leading eating disorder treatment center for women.

Young girls suffering with eating disorders often think the physical aspects of their disease call for the most healing, but in most all instances, girls have to recognize the psychological and emotional damage caused by anorexia or bulimia, too. It’s during this process that they often uncover unexpected root causes of their disease.  

“The mother-daughter relationship can be a complicated one. While relationships with friends and husbands begin in adolescence and adulthood, a mother's love begins before a child is born, and can create an unrealistic expectation that the connection between mothers and daughters will be as strong and free from limitations in adulthood as it was in early infancy,” said Weigel Foy, LCSW, LMFT.

A clinical lecturer at Northwestern University, where she is affiliated with both the Family Institute and the Department of Psychology, Weigel Foy endorses an introspective look at this unique relationship and believes temporary distance from family members allows many adolescent and teenage girls to feel safe exploring the mother-daughter relationship in ways they haven’t been able to during prior treatment for anorexia or bulimia. Weigel Foy and her colleagues at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center work together to foster a nurturing environment that helps teen girls gain a realistic view of their relationship with their mothers. In turn, the girl and her mother are better equipped to support each other on their path to recovery.

Exploring relations with her mother in a residential setting also equips a young woman to place the relationship in a healthier social context. “In reality, an individual's needs and fears are often informed by society's needs and fears, making this one of the most maligned of all human relationships. By identifying societal myths commonly found in these relationships, mothers and daughters can begin to build a stronger foundation – and one of recovery for those suffering from eating disorders and substance abuse,” said Weigel Foy, who also serves on the consulting editorial board for the Journal of Feminist Family Therapy.

Weigel Foy identifies several “perfect mother” myths that can create unrealistic standards for behavior that often strain the relationship and trigger feelings of shame:

• the measure of a perfect mother is a perfect daughter
• constant nurturing comes naturally to all mothers
• mothers are born knowing how to raise children
• mothers and good daughters don't get angry

These ideas contribute to mother-blaming when mothers don't match the myth and can create distance between mothers and daughters.
In the same way, there are “bad mother” myths that can lead mothers and daughters to feel like they are walking a tightrope where too much or too little love will push them over the edge. Damaging assumptions include:

• mothers are inferior to fathers as authority figures
• only experts know how to raise children
• mothers and daughters are bottomless pits of neediness
• mother-daughter closeness is unhealthy
• assertion of a woman's power is dangerous or unseemly

The impact of beliefs like these can keep a teenage girl from seeking support from her mother when she needs it, or from accepting her mother’s efforts to build a normal, healthy bond that will help her through adolescence.

Relationship myths can be particularly perilous for young girls who are struggling with body image issues, says Weigel Foy. Given that a mother is often the first person to recognize signs and symptoms of an eating disorder, any reluctance to address her concerns in an open and honest way can impact her daughter’s chances of avoiding long term medical complications.

Through residential treatment and therapy this relationship can be explored and these young girls can come to better understand its affect on their diseases – and in turn help build a foundation for lifelong recovery.

About Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center

Timberline Knolls is one of the leading residential treatment centers for eating disorders, alcoholism and substance abuse, with or without trauma, a dual diagnosis or cooccurring disorder. Expert treatment staff offers a nurturing environment of recovery for women and girls (ages 12 and older) on a wooded 43-acre campus in suburban Chicago. Women and families seeking Christian treatment have the option of working with a dedicated Christian therapist. For more information on Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center, call us at 877.257.9611