Witnessing your sibling combat a life-threatening illness can be excruciatingly painful and emotionally conflicting. You knew them before their disorder overtook their life, you witness their moments of victory as well as their moments of darkness. All at once, you may feel scared, sorrowful, helpless, guilty, angry, confused, happy, hopeful, and overwhelmed. You cannot take this burden [...]
When Shame Becomes Toxic Shame “occurs in the context of self-reflection or self-perception and involves a fear or expectation of eliciting disgust in others [1].” As such, experiencing shame, in general, does not feel great. It becomes a new beast entirely when those feelings of shame reach a level considered to be toxic. Toxic shame involves [...]
Contributor: Joanna O’Neill, LMFT of EDEN Treatment Center The world currently exists in a state of uncertainty and desperation. People feel helpless in the face of a viral predator they cannot see. Concern regarding work and finances has become the norm. Moreover, living in isolation, which is contrary to healthy human existence, only serves to [...]
Demi Lovato is a veteran in a culture where many celebrities have just begun to use their star power to speak out on mental health issues. As an actress and singer since childhood, Lovato has always been very upfront about her struggles with depression, substance use, self-harming behaviors, bullying, and an eating disorder. Her courage in [...]
Despite not being an officially recognized eating disorder diagnosis, orthorexia nervosa (ON) has become fairly well-known. Characterized by an unhealthy obsession with “healthy” eating, orthorexia impacts approximately 21 to 57.6% of people in the United States [1]. A great deal of research has been done on symptoms of “official” eating disorder diagnoses such as anorexia nervosa, [...]
As a mother of a teenage son, a small business owner during COVID-19 challenges, and a wife of a husband dealing with cancer – I understand the need to self soothe! It helps to benefit from all the wonderful training as a therapist, but it still takes really hard work and commitment to carry on [...]
The concept of “food addiction” may stir up a lot of thoughts and questions in your mind. “Is this really a thing or a diet culture concept?” “Isn’t food inherently addictive because we actually need it?” “Is this an actual diagnosis?” All fair questions – the term “food addiction” could mean a million different things. Hopefully, [...]
It is a universal human experience to encounter overwhelming or turbulent emotion-states and learn how to deal with them with skills such as emotion regulation. Struggling with doing so is a common trait in many psychiatric conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, substance use disorders, borderline personality disorder, and, you guessed it, [...]
Contributor: Marissa Edwards, Ph.D., at The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt As we all continue to adjust to our new COVID-19 reality, one thing is for certain: change is inevitable. Unfortunately, we weren’t given a “Surviving Coronavirus” manual to navigate these trying times! While new quarantine protocols and stay-at-home orders have posed challenges [...]
This article topic about eating disorder treatment for Canadian youths may seem oddly specific to you, but its inspiration is incredibly relevant. A study was published in the Journal of Eating Disorders in 2020 focused solely on providing treatment guidelines for clinicians treating youth with eating disorder diagnoses in Canada [1]. Eating disorders are a huge [...]
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