Author: frivvy89
New research provides evidence that people from higher social classes are worse at understanding the minds of others compared to those from lower social classes. The study has been published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.“My co-author and I set out to examine a question that we deemed important given the trend of rising economic inequality in American society today: How does access to resources (e.g., money, education) influence the way we process information about other human beings?” said study author Pia Dietze, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Irvine.“We tried to answer this question by examining…
Today was a hard day. A day I was hoping would never have to happen, or if it did, that it would happen months from now. I completed an assessment for more inpatient treatment. If insurance agrees, if the program’s medical director agrees (I’m half hoping they don’t), then I could admit in the next couple of weeks. There are so many emotions swimming around in my head, I don’t even know if I could identify them all. Disappointment, for starters, that I let things slide downhill so quickly. I think the reason it happened as fast as I did…
In this story, we look at parent coaching for Gina, whose 8-year-old daughter is gaining weight. Her daughter Becca’s pediatrician raised alarms about her weight at a recent appointment. Gina knows that she has a lot of fear about her daughter’s weight. But she also knows that her own body image and eating issues could create a much larger problem than the weight itself. Gina doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t know how to be a great mom and protect her daughter from two potential threats: gaining weight and developing body image issues or even an eating disorder. Gina…
Sometimes when something goes wrong with our kids, we think that we need to clamp down our feelings and just get stuff done. And that might be necessary sometimes. But a big part of eating disorder recovery is learning to feel feelings. Your child is going to learn to process their feelings, and it will help if you learn, too.🔎 ACTIVITY: Take a minute to think about how you feel about your child’s eating disorder. We often forget that there are many words we can use to describe how we feel. Most of us get stuck on the easy ones…
In this story we take a look at parent coaching for an adult child who has anorexia. We meet Lee, mom to Olivia, who was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa at age 13. Lee can’t sleep, and refuses to speak with Olivia until she gets treatment for her eating disorder. But Olivia is 26 years old, and cannot be forced into treatment. Their relationship is suffering, and this dynamic is making things worse, not better. Lee needs help.The background storyLee’s daughter Olivia was first diagnosed with anorexia nervosa at age 13. Lee and her husband sought treatment as soon as they…
What is the right amount of food to eat when you suffer from binge eating disorder? I’ve learned a lot about myself and my eating habits over the years. However, one thing I can’t seem to master is what the right amount of food is for my body to eat at meals. I’m VERY familiar with eating way too much, then later restricting (which is always short term) when I want to lose weight. But, being satisfied with a meal? Well, that’s another story. Dieting and weight loss I am really good at eating less than my body needs when…
Girls with anorexia nervosa can have stunted growth and may not reach their full height potential, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Anorexia nervosa is a condition in which a person loses an unhealthy amount of weight on purpose by dieting, sometimes along with excessive exercise, binge eating, and/or purging behaviors. People with anorexia nervosa have an intense fear of gaining weight and a disturbed body image (such as thinking they are fat even when they are very underweight). “Our findings emphasize the importance of early and intensive intervention aiming…
During this unprecedented worldwide pandemic, I have been struggling to finish writing a book about my own PTSD—as more trauma piles into all of our lives. Meanwhile, my colleague Dr. Tian Dayton began and finished writing an entire book with tools to navigate the COVID-19 crisis by the end of May! I learned about her new workbook Maintaining Your Emotional Sobriety During COVID-19 in an email she sent out on May 25, which just so happens to be my birthday. Indeed, Dr. Dayton’s work and her new book are precious gifts in my life. Her work is a constant reminder…
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rates of any kinds of mental illness. They don’t discriminate, affecting people of all ethnicities, sexualities, gender identities, ages and backgrounds. However, one group is disproportionately affected by these disorders: people on the autism spectrum. Eating disorders in autistic people are poorly understood, but they tend to be more severe and long-lasting than they are in others. The longer a person lives with their eating disorder, the harder it is to recover. This may partly explain why some studies suggest autistic people have a poorer prognosis in therapy. Longer-lasting eating disorders are associated with a higher…
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rates of any mental illness. They don’t discriminate, affecting people of all ethnicities, sexualities, gender identities, ages and backgrounds. However, one group is disproportionately affected by these disorders: people on the autism spectrum. Eating disorders in autistic people are poorly understood, but they tend to be more severe and long-lasting. The longer a person lives with their eating disorder, the harder it is to recover. This may partly explain why some studies suggest autistic people have a poorer prognosis in therapy. Longer-lasting eating disorders are associated with a greater likelihood of death. The fact…