Archive for March, 2012
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
 Some guys doing intimidation in Instituto Regional Federico Errázuriz, Santa Cruz, Chile (Photo credit: Wikipedia) You get a phone call at work from your daughter’s school. The Vice Principal would like to meet with you as soon as possible about a bullying incident involving your daughter. Your heart sinks as you promise to be there as soon as you can. You wonder if she is ok, worry about the long term ramifications she will face from being bullied, try to figure out what she is getting picked on for and think back over her whole life to see if there is something more you could have done to protect her.
It never crosses your mind that your daughter isn’t the one being bullied; she is the bully.
We as parents struggle to see anything but the best in our children and often it doesn’t seem possible that they could be the one hurting someone else. Unfortunately, the numbers don’t lie which means there are 2.1 million sets of parents out there who have a child who is a bully. Parents are essential to the prevention and elimination of this kind of behavior and that includes all parents, not just those of the children who are the victims. Parents of bullies may be the key to turning the tide against this pervasive crime being committed against and by our children everyday.
How Can You Tell if Your Child is a Bully?
The first thing parents need to do is come to terms with the fact that their child is engaging in behavior that is unhealthy for them and damaging to others. An adolescent that is bullying others is not necessarily a “bad kid” and being the parent of a bully doesn’t automatically mean that you are a bad parent. People engage in bullying behavior for a reason and the most important thing you can do to help your child is to uncover that reason.
If you are concerned that your child may be bullying others, there are some things you can look for. Bullies lack empathy and struggle feeling or finding sympathy for others. Bullies believe that aggression is a valuable tool for dealing with other people and often exhibit a belligerent attitude. Bullies like to be the leader, the one in charge, and the one who makes and enforces the rules. When they win, they like to lord it over those they beat and when they lose, it is everyone’s fault but their own. They are impulsive and may exhibit bullying behavior toward siblings. Bullying behavior includes any verbal, social, physical, or online action that is repetitive and intentionally harmful.
What Makes Children and Teens Bully Others?
The perception that every bully is a social outcast who is lashing out at others in an attempt to repair or elevate their own self-esteem is outdated. While this does describe some bullies, it also contributes to the idea that popular, socially-adept adolescents with intact families aren’t bullies, which is not the case. Teenagers bully others for a variety of reasons many of which start at home. If your child is being bullied or has been bullied by someone at home, they may model that behavior and bully others. Children who never learn or lack empathy may become bullies because they don’t take the feelings of the other person into account. Whatever the reason, adolescents need to be taught that this behavior is never acceptable.
How Does Bullying Affect the Bully?
Being bullied can have devastating, life-long affects, but being the bully can also cause long term problems. Children who bully others are more likely to struggle in school, to smoke, to drink, and to engage in criminal behavior into their adult years. When children bully others and experience no repercussions, it reinforces the idea that this behavior is acceptable and that being mean-spirited, dismissive, and degrading to other people can be a source of power. This is a dangerous lesson that underlines how important it is for parents to stand up, step in, and speak out.
How Can You Help Your Child?
Here are some things you can do to help your child see that bully behavior is not acceptable and encourage them to stop participating or engaging in things that are intentionally damaging to others.
- Treat the issue as seriously as it is. It isn’t a phase or something they will grow out of. You need to reinforce the idea that intentionally causing harm to others is never acceptable.
- Work with your child to uncover the reason for their behavior. It may be helpful to seek the services and expertise of a medical practitioner, counselor, or therapist. This is also a great time to connect with your child’s teachers, school counselor, or other school resource to talk about any problems or difficulty in school.
- Model the behavior you want your child to emulate. Be empathetic, show sympathy for others, don’t fly off the handle and lash out in anger.
- Help your child develop positive problem solving skills.
- Never allow bullying behavior to continue in your presence no matter who is doing the bullying.
- Talk to your child away from their peers; don’t bring up this or other sensitive topics in front of others.
- See the new documentary called Bully as a family and use it as a way to start and/or continue the conversation.
Tags: Adolescence, Bully, Child, Children and Young People, Head teacher, Parent, Violence and Abuse, Youth
Posted in Abuse, Relationships | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 21st, 2012
Monday, April 2nd, and Monday, April 9th, 2012
6:30-8:00 PM
$45 per person or $85 per couple
Doorways LLC
1825 E. Northern Ave. Suite 200
Phoenix, AZ 85020
www.doorwaysarizona.com
RSVP: 602.997.2880 or Trina@DoorwaysArizona.com.
Topics Discussed:
- How to help your son or daughter who has an eating disorder
- Questions about nutrition
- Do’s and don’ts of communicating
- Understanding the emotional and psychological affects of an eating disorder
- How an eating disorder affects the family and what a family can do
RSVP: 602.997.2880 or Trina@DoorwaysArizona.com.
Posted in Past Events | No Comments »
Monday, March 19th, 2012
 Do you know if your teen is being bullied? Image via Wikipedia It is on the news. It is on the web. It is in your child’s school. You know that bullying is a problem and are confident you could help your child if they were being bullied. You may be right; but the reality is, you might not even know that it’s happening. Studies have shown that although almost 50% of children are bullied at some point in their life, less than half of them will talk to their parents about what is happening. If the bullying is happening in cyberspace, that drops to 5% according to StopCyberBullying.org. In order to protect your child, you need to know what to watch for and when to step in and take a stand for your child while teaching them to stand up for themselves.
Here are 7 signs your child may be the victim of bullying.
1. They Stop Being Social
Tweens and teens are, by their very nature, social creatures. They have entered the part of their adolescence when the opinions of friends and peers become more important than those of their parents and families. If your formerly social teen suddenly stops spending hours on the phone, texting at dinner, posting everything to Facebook, or playing their favorite online game, you should take that as a big red flag. Watch for a suddenly shrinking social circle, unwillingness to participate in activities like dance classes, sports, youth groups, or extracurricular activities they have always enjoyed.
2. Acting Out at Home
When teens are unhappy, stressed, or struggling with issues they can’t fix, like being the victim of a bully, they often lash out at the people who love them like parents and siblings. This is a normal response called transference and is a red flag for parents. Pay attention if your teenager’s attitude toward family members radically changes and they start lashing out angrily at younger brothers and sisters or you.
3. Avoiding School or Other Places
Teens who suddenly resist going to school without any stated reason may be struggling with a bully. This holds true for other places as well, especially if it is a place where they generally spend time with their friends or other teens their age.
4. Grades Take a Nosedive
If your A and B student suddenly starts getting D’s and F’s, you may need to consider that they are being bullied before exacerbating the problem by getting angry, imposing punishments, or otherwise responding to the grades themselves.
5. Unexplained Illnesses
If your otherwise healthy teen suddenly seems to be sick with generalized, non-specific symptoms all the time, it can be a sign that they are being bullied. It is important to have them checked out by their pediatrician or family doctor in order to rule out any medical conditions, but if the doctor can’t find an underlying cause, it may be the stress of being bullied. Feeling unwell can also give teens a way to avoid going to events or interacting with people, which is another red flag.
6. Changes in Habits or Routines
If your child’s eating habits, sleeping habits, or other routines radically change overnight, it may be a red flag that they are being victimized by a bully. Teens may suddenly eat much more, stop eating, sleep all the time, have trouble sleeping, and/or experience nightmares as a result of being bullied.
7. Depressed, Hopeless, Suicidal
Teens who are being bullied can become very depressed and sad and express a feeling of hopelessness about the world and their lives. They may talk about suicide and blame themselves for things that are not their fault. While teenagers can be moody, wild shifts in mood accompanied by changes in outlook and attitude may be more than just hormones.
If you suspect your child is being bullied, talk to them, talk to their medical provider, talk to the school, and keep talking until you feel confident that your child’s well-being is not being endangered by another child’s bullying behavior. If bullying is confirmed, you will want to find a counselor who can also help you and your teen process the effects of bullying on their self esteem.
Tags: Adolescence, Bully, Child, Facebook, Parent, Red flag, Talk radio, Wikipedia
Posted in Communication, Relationships | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
You know your teenager is struggling and for whatever reason, you don’t seem to be able to help. You know you need to find a mental health professional that has the right skills and experience to provide the support and assistance your teen needs. You know you would do anything to help them find their way through the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. What you don’t know, is how to get your teen the help he or she needs in order to overcome their obstacles.
There are several factors you need to consider when looking for a therapist, counselor, or other mental health professional to work with your child. In order to develop a short list of people who might be a good fit for your teen, follow these steps.
1. Know What You Need
If you are looking for someone to help your teen, odds are you will want someone who specializes in or has experience with working with teenagers. While this isn’t the most important factor in selecting a professional, it is a good starting place to create a list of candidates. If your child has a very specific need like treatment for an eating disorder or help with a mental illness like bipolar or depression, you may want to target professionals that specialize in helping with that issue.
2. Consider Comfort Levels
In order to find the best fit for your teen, you need to consider the type of person they are going to be most comfortable working with. Do you need a male or a female? Do you need someone older or younger? Do you need someone who is more authoritarian and commanding or flexible and fluid? Look at the type of teachers, coaches, and other non-parent adults that your child has a good connection with for clues about what kind of counselor will be a good fit for them.
3. Ask for Referrals.
Your teen’s medical provider is a good place to start as many family practice providers and pediatricians have experience working with the local mental health professionals and can recommend those they think would be a good fit for your child. You can also reach out to other parents, friends, and even coworkers for referrals.
4. Schedule a Session.
Once you have a list, call each person on it to see if you can come in and talk to them and get a feel for whether or not they will be a good fit for what your teenager needs. Some professionals provide a brief free consultation for this purpose while others charge a fee for this initial visit. Use this time to find out about their education, certifications, experience, philosophy, and expertise. You will also want to determine if their services are covered by your health insurance plan.
Following these steps will make it easier to find a mental health professional that is a good fit for your teen. The most important factors in choosing a mental health professional for your teenager are how comfortable your teen is with the person and how well they can connect with each other.
Tags: Adolescence, Child, Disorders, Doctor of Philosophy, Health, Mental health, Mental health professional, Parent
Posted in Counseling Services | No Comments »
Monday, March 12th, 2012
 What impact does your stress have on your family? Image via Wikipedia Stressed out. Anxious. Worried.
If you were asked which members of your family are experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety, which would you choose? Most of us would choose ourselves, our spouses, or our partners. We, the parents, are the ones who are worried about paying bills, anxious over the economy and stressed out from being overworked, underpaid, or unemployed. If you picked yourselves, you are definitely right and possibly wrong at the same time. By picking yourselves, you are indicating that you are part of the 33% of adults that are routinely experiencing a high level of stress and who would know better than you, right? However, you may also need to pick your kids, especially if you are one of the 33%. Because whether you believe it or not, if you are stressed, your stress is rubbing off on your kids.
Do you know how your kids act when they are stressed out? If you are like most parents, you probably don’t. The majority of us don’t think our children are overly stressed or worried, even though 1 in 5 of them is experiencing a high degree of stress. This disparity between what parents think children are feeling and what children are actually feeling is one of the key findings from the 2010 Stress in America survey published by the American Psychological Association .
The APA survey also found that almost 70% of parents feel their own stress has little to no effect on their children. The children’s responses, however, tell a different story. When asked how they feel when their parents are stressed, tweens and teens indicated that they feel sad, depressed, worried, frustrated, annoyed, and helpless.
Our kids are also better at reading us than we are at reading them. You may not be able tell when they are stressed, but you can be sure that they know how you act when your stress begins to boil over. Almost all children can point to the specific behaviors their parents exhibit when they are stressed out and worried. Teens cite things like yelling, arguing with others, having no patience, irritability, and being too busy to spend time with them as signs of parental stress.
Signs You Are Stressed
You may think you know how to tell when you are stressed out but the signs are not the same for everyone and there may be subtle cues on the way from stressed to burned-out that you are missing. The keys to helping everyone in your family reduce their stress level and learn to manage stress more effectively are to understand how stress affects each family member and to help each other see the signs before stress boils over and becomes burn-out. Here are some of the most common signs of stress in both adults and children.
- Attitudes about work or school change becoming more critical and comments about work or school are sarcastic and/or cynical.
- Patience decreases or disappears. Things like traffic, waiting in line, or delays cause immediate responses and angry outbursts.
- Everything irritates you. From the sound of the clock ticking in the kitchen to the way your husband clanks the ice cubes in his glass together when he drinks puts you on edge.
- You feel lethargic and don’t seem to have the energy you need to do housework, schoolwork, participate in sports, exercise, visit with friends, or do other activities you normally enjoy.
- Things feel hopeless. Everything seems to be an insurmountable obstacle from a chemistry test to weeding the garden.
- Everyone keeps asking you if you are ok.
- Even good things don’t make you happy.
- Your sleeping and/or eating habits have changed. You are either sleeping too much or too little, eating more than you should or not at all.
Make stress management a family affair and talk to your kids about the signs of stress, what is stressing them out, and ways you can all work on managing the stress of the family together. Just remember, talking about stress and how to manage it isn’t a license to discuss all your adult problems with your kids. You can work as a family to learn to manage stress better without stressing your kids out more by unloading all of your adult problems onto them.
Tags: American Psychological Association, Family, Health, Parent, Stress, Stress management, Wikipedia, Worry
Posted in Communication, Relationships, Stress | No Comments »
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Doorways is celebrating Certified Nurses Day, March 19th by honoring its board certified nurses. The following nurses are being recognized for their professionalism, leadership, and commitment to excellence in patient care:
Board Certification of nurses plays an increasingly important role in the assurance of high standards of care for patients and their loved ones. Nursing, like health care in general has become increasingly complex. While a registered nurse (RN) license provides entry to general nursing practice, the knowledge-intensive requirements of modern nursing require extensive education, as well as a strong personal commitment to excellence by the nurs
Doorways encourages national board certification for all its nurses. Patients are encouraged to inquire whether there are certified nurses on staff when they visit a hospital or their primary care provider. There are many nursing certification specialties such as medical-surgical, pediatric, pain management, cardiac vascular, oncology, hospice, case management, emergency nursing, critical care and many others. Many nursing certification bodies exist to serve the full range of specialized nursing care offered in the contemporary health care system; national nurse-certifying bodies should be accredited by either the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC) or the National Organization for Competence Assurance (NOCA), or both.
Please join Doorways and the nation’s national nursing certification organizations in honoring those hardworking, dedicated nurses for their professionalism, and a job well done!
About Doorways LLC.
Doorways LLC. is a faith-based counseling organization in Phoenix, Arizona, that provides comprehensive outpatient treatment focused exclusively on adolescents, young adults and their families. Therapists at Doorways specialize in treatment for eating disorders, mood disorders, substance abuse, depression, ADD/ADHD, self-harm, suicide and more. For more information, visit http://www.doorwaysarizona.com, or call 602-997-2880.
Tags: Doorways, Jan Hamilton, Nursing, Phoenix Arizona, Psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner, Registered nurse
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Wednesday, March 7th, 2012
As teens stretch their wings and start functioning farther and farther from the family unit, some parents struggle both with letting go and with finding ways to entice their teens back into the nest for a little family time. The bonds created by shared experience are just as important to teens as they are to toddlers. If your family has children of different ages, one of the best ways to have fun as a family is to have family game night.
Family game night provides the one thing you need to entice your teen, fun. It may not be the kind of fun that comes from holding a controller or looking at a laptop, but it may be enough to get them to the table. Once the game starts, your teen’s competitive nature and the sense of family togetherness will keep them coming back for more. While the main goal is spending time having fun together, family game night also offers some valuable life lessons that everyone, even Mom and Dad, can benefit from. As an added bonus, you might make a lifelong memory or two as you battle over the Monopoly Board or trounce each other at Trivial Pursuit.
According to Scholastic.com, the lessons learned on family game night don’t come from playing the educational game with the highest teacher rating or from stocking the shelf with every new game on the market. The lessons about life are taught in small ways just by playing a game together. From how to communicate to taking turns, these life lessons serve as good reminders for everyone in the family and reinforce important messages that many teens need to hear.
Lesson 1: Play by the Rules
Life is like a board game in that there are specific rules that everyone is expected to follow. In life, these rules are represented by laws, company policies, school policies, and family expectations. During family game night, when you play a board game, it is easy to see that when everyone plays by the rules, the game runs smoothly and everyone has the same chance to win or lose. This is an important message for teens whose world is often too complex for them to see that they same thing is true. When everyone follows the rules, things run smoothly and everyone has the chance to win.
Lesson 2: Learning How to Win and How to Lose
One of the most valuable lessons that playing games together during a family game night can teach younger children is that sometimes they will win and sometimes they will lose and they are okay, either way. It doesn’t matter which as long as they do their best and take their win or their loss gracefully. Many teens and their parents can benefit from revisiting this lesson. At the end of the day, everyone has days where they are the winner and everyone has days that they are the loser and remembering that can make it easier to be thankful for the wins and to let go of the losses.
Lesson 3: What Comes Around, Goes Around
In a board game, just like in real life, if you make a move that knocks your brother back to start, it is very likely that he will be looking for a chance to do the same to you. If you slip your sister a get out of jail free card just because she needs it, she is more likely to spot you a $100 to buy a little plastic house on your property. It is one thing to say that you should do unto others as you want them to do unto you; it is another to see your sister’s sadness at losing the game after you sent her back to start every time you could.
To get your family excited about family game night, pick a date and then have everyone nominate a game or two to be played. Hand out voting tokens as the night approaches and let everyone vote for the games they want to play. The two or three games with the most votes make the cut. Make sure you have some great snacks on hand and let the family set the flow and pace of the night. Focus on having fun with your family and you will be amazed at what everyone learns along the way.
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Tags: Board game, Electronic Arts, Family, Family Game Night, game, Hasbro, Mom and Dad, Video game
Posted in Communication, Relationships, Teens | No Comments »
Monday, March 5th, 2012
Many people may only associate bingeing with bulimia but there is a new eating disorder recently accepted for inclusion in the DSM V that relates specifically to people who only experience the bingeing side of bulimia. The new disorder, called Binge Eating Disorder (BED), is more common that anorexia or bulimia and affects about 5 million women and 3 million men in the U.S. according to The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD). Unlike the other primary eating disorders, BED affects both genders and all races.
Although people with anorexia may also have bulimia, neither of those disorders co-exist with BED. It is important to understand that although people with bulimia and people with BED both experience uncontrollable eating binges that are often followed by feelings of guilt and shame, the similarities end there. In binge eating disorder, there is no purging which is why many of those with BED are overweight or obese.
What Binge Eating Disorder Looks Like
The main element of binge eating disorder is the ravenous cravings that drive those with the condition to binge, often in secret, at all times of the day and night. People with this condition suffer from body image issues and may use food to handle emotional upset, stress, and other psychological problems. It can be difficult, even for experts in eating disorders, to differentiate between binge eating and overeating.
- Someone with BED will binge, eating large amounts of high calorie food in a short time frame which results in negative emotions and anxiety about weight gain.
- Because people with the disorder don’t participate in other unhealthy behaviors to rid themselves of the extra calories, they gain weight, which feeds their negative self image and causes more emotional stress.
- This starts the cycle all over again as they experience binge cravings to deal with the stress and unwanted emotions.
Binge eating disorder is not characterized by an occasional episode of overeating, but rather by a compulsion to eat in order to satisfy the specific cravings currently being experienced.
The Real Dangers of Binge Eating Disorder
For people with binge eating disorder the real danger is that bingeing will result in obesity and the person will face the myriad of associated health problems including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, gall bladder disease, heart disease, and cancer. Additionally, people who have binge eating disorder have a higher incidence of some mental illnesses like depression. The negative emotions and secretive behaviors that are part of the disorder can also make those with the condition feel isolated and alone especially when combined with the societal pressures of being overweight in a world where you are supposed to be thin, to diet, and to lose weight.
How You Can Help
The best way to help someone with an eating disorder is to be understanding, supportive, and patient as they work through their recovery. For people with binge eating disorder, the prognosis is good. ANAD indicates that some initial studies into the treatment of BED show a 50% remission rate with medication and cognitive behavioral therapy.
Tags: Binge eating, Binge eating disorder, Bulimia nervosa, DSM-5, Eating, Eating disorder, Mental disorder, National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders
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Thursday, March 1st, 2012
This week is Eating Disorder Awareness Week and the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) is encouraging everyone to join the fight against eating disorders by just doing one thing to help spread awareness because everyone knows someone who is affected by an eating disorder. Spreading awareness about these disorders is one way we can help the people in our lives that are affected by them. It doesn’t matter if you are a parent, a teacher, a teenager, a business owner, a politician, or the bagger at the grocery store. There is something you can do this week to spread awareness and support the people around you that have anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating disorder, or any other eating disorders.
The Stats
According to NEDA, an estimated 11 million people across the country are struggling with either anorexia nervosa or bulimia every day. The battle they are waging is for survival and too many of them are losing the fight. The mortality rate for girls between the ages of 15 and 24 who have anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the mortality rate for these girls from all other causes of death. The number of Americans who have binge eating disorder (BED) is believed to be in the millions, but similar to the other eating disorders, experts believe that cases are underreported.
Despite the fact that each of the three primary eating disorders can cause serious, life-long health problems and premature death, only 1 in 10 receive treatment according to the National Association for Anorexia and Associated Disorders (ANAD). Funding for eating disorder research continues to lag behind funding for other disorders, especially when you consider the ratio of dollars spent on research per affected individual. NEDA indicates that in 2008, the National Institutes of Health provided $7M in research funding for eating disorders which affect 10 million Americans. That same year, more than $400M was provided for Alzheimer’s research and almost $250M for research into schizophrenia which affect 4.5 million and 2.2 million people respectively. This means that tax payers funded $113 of research per individual with schizophrenia, $92 per individual with Alzheimer’s, and $0.70 per individual with an eating disorder.
Just One Thing
This week is all about spreading awareness and NEDA is encouraging everyone to do just one thing to help with the fight because even doing just one thing makes a difference. They offer the following suggestions for things you can do to join the fight.
- Speak Up! You can volunteer to be a speaker in your community during awareness week. NEDA provides pre-written presentations for volunteer speakers to use.
- Post It! Spread awareness by posting to your social media sites and using your social network to encourage others to get involved.
- Speak Out! Become a media watchdog and join with others who write letters to media outlets about their coverage of eating disorders.
- Give It! NEDA provides Healthy Body Image resources like Teaching Kids to Eat and Love Their Bodies Too!! that you can pay to have donated to a middle school in your area.
- Print It! Go the NEDA Awareness Week website and register to participate. Once registered, you will have access to a bunch of great resources including toolkits for a variety of people. Download and print kits to give the educators at your local school, coaches of local teams, and parents you know to help spread the word.
Join the fight this week against eating disorders by doing just one thing to make a difference. Your contribution, whether grand or small, will make a difference in the lives of people you know because everyone knows someone who is affected by an eating disorder.
Tags: anorexia, Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia, Bulimia nervosa, Eating disorder, National Eating Disorder Association, National Institutes of Health
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Thursday, March 1st, 2012
These tips are adapted from Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat? The Essential Guide to Loving Your Body Before and After Baby (HCI Books)
by Claire Mysko and Magali Amadei
Take weight out of the equation. This might seem like a radical suggestion considering that pregnancy weight gain and post-baby weight loss are such hot topics of conversation among mothers-to-be and new moms. To add fuel to the fire, weigh-ins are often the center of every visit to the doctor. But truthfully, there really isn’t any reason you need to keep track of your weight. If you know that it could become an unhealthy fixation, tell your OB or midwife that you prefer not to discuss the number unless it becomes a medical issue. When it is necessary to be weighed, you can step on the scale backwards and remind the physician’s assistant that you don’t want to be told your weight. You’ll discover that there are plenty of other interesting—and more substantive–things about becoming a mother that you can talk about than the number on the scale.
Choose a health care provider who is sensitive to food, weight and body image issues. Most women have struggled with poor body image and many have personal experience with disordered eating. That means we need to find prenatal and postpartum healthcare providers who are knowledgeable and compassionate when it comes to these issues. We’ve heard from women who ended up in the examination room—and sometimes even the delivery room—feeling belittled and unsupported by their own doctors. The best way to avoid this scenario is to push through whatever shame you might be feeling and be upfront with your OB or midwife about your history and your pregnancy-related body image fears. If you’re met with criticism or any other reaction that makes you feel uncomfortable, remember that you are well within your rights to walk out that door and find another doctor who will treat you with more respect. Of those we surveyed, 73% of pregnant women with body image issues and histories of eating disorders and disordered eating said they had not discussed this history with their OBs or midwives. It’s time to break that dangerous silence.
Be aware of the triggers of pregnancy. The incessant counting, comparing, and measuring that happens during those nine months and beyond can tap into some of the very vulnerabilities that are linked to eating disorders and food and weight obsessions. Perfectionism, loss of control, feelings of isolation, and memories of childhood often bubble right to the surface. But if you’re getting the support you need, you’ll have a better chance of weathering those storms without resorting to self-destructive habits. Resist the urge to shut down or close off. Remember that there is nothing shameful about asking for help. It’s the most courageous thing you can do for yourself and your baby. Look at your recovery as an ongoing process that will help you reach your full potential as an individual and as a mother.
Break the cycle of body hatred. Allow yourself to celebrate the fact that your body is working some serious magic right now. Before you get stymied by stretch marks or focused on flabby skin, take time to reflect on how you will teach your child—in your words and in your actions—that you appreciate your body. We have the power to help future generations grow up placing a higher value on good health than on weight and physical appearance. But before we can pass along those positive attitudes, we must first embrace them for ourselves.
Everybody Knows Somebody. Get involved in NEDAwareness Week 2012, February 26- March 3! Visit the NEDAwareness Week homepage under Programs & Events to register today and learn more about how you can do just one thing to help raise awareness about eating disorders and become part of the solution.
National Eating Disorders Helpline: 800 931-2237
Tags: Anorexia nervosa, Body image, Disorders, Eating, Eating disorder, Health, Mental health, Weight loss
Posted in Anorexia Nervosia, Eating Disorder, Mental Health Articles | No Comments »
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