Certified Eating Disorder Specialists Available for Interview in Conjunction with 25^th Annual National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, Feb 26^th- March 3, 2012

According to statistics, more young women in the US die from anorexia nervosia than from any other cause.  That’s why it’s so critical that we raise awareness of eating disorders in the United States.  

February 26^th- March 3, 2012, marks the 25^th annual National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (NEDAwareness Week) in an effort to bring public attention to the critical need to raise awareness and funding to battle eating disorders in the U.S.    

Who:             Certified Eating Disorder Specialists from Doorways, LLC, the only organization in Phoenix that specializes in the outpatient treatment of teens and young adults with mental health issues.

What:           National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, February 26- March 3^rd, 2012

Story Ideas:

•  How do you know if someone has an eating disorder?
• What do you do if you suspect someone has an eating disorder
• How can you get help for someone has an eating disorders

Talking Points & U.S. Statistics on Eating Disorders:  (Source: National Eating Disorders Association)

•   For females between 15- and 24-years-old-old who suffer from anorexia nervosa, the mortality rate associated with the illness is 12 times higher than the death rate of all other causes of death
•  We live in a culture saturated with unrealistic body-image messages and almost all of us know somebody struggling with an eating disorder.
•  Eating disorders are serious illnesses, not lifestyle choices
•  As many as 10 million females and 1 million males in the U.S. battle anorexia or bulimia. And as many as 13 million more struggle with binge eating disorder. Millions practice disordered eating due to an obsession with dieting
• Four out of 10 Americans either suffered or have known someone who has suffered from an eating disorder
• 40% of newly identified cases of anorexia are in girls 15-19 years old
• There was a significant increase in incidence of anorexia from 1935 to 1989, especially among young women 15-24
• There has been a rise in incidence of anorexia in young women 15-19 in each decade since 1930
• Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting and taking laxatives
• Girls who diet frequently are 12 times as likely to binge as girls who don’t diet
• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner
• 81% of 10 –year-olds are afraid of being fat
• The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5’11” tall and weighs 117 pounds
• Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women
• 46% of 9-11 year-olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets and 82% of their families are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets.

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.

Adolescent DBT Group, Phoenix, Arizona

March 16th-May 3rd, 2012.  Enrollment is now open for a new adolescent DBT Group in Phoenix, Arizona.  Join anytime during session.  Read more below:

Who:    This group is recommended for male and female adolescents ages 13-17 who are struggling with their emotions and want to learn how to take back control of their life.  The group exercises are fun and interactive and through them kids learn how to handle stress, be more self confident, regulate mood swings, communicate their feelings and more.

What:    This Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)  group is an interactive and  educationally based group that explains the DBT coping skills to help young adults replace unhealthy and problematic behaviors.

When:  Thursdays, March 16 – May 3, 2012, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.  Open enrollment, can join any time during 8 weeks.

Led by: Sam Lample, MA, PLC and Chase Kerrey, MA, LAC.

Where: Doorways, 1825 E. Northern Ave, Suite 200, Phoenix, Arizona

Cost:      $45 per session, $360 total. Pay only $300 if paid in full by March 16.How: To sign up or for more information call Trina at Doorways, 602-997-2880 or email her at trina@doorwaysarizona.com.

Eating Disorder Support Group for Young Women ages 17-25.

 February 27-April 16, 2012 – Enrollment is now open.  See below for more information. 

Who: This group is recommended for young women ages 17-25 who are working through eating disorder issues.

What: A hands-on support group including a faith-based perspective to help in the eating disorder recovery journey.

When: Mondays, February 27 - April 16, 2012, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.  Open enrollment, can join anytime during the 8 weeks.

Led By: Rachel Daberkow, RD, and Chase Kerrey, LAC.

Where: Doorways, 1825 E. Northern Ave, Suite 200, Phoenix, Arizona

Cost: $45 per session, $360 total. Pay only $300 if paid in full by February 27.

How: To sign up or for more information call Trina at Doorways, 602-997-2880 or email her at trina@doorwaysarizona.com.

The pressure to be thin in order to fit in is more extreme for today’s teenagers than it was for their parents and grandparents, often resulting in the development of eating disorder and the need for teen counseling.  The obsession with weight that so often contributes to the development of eating disorders like bulimia is starting younger and younger.  The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) found that almost half of girls in 1^st-3^rd grade wish they were thinner and by age 10, 80% of those girls will be afraid of getting fat.  By the time they reach college, more than 90% of them will have been on a diet at some point in their lives and 25% of them will be using the binge and purge cycle associated with bulimia as a way to manage their weight.

Statistics show that more than 80% of eating disorders start before age 20.   As many as 4% of women will struggle with bulimic behaviors at some point in their lifetime and since people with bulimia can be any weight, this eating disorder can be harder to spot than others like anorexia.  It is common, however, for people who are anorexic to also use bulimic behavior to control their weight.

What Bulimia Looks Like

People with bulimia can be any weight- from the kind of underweight associated with anorexia to obese.  Like other eating disorders, those with bulimia are often afraid of being overweight, obsessed with weight management, and always trying to lose weight so that they will be happier with their body.  However, the behaviors people with this disorder use to address those fears don’t generally result in weight loss by themselves.  Bulimic behaviors follow a cycle that starts with the binge.  During a binge, people will eat excessive amounts of high-calorie food in a short period of time and feel like they have no real control over their eating.  After bingeing, the person feels ashamed, disgusted, afraid, or guilty for consuming so many calories and purging feels like a way to rewind the clock and undo the damage.  Purging, which can occur through vomiting, abuse of laxatives, excessive exercise, or starvation, often relieves the anxiety and helps alleviate the negative emotions caused by bingeing.

The shame associated with bulimia often results in secretive behavior and people with the disorder may go to great lengths to hide their abnormal eating habits and purging behavior.   There are however, some signs that can point to a problem with bulimia, if you know what to look for.  People with this disorder are often preoccupied with food, may exercise compulsively for hours each day, frequently go to the bathroom directly after eating, and may take an excessive number of diet pills, diuretics, or laxatives.  There are physical signs as well, but they can be more difficult to spot.  They may have broken blood vessels in their eyes and swollen salivary glands at the corners of their mouths caused by vomiting, small calluses or cuts across their knuckles from inducing vomiting, and problems with their teeth like excessive decay, gingivitis, or loss of tooth enamel.

The Real Dangers of Being Bulimic

Like other eating disorders, bulimia can be dangerous and even life-threatening.  People with bulimia may experience problems with constipation, dehydration, hemorrhoids, and even pancreatitis.  Excessive vomiting can lead to serious damage to the esophagus including tearing and rupture in addition to permanent damage to teeth and gums.  Overuse of laxatives or diuretics can result in electrolyte imbalance, and dehydration.

How You Can Help

People who have eating disorders need the support of those around them.  If someone you know has an eating disorder, the best way to help is to educate yourself about the disorder and provide the support they need throughout their recovery.

Related articles

• Eating Disorder Awareness: Anorexia Nervosa (doorwaysarizona.com)
• What is Bulimia Nervosa? (doorwaysarizona.com)
• “Drunkorexia:” What Parents Should Know (doorwaysarizona.com)

It’s no secret that eating disorders are a real and pressing problem for today’s teenagers.  According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), there are more than 24 million Americans with eating disorders and only 1 out of every 10 of those people will receive any treatment.  ANAD indicates that more than 80% of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, begin in adolescence.   Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness amongst adolescents and it carries a mortality rate twelve times that of any other cause of death for females between 15 and 35.

When you consider the life-long consequences and life threatening danger faced by people with anorexia nervosa, it is clear to see that early detection is critical.  Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a coach, a best friend, or a boyfriend, it is more important than ever for everyone to know how to recognize the signs and symptoms of anorexia.  Understanding what to look for and knowing what to do could help save the life of someone you love.

What Anorexia Nervosa Looks Like

Everyone has seen pictures of people with the tell-tale emaciation that can be caused by anorexia nervosa.  But there are many other signs that someone in your life has this eating disorder that are less overt.

• Food consumption and weight management become an obsession.  This is not your teenage daughter complaining that she looks fat today.  This is an all encompassing obsession with how much food they eat and how many calories and fat grams each bite of food they take contains that can take over their life.
• Food consumption decreases to starvation levels.  People with anorexia nervosa may stop eating around other people, start making plans that result in them missing regular mealtimes, and use extreme portion control to limit their caloric intake.
• Irregular growth and loss of hair.  While it may seem strange to have both excess growth and abnormal loss, both can be seen in someone with anorexia nervosa.  Lack of nutrition can cause hair to become brittle and fall out while lack of body fat can signal the body to grow more hair in an attempt to regulate body hair.  This abnormal growth appears as a fine layer of hair on the face and body.
• Overuse and abuse of laxatives, diuretics, and diet pills.
• Consistently low body weight paired with a refusal to maintain a normal weight.  This is an important distinction as some people who do not have an eating disorder may be perpetually below their ideal body weight.  But someone who has a body weight more than 15% below their ideal weight who also refuses to gain enough to maintain a normal weight may be anorexic.

The Real Dangers of Being Anorexic

Anorexia nervosa takes an immediate toll on the body that results in abnormal weight loss and nutritional deficiencies.  But it also causes other problems that can take longer to be seen and may have life-long impacts.  It creates a type of mental fog that makes it difficult to concentrate and regulate mood fluctuations.  It causes irregularities in the cardiovascular system including slow, uneven pulse rates, low blood pressure, shortness of breath, and dizziness.  It also impacts the musculoskeletal system and can lead to stunted growth rates, an increase in bone fractures, and osteoporosis.  It can result in abnormalities in thyroid function that cause fatigue, hair loss, and low body temperature.  It can lead to dependence on laxatives or other pharmaceuticals that result in life-threatening conditions like electrolyte imbalances and dehydration.  Overall lack of specific nutrients like potassium can also be immediately life threatening.

How You Can Help

The best way to help someone with an eating disorder is to be there for them and provide the support they need to regain their health throughout the various stages of recovery.  That starts with speaking up when you have concerns and following through until you are no longer concerned or the person in your life gets the help they need.  We at Doorways have trained counselors to treat teens and adolescents struggling with eating disorders such as Anorexia.

It is a common misconception that it takes years to die from anorexia nervosa.  If you are concerned about someone in your life, don’t wait; they may have less time than you think.

Related articles

• What is Anorexia? (doorwaysarizona.com)
• “Drunkorexia”: What Parents Should Know (doorwaysarizona.com)
• What is Bulimia?  (doorwaysarizona.com)

Doorways is available by contract  to provide confidential, professional, onsite counseling (counceling) services to schools and universities, community organizations, associations and more. Onsite services offered include counseling for:

• Substance Abuse
• Domestic Violence
• Grief & Loss
• ADHD
• Anger Issues
• Sexual Abuse & Trauma
• Eating Disorders
• Stress Management
• Bullying Workshops and Seminars
• Suicide Prevention Workshops
• Communication with Teens
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention

• Psychiatric Evaluations
• Family Counseling
• DBT Support Groups
• Medication Management

For more information about onsite counseling services for your school, university, business, or organization contact Doorways at 602-997-2880.

When we are overtired, everything in our life suffers.  We are moody and irritable which affects our personal relationships.  Our ability to concentrate and focus is compromised, making it difficult to learn, retain, and recall information.  We lack energy which makes exercise and physical activity difficult.  We drive when we are drowsy which endangers our lives and the lives of everyone else on the road.  For teens and adolescents, sleep deprivation can cause these problems and more at one of the most crucial developmental periods of their lives.

Why Sleep Matters

Sleep is as important to our health as breathing clean air and eating healthy food.  According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), there is a relationship between how much sleep you get, the quality of the sleep you get, and your overall health.  If you don’t get enough sleep, it can impact your hormone levels, impact the way your body handles insulin, and increase your risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and becoming obese.  In addition to the health risks, sleep deprivation is also the primary cause of drowsy driving and has a detrimental effect on grades and scholastic achievement.

The Facts about Teens and Sleep

If your teen is staying up late and struggling to drag themselves out of bed in the morning, it isn’t because they are being lazy or disobedient; and simply telling them that they need to go to bed earlier isn’t likely to fix this issue. Our biological sleep patterns shift when we are teens making it difficult to fall asleep before about 11:00PM.  Because teens need as much as nine hours sleep each night, this biological shift makes it difficult for teens to get the sleep they need and still get up for school on time.

Teens are not getting the sleep they need.  One study cited by the National Sleep Foundation showed that 85% of teenagers are getting less than 8.5 hours of sleep on most school nights despite the fact that many teens actually need more than nine hours of sleep every night.  Another study  showed that 26% of high school students are sleeping less than 6.5 hours a night which is causing a serious sleep debt to accrue.

The Dangers for Teens

The list of problems that sleep deprivation contributes to is long and varied.  While most of these problems affect anyone who isn’t getting enough sleep, the consequences to teenagers can be different than those for adults.  Here are some of the problems the National Sleep Foundation and the American Psychological Association sleep deprivation in teens can cause:

• Problems with learning including difficulty concentrating, listening, problem solving, remembering, and with behavior.  Sleep deprivation can lead to aggressive and inappropriate behavior including outbursts, anger, and impatience.
• Acne.
• Increases the likelihood of overeating and making bad food choices which when combined with hormonal changes caused by lack of sleep contribute to weight gain and obesity.
• Increases the use of caffeine and nicotine.
• Increases the risk of being involved in a drowsy driving accident.
• May be linked to depression and other mood disorders.

The best way to combat sleep deprivation in teenagers is to make sleep a priority and encourage them to follow a consistent sleep routine.  Helping teens learn to use naps appropriately, create a good sleep environment, and stick to a schedule can decrease their likelihood of being sleep deprived while also teaching them the skills they need to be good sleep managers throughout their lives.

Related articles

• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Teens (doorwaysarizona.com)
• Sexual Abuse in Teenagers: What Parents Need to Know (doorwaysarizona.com)
• How Media Affects Your Teen (doorwaysarizona.com)

If you are the parent of an adolescent, it is likely that you will experience problems communicating with them at some point before they become adults.  This is one of the most common problems parents and teens have to overcome and is often the root cause of other problems.

Teens are going through one of the most significant transitions of their lives; they should be learning to make their own decisions, take responsibility for their actions, and to become independent from their parents.  This can be stressful, confusing, and frustrating for them and you as they struggle to handle situations and make decisions without the confidence that comes from experience.  When parents take this struggle and frustration as a personal rejection or label it as just a bad attitude, it can close the door to effective communication at a time when teens need that two way interaction more than ever.

One of the most common mistakes parents make is forgetting that effective communication involves both sending a clear message and trying to receive the message as intended.  Parents need to be able to listen more than they talk.  This can be a challenge when it feels like your teen is being evasive, belligerent, or withdrawn and may feel impossible when it seems like they aren’t listening to you.

Open the door to meaningful communication with your teen by:

• Being willing to let them talk with you about everything and nothing.  Make sure you have a strong reliable communication channel for the important stuff by using it even when there isn’t anything of great importance to say.
• Focusing on your teenager, show them you are interested in their life and engaged in your conversation with them by giving them your full attention, listening without judging, and being as respectful to their views and opinions as you expect them to be of yours.
• Using supportive, engaging language that shows you are listening and invites your teen to ask for advice, seek support, and turn to you in times of trouble.
• Making sure you stay on the same page by using your own words to restate important points your teen makes to confirm you have a shared understanding.
• Involving your teen in decision making and troubleshooting as a team.
• Maintaining a daily connection by spending time together, even if it is only a few minutes before bed or the length of the car ride to school.
• Using shared interests and activities to provide teens with a pressure-free platform to talk.  It isn’t always easy for them to bring up sensitive issues or to talk through things they are struggling with when they are on the spot.
• Respecting your teen’s privacy.  This helps foster independence and creates a bond of trust that increases the likelihood that they will come to you when it really matters.
• Talking to your teen with respect as you would talk to another adult to help them learn how to communicate and interact like one.

Make sure that door stays open by avoiding the following:

• Talking down to your teen, demeaning their ideas, or using every conversation as a chance to criticize them. You, of course, can disagree and hold to your own standards and expectations of conduct, but let them know that you value what they say and think.
• Talking over your teen or interrupting them when they are speaking to you.
• Dismissing your teen’s point of view or their concerns.
• Being judgmental, criticizing their friends, belittling their beliefs, or overriding your teen’s opinions.

The bottom line is that you want to be the rock they rely on, the person they know they can always turn to when they are struggling or in trouble.  In order to be that person for them, they need to have confidence that you will listen, you won’t fly off the handle, and you will help them find the right solution to their problem.  The keys to fostering that type of relationship are being reliable, listening, staying calm, and helping them figure out how to solve the problems that matter to them.

Related articles

• How Do You Know Your Teenager is on Drugs? (doorwaysarizona.com)
• Help! I Can’t Talk to My Teenager! He Says I Don’t Understand (doorwaysarizona.com)

The question for parents used to be, “do you know where your children are?”  Now, that question may be changing to “do you know where your child’s cell phone is?”  Research on teens and texting seems to support growing concerns amongst members of the medical and mental health community that there may be a price to all this texting that cannot be mitigated with any unlimited plan.

The Numbers

A study published in 2010 by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Master of Public Health program found that heavy usage of texting and other social connection technology is associated with higher rates of unhealthy behaviors.   They determined that teens and adolescents who sent more than 120 texts per school day fell into a category called hyper-texters.

This group was:

• 40% more likely to have tried cigarettes
• 41% more likely to have used illicit drugs
• 55% more likely to have been in a physical altercation
• 2x as likely to have tried alc
  ohol
• 3.5x as likely to be sexually active

When the study data was collected, only about 20% of teens fell into this hyper-texting group.  However, according to a poll taken at the end of 2010 by The Nielsen Company, the average teen now sends almost 3,400 texts per month which equates to about 113 texts per day.  This means that most teens are either already hyper-texters or are nearly there.

The Concerns

While the statistics are enough to raise the concerns of every parent, there are also concerns about the long term effects these technologies will have on the health and development of teens.   The constant interruption caused by receiving a hundred text messages a day makes it difficult to study, focus, and retain important information.   Some doctors are concerned that teens will develop repetitive motion injuries that impact the development of their arms, hands, and thumbs and even lead to permanent damage. There are also concerns amongst those who see to the mental health of our teens that some aspects of being constantly connected to peers and parents may negatively impact teen’s social and emotional development as well.

What Can Parents Do

The most important thing for parents to do is remain involved.  This means monitoring social networking use and experience, monitoring text message logs, and setting guidelines about texting in school or after bedtime.  Keep communication lines open and make sure you listen significantly more than you talk.  Set a standard for responsible technology use in your house and then provide a good example for your teens to follow.

Related articles

• Should Your Teen Set New Year’s Resolutions? (doorwaysarizona.com)
• Preventing Teen Suicide: What Parents Need to Know (doorwaysarizona.com)

What effect does media have on teens?

More than ever before, the media is all around us.  We experience it on our TVs, on our computers, on our smart phones, in our newspapers, and on the radio.  It is our primary medium for both communication and entertainment.  For teens, this is even truer.  The majority of their lives, including a significant portion of their social interaction, is guided and supported by different kinds of media and the messages that media provides.

The messages that seep into their lives through these media platforms are both subtle and pervasive.  They can alter opinions, change minds, encourage new experiences, and set expectations about the world outside our family.  These messages are both good and bad and teens may struggle differentiating between the two.

Negative Effects

• School Performance – According to the Kaiser Family Foundation study entitled Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8-to 18-year-olds, teens that spend more time interacting with media have lower grades and spend less time reading than their peers.
• Obesity –The Kaiser Family Foundation pulled together the most significant research on childhood obesity and media usage from the last 30 years and presented it in a fact sheet entitled The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity.  Although this analysis found that there are several factors that contribute to the obesity problem, media usage plays an important role.
• Exposure to advertising – An article from the American Academy of Pediatrics highlights the dangerous and unhealthy messages our teenagers get from advertising about food, body image, smoking, alcohol use, nutrition, sex, and obesity.  Because advertising highlights benefits without showing negative consequences it can create unrealistic expectations for the outcome of specific behavior.
• Violence – The Kaiser Family Foundation also produced a fact sheet on the relationship between media violence and behavior.  Although no study has established a definitive link between media violence and violent behavior in teens, there is adequate evidence to support a causal relationship between media violence and aggressive behavior.
• Sex – A study conducted by the RAND Corporation found that teens with significant exposure to sexual content in the media were more likely to become sexually active and had a greater risk for teen pregnancy.

What Parents Can Do

The American Academy of Pediatrics says there are some steps parents can take to minimize the effect media has on their teens.  The most important factor is to stay involved and participate with your teen, especially when they don’t want you to.  For most teenagers, elimination of media, if it were even possible, is not necessarily the right solution.  Media is so pervasive in our culture that providing teens with the skills necessary to question, evaluate, analyze, and discuss the messages they see in media is more effective than outright bans.  By teaching them to process the messages they are being bombarded with everyday, parents are giving them the tools to mitigate the impact of media on their lives.

Parents can also work with their teens to create a media plan that includes watching TV and movies together, limiting media time, restricting programs and content that are not appropriate and setting aside media free time for school work and family meals.  Parents can also limit media usage by keeping televisions, video games, and computers in common areas and out of bedrooms.

Related articles

• Should Your Teen Set New Year’s Resolutions? (doorwaysarizona.com)
• How Social Media is Affecting our Teens (doorwaysarizona.com)