Category: Eating Disorders

advocacy Tragic outcome for psychiatric patient seeking help for diet pill addiction

Tragic outcome for psychiatric patient seeking help for diet pill addiction

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When the news broke, I couldn’t ignore it. The deceased young woman was reportedly at the Korean hospital for treatment of a weight loss drug addiction. News portals showed CCTV (closed circuit TV) footage of the woman, where she was forcibly restrained on a bed by hospital staff whose large...

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advocacy No room for secrets in eating disorder recovery

No room for secrets in eating disorder recovery

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“Why does eating disorder recovery have so many curve balls?” A middle-aged woman asked this today. An eating disorder trigger was tempting her, and she was bravely reaching out for support. The holiday season and long weekends, which most people love, are difficult for her. With members of her usual...

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Anorexia Outsmarting the eating disorder triggers

Outsmarting the eating disorder triggers

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Anyone who has struggled with an eating disorder (ED) is familiar with the words trigger or triggered, and I am no different. Even though I am in the space of recovery, situations that could trigger eating disorder thoughts and behaviours are everywhere. Living in this diet culture/weight-biased world, there is...

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advocacy How do I differentiate between Autistic rigidity and anorexia nervosa?

How do I differentiate between Autistic rigidity and anorexia nervosa?

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I am not anorexic. I never was anorexic. I am in recovery from anorexia, which is a parasitic, all-consuming mental condition that sucked the joy out of every aspect of my life like a Dementor*. But even though anorexia controlled most of my life, I never wanted it to be...

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advocacy Don’t settle for a part-life with an eating disorder

Don’t settle for a part-life with an eating disorder

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Living a part-life with an eating disorder (ED) is like spending half your life in prison – without committing a crime. The picture that accompanies this story was taken the day my daughter celebrated her 21st birthday. I was 46 years old and an inpatient at a private mental health...

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advocacy Selective apathy and the eating disorder connection

Selective apathy and the eating disorder connection

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I’ve always considered apathy to be negative. The dictionary defines apathy as a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern. Conducting a little research about apathy and whether it’s considered an emotion, I was interested to discover it’s actually a lack of emotion, which makes perfect sense. Apathy is the opposite...

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advocacy The private diary: from life coping tool to research resource

The private diary: from life coping tool to research resource

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Until a few months ago, my diaries and I had been inseparable for more than 60 years. We had stuck together despite moving house more than 24 times in my search for peace within. Never a day apart. The diaries were my one constant from age 12. They were my...

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advocacy When the eating disorder is all you can hear

When the eating disorder is all you can hear

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I have suffered from an eating disorder (ED) for 18 years, and I don’t know how to break free … I would like you to share strategies for those times when my ED is the only thing I can hear.  – M. I want to reach through the email box,...

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advocacy Family diets were the norm when Faith was a child

Family diets were the norm when Faith was a child

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I usually say it all started in 2020 when I was 14, but I don’t know if that’s true. I mean, yeah, that’s when I began to lose weight, but I hated myself well before then. My family had been on and off “family diets” since I was young. I...

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Anorexia Writing your life story with a memoir mentor

Writing your life story with a memoir mentor

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As a life-writing mentor, I offer guidance in transforming your life experiences into a tangible memoir. You write your truth, crafting your story in your unique voice. This form of self-expression is a precious gift to yourself and your loved ones. Writing a memoir is not just a healing and...

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