faulker053

It's all your mother's fault. Really, it's about lack of approval from your dad. If you're a boy or a man, it must mean you're gay. If you aren't underweight you certainly don't have anorexia. As long as you're eating healthy foods, you're okay. It's simply a choice. Once you've had it, you'll never truly recover. It's all about appearance and weight. You have to be ready to recover. True statements? Not at all. These commonly held misbeliefs about eating disorders do only harm. They minimize the complexity of eating disorders and the struggle of those suffering with anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder.  They prejudice everyone from those living with an eating disorder, to providers treating those they may or may not know have eating disorders.  They lay guilt on parents who may be among the best supports for their kids in recovery, as evidenced by the FBT model.  They stereotype people based on weight--as if BMI alone dete...

This stormy day, oppressed by the weather and the limits on my freedom to enjoy the outside, I find myself home, contemplating your freedom. It’s July 4, a national holiday in these united states.  Fortunate to have been born in the US, never oppressed by my government, I take for granted the freedoms that some yearn for. Yet through my day to day interaction with patients, I’m painfully aware of how enslaved many are by their own thoughts and actions—though admittedly not by their choosing. Most wish not to suffer, but feel entrapped; they are overwhelmed by the rules which dictate what’s acceptable to eat and the intrusive thoughts and judgments about their eating and activity. They irrationally fear anything from white flour and sugar to fats. Sometimes the type of foods is not the issue, but the portions are. At first glance, a food record may look impressively normal—until I probe about quantities consumed—the limited bites here and pieces there that are actually consumed. “We...

Is your eating disorder your own little secret? Do you hesitate to confide in others, fearing they just wouldn't get it? Do you wish you had support from someone knowledgable about the struggle to recover, yet safe to share with? Introducing the desperately needed ASPIRE, created by Cate Sangster, who knows a lot about these struggles, as you'll read. We connected through this blog as she embarked on her journey to recover, created a book together and are now dear friends. So read on and then visit ASPIRE! "Ask someone off the street about eating disorders and they’ll probably tell you about skinny young girls with too much vanity and not enough substance to their lives. But those of us in the know, understand that the true landscape of eating disorders looks very different to this.  Firstly we understand that eating disorders are not a lifestyle choice. They are not about vanity or attention seeking, but rather they are a severe mental illness that cannot be cured by gui...

We can't always tell just by looking at someone  that  something isn't right. There are no excuses for perpetuating misinformation about eating disorders. No justification exists for minimizing eating disorders based on BMI, for generalizing them by age or gender, or for continuing to blame parents for causing them. While the news media may sensationalize and sometimes distort research, social media can fight back to correct misinformation. So read on, and please share! Today starts a week devoted to spreading the word about eating disorders with the theme “I had no idea!” Thank you NEDA, the National Eating Disorder Association and promoter of Eating Disorder Awareness Week, for inspiring this post. Random thoughts come to mind when I consider what this theme means to me—and what it might mean to you.  My beliefs and knowledge about eating disorders have evolved over many years, to which I credit the Academy for Eating Disorder listserve, the FBT researchers and Laura Co...