More Beautiful You

This song, More Beautiful You, has such a great message. I wasn't going to post it because I was trying not to be cheesy (the video/song are both), but then when this song came up on one of my Pandora stations a few minutes ago (after I had heard this song for the very first time this morning), I decided maybe it was a sign- haha.

The lyrics of the chorus:

There could never be a more beautiful you

Don't buy the lies, disguises and hoops they make you jump through

You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do

So there could never be a more beautiful you.

What great encouragement and a good reminder about how we were created- people with unique purpose, created wonderfully and beautifully. :)

On Recovery...

For anyone interested in reading a great blog post on recovery, check this out. This piece, written by Nancy Matsumoto, is posted on Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto's blog- Eating Disorders and Nutritional News. Nancy re-caps a talk that Carolyn Costin gave at a recent conference and if you are at all asking questions about what recovery from an eating disorder looks like and how you get there, this is def worth checking out!

Drunkorexia Revisited

I have noticed that there have been a few articles circulating recently on 'drunkorexia'... Around this time last year, I wrote a post on drunkorexia that I thought I would re-post it in light of the attention it has been getting in the news! A recent article was written in the LA Times just a few weeks ago (follow this link to read it!)--it's a good one!

Drunkorexia is one of the latest trends in eating disorders. Likeorthorexia, drunkorexia is not a medical or psychological diagnosis; you will not find this term in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. So what is drunkorexia? You might have a clue based on its name, but it is the combination of anorexic or bulimic eating disorder behaviors and alcoholic/binge drinking behaviors. The director of outpatient clinical services for the Renfrew Center, a nationally recognized eating disorder treatment facility, Dr. Douglas Bunnell explains: "Binge drinking is almost cool and hip, and losing weight and being thin is a cultural imperative for young women in America. Mixing both is not surprising, and it has reached a tipping point in terms of public awareness."

This kind of eating disorder is commonly seen in female college students, as participation in binge drinking continues to increase among this population. "Research shows that between 20 and 40 percent of women who suffer with bulimia also have a history of alcohol and/or drug problems. In one study, for example, 37.5 percent of bulimic individuals reported excessive alcohol use and 26.8 percent had a history of alcohol abuse or dependence" (Emax Health, Oct 2009). Another study was conducted in 2009 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and looked at the relationship between eating disorders and substance use in 13,000 women. What researchers found was that women who had an eating disorder were more likely to use substances than their counterparts without eating disorders. For more on this study, click hereto access this article on Emax Health.com.

It is important to highlight the connection between eating disorders and alcohol-- according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 72 percent of women who are addicted to alcohol are also engaging in eating disorders. This is a very high number. Considering the health dangers of both alcoholism/binge drinking and eating disorders, the combination is very threatening. Health professionals need to be aware of this condition, as treatment is so essential to avoid the potentially fatal consequences of such behaviors. It is also helpful for people to be informed about drunkorexia, as we all might have family members, loved ones or others that we know who are possibly dealing with it. For more information, follow this LINK to read an article published in the NY Times last year on drunkorexia.

Happy November!

It's a new month, and with a new month, comes some good news from a recent study... Results from a national survey (conducted by the National Eating Disorders Association) reveal that the general public's awareness about eating disorders has dramatically increased. Great news! According to the study, 82% of people would agree that an eating disorder is a physical OR mental illness. 78% of people believed that they would know if someone was suffering from an ED, and 95% said if they knew someone that was suffering from an ED, they would help the person seek the appropriate help.

That is definitely progress and encouraging news. : ) One area that the survey highlighted was the fact that overall, specific knowledge about eating disorders has not increased and that the incidence of eating disorders has not declined. Rather than being discouraged by this part of the survey's results, it just reminds me that there is still a need to continue to raise awareness and educate people about eating disorders. There has been a lot in the news this week about eating disorders... between Portia de Rossi sharing about her eating disorder (maybe too explicitly!) and Demi Lovato, who quit her tour to allegedly receive treatment for an eating disorder. An interesting comment that Lynn Grefe (NEDA President) made is that too often we focus on trying to de-stigmatize mental illness and eating disorders, which can sometimes reinforce the stigma. She went on to say that having an eating disorder is no different than having any other illness (breast cancer, etc) and that we need to spend more of our time focusing on educating people, especially in light of this recent data. Two thumbs up, Ms. Grefe.

To check out more of the data from this survey, keep checking back in:) The link is through MedScape Med News and technical difficulties are interfering with the link attaching. You can also google 'NEDA survey MedScape' to find it as well!

Airbrushing!

One of my favorite teen movies of the 90s?? She's All That. Its been a looong time since I've seen it, but the actress who plays the offbeat lead character, Laney Boggs (her real name is Rachael Leigh Cook and she's pictured to the right with hunky Freddie Prinze Jr- haha) recently made headlines on her views about airbrushing! Get it girl! Here is what she had to say:

“I did not grow up getting told about how manipulated the images we see of women and girls out there are, and I think it’s an absolute travesty that young women are seeing what the media is feeding them… It breaks my heart to be part of an industry and part of a machine that really pushes out these images and propagates these really terrible standards that are false. Nothing that you see is real, even if you look at what looks like a candid photo of someone, anything can be done. It is false advertising and false advertising is a crime so why isn’t this a crime? I’m just up in arms about it.”

It's nice to see someone talking about the 'false advertising' going on in the media because I think we need to be reminded that what we look at and compare ourselves to is made up! I think the fact that an actress is stepping up to talk about it provides even more credibility. Greg Apodaca has a photography website that has some pictures that you can roll your mouse over, and the image switches from airbrushed to non-airbrushed so you can see the difference. It is pretty wild. Follow this link to check it out... you will be amazed (and not in a good way). Seeing the difference in the photos may help you to view images in print with a more discerning eye :-).