Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders…

…is a volunteer run virtual community you must check out if you love someone who struggles with an eating disorder or body image issues.

As described on their website, F.E.A.S.T. “is an organization of and for parents and caregivers to help loved ones recover from eating disorders by providing information and mutual support, promoting evidence-based treatment, and advocating for research and education to reduce the suffering associated with eating disorders.”

FEAST  relies on the following guiding principles to fulfill their mission of helping families, caregivers, communities and medical personnel to properly support people working to recover from eating disorders:

~ Eating disorders are biologically based mental illnesses and are fully treatable with a combination of nutritional, medical, and therapeutic supports.

~ Parents do not cause eating disorders, and patients do not choose eating disorders.

~ Parents and caregivers are a powerful tool for a loved one’s recovery from eating disorder.

~ Blaming and marginalizing parents in the eating disorder treatment process causes harm and suffering.

~ When available, patients should receive evidence-based treatment.

~ Families should be supported in seeking the most appropriate treatment in the least restrictive environment possible.

~ Food is medicine: all treatment should include urgent and ongoing nutritional rehabilitation.

~ When the family is supported, the patient is supported. Siblings and all family members are ~ affected by a family member’s illness, and deserve full attention to their needs.

~ Parents have unique abilities to offer other parents support, information, and the wisdom of experience.

If you or someone you know is living with or recovering from an eating disorder, check out F.E.A.S.T. today.
Get the help and support you deserve.

During the initial months after my daughter Chloe fell ill with bipolar disorder, I was told by one medical practitioner that she thought the illness was schizophrenia. Having adjusted to the harsh reality and seriousness of bipolar disorder (sometimes called manic depression), I was terrified by the possibility that she could actually have schizophrenia.

It seemed so much worse.

I‘d read all that was written about bipolar disorder and its treatment, occasionally catching snippets of information regarding schizophrenia; and my reading taught me that bipolar, while serious and life-threatening, was more treatable and had a more positive prognosis than schizophrenia.

According to many experts at the time, treated bipolar disorder could be managed, even stopped in its tracks. With proper medication and lifestyle choices, those diagnosed with manic depression could live happy, productive lives.

Patients with schizophrenia, however, did not enjoy the same prognosis. At the time, common theory indicated that schizophrenia, even when treated, continued to progress so that the patient would ultimately be unable to function “normally.”

Chloe’s degree of illness is severe and treatment resistant, forcing her medical team to experiment and use drugs “off label” as they tried to stabilize her.  Interestingly, some of the miracle drugs for Chloe had previously been used to treat schizophrenia or epilepsy, including powerful psychotropics such as antipsychotics and neuroleptics.

As Chloe got well using new and unusual combinations of medication, we realized that labeling an illness was less important than finding a treatment that worked; and I began to wonder about the connections between bipolar disorder, depression, psychosis, anxiety and schizophrenia. Were they really that different?

Lots of others were thinking about the same things, including a group of Swedish researchers who recently released an new analysis of a 30-year study indicating that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder share common genetic causes, suggesting that the two conditions may actually be different manifestations of the same illness.

Analyzing 9 million Swedish people over a 30-year period, Paul Lichtenstein and colleagues at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute reported that close relatives of people diagnosed with either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder had an increased risk of both diseases, and that additional evidence from half-siblings indicated that the effect was due to genetic factors.

“We showed evidence that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder partly share a common genetic cause,”  said Lichtenstein. “These results challenge the current ‘disease classification’ dichotomy between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and are consistent with a reappraisal of these disorders as distinct diagnostic entities.”

I hope this news gives hope to many without it, and encourages doctors to treat each individual according to symptoms and needs rather than “disease classification.”

And I hope those reading this find wellness and a happy, productive prognosis.

Blessings!

Simon Barrett Reviews Mommy I’m Still in Here

Here is an excerpt:

“Mommy I’m Still In Here is an important book, it is easy to sweep the subject of Mental Health under the rug. It is actually as acute and incapacitating as a physical problem, yet it is often ignored.

I would be remiss in not explaining the title of the book, the title says it all. Bipolar is not a constant. It is not like the ‘Trade Winds’ that took the early explorers to discover the world, it is instead it is the shifty wind that sailors hate. They never know where the next puff will come from, or if that next light puff will turn into a hurricane. The title for this great book comes from a comment made by Chloe while in hospital after a very bad episode “Mommy I’m still in here” she entreats…get your copy of this well written, and insightful book from Amazon.”

Click here to read the entire review.

“Do nothing which, after being done, leads you to tell a lie.” *

This is basic. If an action causes you shame, embarrassment, denial or fear,  NEVER DO IT AGAIN!

If you have enough forethought to consider these possibilities before committing an act, DO NOT COMMIT THAT ACT!

A lie eats away at your integrity and sense of self-worth. It creates negative energy that you will deal with again and again.

Live honestly.

Interact with moral character and personal strength, virtue.

Adhere to your value system.

Do not compromise your own moral code.

Honor yourself — your physical self, your intellectual self, your emotional self and your spiritual self; and develop all of these facets if you are unsure of their strength.

Live with integrity. You will sleep better at night, you will feel better during the day, you will avoid unnecessary stress.

*This is the most recent installment in an ongoing series elaborating on 52 proven stress relievers identified by researchers at Texas Woman’s University.

“…a lot of people would say that the holidays are the worst time of the year,” says Ken Duckworth, MD, medical director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “They’re just straight up miserable, and that’s not only for people with clinical depression.”

If Dr. Duckworth’s words ring true for you, consider the following hints to navigate your way through a happier holiday season:

Take care of yourself first. Identify the specific things, people or situations that trigger your holiday blues and avoid them. You are responsible for your own happiness. The only person you can change is yourself.

Focus on what brings you joy. Don’t push yourself to your limit trying to fulfill other people’s expectations. Exhaustion and worry benefit no one.

If past holidays have disappointed, change the pattern. Do something different. Create your own traditions.

Volunteer. Acts of loving kindness make far more impact than purchases.

Make a gratitude list. Literally count your blessings. Write it down, look at it and add to it when an additional joy comes to mind. The amount of goodness in your life may surprise you.

Enlist the help of those around you. Friends and family often enjoy lending a hand, but sometimes need to be asked. So ask them, and be specific. Let people know what you need and they’ll likely help provide it.

Honor the memory of loved ones who aren’t around anymore. Rather than mourn their absence, reflect on the goodness you enjoyed when together and celebrate the relationship that was.

Don’t overbook. Again, exhaustion benefits no one. Commit to parties that you really enjoy and have the time for; and then graciously decline other offers.

Create and stick to a budget. The cost of holiday shopping mounts quickly and can make people feel out of control and anxious. Never spend more than you have.

Exercise. While you may not feel like you have the time to exercise during the holidays, the benefits are

Eat sensibly. Healthful eating keeps you feeling better both physically and emotionally.

Wishing you blessings of the season.

I began this website, blog and advocacy journey because I’m a mom. I’m a mom of three, two of whom developed a serious mental illness. As our family tackled the challenges of that reality, we learned a lot. Sure, we learned facts and data and medical minutiae, but we learned a whole lot more about love and tolerance, acceptance and gratitude and joy. Big stuff. Good stuff. Real stuff. We are blessed.

The video below, created by my Twitterfriends, Jyl at Mommy Gossip and Carissa at Good and Crazy People, warmly portrays all of that and more.

Enjoy. (And thank you Jyl and Carrissa).

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors like handwashing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed to either prevent obsessive thoughts or make them go away. Performing these “rituals,” however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them dramatically increases anxiety.

After years of research, doctors and scientists have developed effective treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder; and research is yielding new, improved therapies that can help most people with OCD and other anxiety disorders lead productive, fulfilling lives.

In a continuing series on mental illness,  Globe and Mail writer Siri Agrell introduces us to Alyse Schacter, a young woman learning to live with OCD and teaching those around her to understand and accept mental illness.

An excerpt from that article is included below. To read it in it’s entirety, follow the link at the end.

“She hears a voice in her head that insists she repeat certain movements and words, and has an irrational sense of urgency that causes her to stop in the middle of a sentence to make sure she hasn’t offended anyone.

But two years ago, she was preparing to hear a voice call her name to a roomful of applause. Alyse was honored by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation’s Courage to Come Back Awards.

Alyse, despite her challenges, has made a mark on her community through her efforts to raise awareness about mental illness, and to convey to other kids that “you can still be normal even if you’re being weird.”

Click here to learn more about Alyse and OCD.

Susan and Jay Bigelow delighted in their son, and he in them. Their life was normal and joyful and filled with possibility. And then Jesse changed. Read the excerpt below from and article written by Globe and Mail’s Erinn Andersenn. To hear the Bigelow’s tell the story of Jesse’s decline into the abyss of schizophrenia and eventual return, click here.

“On a September evening almost nine years ago, Susan and Jay Bigelow called 911, then sat down to dinner in their Toronto home, waiting for the police to come and take away the stranger at the dining-room table who was once their son.

For 19 years, they had raised a cheerful, outgoing boy named Jesse Bigelow, who had lots of friends, was chased by girls and sang in a rock band called, in an odd foreshadowing, Mental Distortion. Jay had coached his hockey teams and travelled with him to soccer tournaments. Jesse wasn’t the perfect kid: He threw more tantrums than his older sister, Melissa, had. His marks were mediocre. And his parents knew that he smoked pot with his friends. But he was a typical, loud, athletic boy and, even as a teenager, he welcomed a hug from his mom.

Then, slowly, helplessly, they watched Jesse Bigelow vanish, as surely as if he had been kidnapped. They didn’t recognize the shaggy, bearded intruder who now lay like a zombie in the bedroom upstairs and ranted at them about God.

Want to read the rest?

Click here.

How can I help myself if I have bipolar disorder?

You can help yourself by getting treatment and sticking with it. It takes time, and it’s not easy. But treatment is the best way to start feeling better.

Here are some tips:

• Talk to your doctor about your treatment.
• Stay on your medication.
• Keep a routine for eating and sleeping.
• Make sure you get enough sleep.
• Learn to recognize your mood swings.
• Ask a friend or relative to help you stick with your treatment.
• Be patient about your symptoms. Improvement takes time.

And Remember…wellness is worth it…and so are you!

Learn more about bipolar disorder and listen to this informative and candid interview.

Click on either of the above photos to view a 42 minute episode of “Footnote,” a weekly book talk show.