Misleading Health Information Flows Onto YouTube
Social networking sites like YouTube are delivering a tide of pro-anorexia messages, according to a recent review of 140 videos containing about 11 hours of video content. After three physicians reviewed the content, nearly 30% of the videos were found to be pro-anorexia (J Med Internet Res 2013; 15(2):e30) doi 10.2196/jmir2237).

How to Become a Body Image Outcast
Never diet. It is clinically documented that dieting is the gateway to eating disorders. We have a $40 billion diet industry in this country that sells us a product that fails 95% of the time. We should all be much smarter than that.

Self-Esteem and Social Anxiety in Teens with Eating Disorders
Social anxiety is defined as fear of being negatively evaluated by others while in a social setting. Some 15% of the general population have levels of social anxiety that disrupt daily functioning and symptoms of social anxiety tend to increase throughout adolescence.

Missouri Bill Proposes Mandatory Coverage for Eating Disorders
Missouri State Senator David Pearce (R-Warrensburg) introduced a bill during a recent committee hearing that would mandate health insurance coverage for Missourians with eating disorders. If approved, eating disorders patients in Missouri with insurance would be covered for diagnosis and treatment of their eating disorder as well as for residential, medical, and psychiatric treatment

Low Plasma Sodium and Bone Less in Women with Anorexia Nervosa
Dr. J. G. Verbalis and colleagues at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, were the first to report that chronically low levels of sodium can lead to a substantial reduction of bone mass

Unexplained Hoarseness
Acid reflux, or exposure to acidic gastric contents to the upper portion of the gastrointestinal tract, causes a well-known syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux, or GERD. Symptoms found in GERD include heartburn, chest pain, regurgitation, an acidic taste, belching, difficulty swallowing, and bad breath. GERD affects about 20% of the general population.

What Are Electrolytes?
All cells maintain an electrical charge across the cell membranes that surround them, which permits cells to perform their normal functions, such as allowing nerve cells to control muscles and allowing muscle cells to contract and relax. The electrolytes in the serum (blood) produce this electrical charge, which is literally the energy of life. If electrolytes exceed their normal, tightly controlled range, normal functions will cease. Muscles may weaken and cramp, nerves may fail to conduct impulses correctly, or the brain (which, after all, is a collection of nerve cells) may not function correctly, leading to confusion, lethargy, or even seizure

Bridging the Gap between Science and Evidence-Based Practice
A number of misconceptions exist about evidence-based practice, Dr. Lilienfeld stressed, including the belief that it stifles creativity and that it requires a cookie-cutter approach to patients. Other misconceptions are that the approach is not helpful because all individuals are unique; or that evidence-based practice isn't needed because "we can judge the effectiveness using our clinical experience and intuition."

Life Transitions Can Trigger Eating Disorders
Traumatic life events, such as relationship changes, the loss of a loved one, or a sexual assault, can trigger eating disorders, according to the results of a small study of 26 women and 1 man ranging in age from 17 to 64 years (median age: 27 years). As Dr. Jerica M. Berge and colleagues at the University of Minnesota recently reported , even a small change, such as moving to a new home or enrolling in a new school, may trigger anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa .

Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer
The most common sign of breast cancer is a new lump or mass. A lump that is painless, hard, and has uneven edges is more likely to be cancer. But some cancers are tender, soft, and rounded. So it's important to have anything unusual checked by a doctor.

Child Abuse Leaves Mark on Brain
Reduced brain volume in parts of the hippocampus could help to explain why childhood problems often lead to later psychiatric disorders, such as depression, drug addiction and other mental health problems, the researchers say. This link could help researchers find better ways to treat survivors of childhood abuse.

Why do addicts get hooked?
“Think of addiction as a chronic medical illness, such as high blood pressure or diabetes,’’ he said, adding that all have a biological basis but personal behavior and environment can influence whether the given disease develops and affects an individual’s life.

How a Need to Please Others Can Lead to Overeating
The authors found a marginally positive correlation between sociotropy and a desire to eat the same amount of candy as the peer. The degree of sociotropy also marginally predicted greater reports of basing one's eating decision on an attempt to make the peer comfortable. The results supported the hypothesis that sociotropy would be linked with eating choices, but only in cases where people believed that a peer wanted them to eat. There were no differences by gender.

Yoga: A physical path to reshaping your mind and moving your spirit
The early founders of AA recognized that Alcoholism is a 3-fold disease affecting us physically, mentally and spiritually. The 12 step program has proved to be highly effective in addressing both the mental and spiritual aspects of the disease, while relatively little emphasis has been placed on the physical aspects. The ancient yogis knew that in order to sit and meditate for long periods of time, our bodies need to be in good physical condition, thus yoga is a natural complement to the 12 step program.

Personal Growth: How to Align Your Values and Your Life
There are several questions you can ask yourself to help you figure out what values will make you happy. First, what do you choose to do in your life? Assuming that you choose activities in your life freely, such as cultural, spiritual, or athletic activities, specifying these activities is a first step in identifying the values that create congruence between your values and your life. Second, what activities do you have a great passion for and that bring you true joy in your participation? There is no better clue to what you deeply value than activities such as these. Third, what activities, experiences, and people cause you to feel deeply engaged and connected with? This absorption can only occur when your values and life are one.

Help! I am a College Freshman
College is not meant to be an arduous struggle with eating disorders. It is meant to be a time of self-discovery, with learning about yourself and meeting people, with taking risks and trying new directions. College has the potential to be some of your most exciting years yet, or some of the most miserable. For me, it has been both.

A Unique Treatment Program for Couples
As Cynthia M. Bulik, PhD, and colleagues report, a substantial proportion of people presenting for treatment are in committed relationships. Patients also often emphasize the importance of their partners in the recovery process. In one study of 70 women treated for 10 years, the one factor patients felt contributed most to their recovery was having a supportive partner. Many other studies have attested to the importance of other factors, including communication and sexuality.

Heart to Heart: Taking Risks in Recovery
he good news is that taking risks is a skill that can be practiced. Smaller, less challenging tasks can be rehearsed. For example, learning to add one “forbidden” food to your meals without purging, rather than a whole new meal, is a small, but empowering, step. So is saying, “Hi” to one new person rather than mingling with many in a crowd. By breaking down the situations that cause the most panic into smaller, more manageable actions, a person gradually gains the skills necessary for those bigger tasks. Each success, no matter how small, cultivates a little more confidence and a desire to try more daring behaviors.

Confessions of a Father
I was introduced to eating disorders (ED) about midway through my daughter Jena's ninth grade year. Prior to this introduction, my wife and I were unaware of the extent of the eating disorder epidemic. Compounding the initial feelings of helplessness was the fact that Jena was attending a boarding school in northern Maine. We went from a family structure of continual contact to one that consisted of phone conversations, e-mails, and letters. I was completely unprepared for the prolonged grip the ED would have on us.

Emotion Acceptance Behavior Therapy
EABT model assumes that emotion avoidance poses two main problems for persons with AN. First, although AN symptoms may be effective at reducing emotions over the short term, long-term efforts to avoid emotion may have the paradoxical result of increasing the frequency and intensity of aversive emotional reactions. In their efforts to avoid emotion, patients with AN may find themselves trapped in a cycle of emotional vulnerability, avoidance, and disordered eating. Second, because patients spend so much time focused on AN symptoms, valued goals in other parts of their lives are often neglected.

Using Your Voice
Once you have told someone you have an ED, your relationship with that person may change dramatically. He or she may not be able to spend time with you any more without focusing on the fact that you have an illness. Or, you may find that the other person refuses to believe you are sick since you may "appear" well. But most people want to help and will be supportive in getting you the treatment you need. I have also encountered family members who seemed to have no reaction to my illness and this, too, can be incredibly painful to come to terms with. It is important to bring your feelings about whatever reactions you get into your treatment and work through them in that safe space.

Love is Gentle, Love is Kind
As we go through our days, we get to choose the way we behave. If we choose a loving path, our lives will be the richer for it. Loving the people around us is a familiar idea, but loving our bodies is foreign to most of us. We have been taught to hate our bodies and to vigilantly subdue and control what we perceive as our lazy, gluttonous urges. This judgmental attitude helps keep our dieting and disordered eating patterns alive and well.

Leaving Inpatient Treatment: "Good as New?"
Remember, leaving treatment is not equal to being stitched up and coming out as "good as new." Recovery is a process experienced in community with others helping you break the destructive ways of an eating disorder, one day at a time. Make sure you take the time before you leave treatment, or if you are now out of your treatment, to set a plan for a successful recovery.

How to Know When a Young Athlete's Exercise Is a Problem
However, this approach to identification is not always straightforward. Coaches are often looking for the athlete who will train harder than her teammates. It is difficult for a coach (and sometimes a parent) to view an athlete who works harder and longer than the others as having a problem. On the contrary, these athletes are more often valued because of their "work ethic." Their extra training may be rewarded and reinforced. It is difficult to know if the athlete is simply a good, hard-working competitor, or a person with a problem. Nonetheless, this is a good place to start the identification process.

The Basics of Disordered Exercise
Studies have shown that between 33% and 80% of anorexics and bulimics engage in excessive exercise—the wide range probably due to inconsistencies in defining the term “excessive.” However, regardless of the statistics, a strong connection between eating disorders and overexercise exists, resulting in serious psychological, emotional, and physical consequences (in addition to those previously described for food-related behaviors). Exercise also has an addictive component because of neurochemical changes in the brain, which make recovery more difficult.

Recogninzing and Responding to Binge Eating in Children
By the age of two, many children have developed damaging eating habits that may persist throughout their lives. Like their parents, they are eating too few vegetables and fruits and too much highly processed food laden with sugar, fat, and salt. They have already learned to prefer, and sometimes even to demand, french fries, soda, pizza, hot dogs, sugary desserts, and candy.

Treatment for Adolescents & Young Children
A growing concern in the field of eating disorders is the increasingly earlier onset and prevalence of these illnesses in the childhood and young adolescent populations. Historically, anorexia nervosa tends to have a higher occurrence at approximately 14 and 18 years old, whereas bulimia nervosa tends to manifest in the late teenage and young adult years. Unfortunately, however, the ages of onset have shifted downward to younger and younger children. What is important to understand is that the nature of eating disorders in young people is somewhat different than their older counterparts and distinctly different in the pediatric population. The origin of eating disorders is as unique as the individual themselves, but among the historically classic cases, there are many common diagnostic characteristics.

Intimacy and Anorexia Nervosa
In Western culture, intimacy is considered an essential indicator of healthy romantic relationships. Unfortunately, intimacy has been largely unexamined in the relationships of women with anorexia nervosa. Why is this oversight important? Anorexia is an eating disorder that goes beyond the classic symptoms of self-starvation and the attainment of an idealized thin physique to include afflicted women struggling with who they feel they are, who they feel they should be, and what others in their relationships expect of them

Profiling Midlife Eating Disorders
One significant difference between women who developed eating disorders early in adulthood and those who did so in midlife was that those with early-adult-onset eating disorders had higher novelty-seeking scores than did older adults. Both early-adult onset and midlife-onset eating disorder patients had higher-than-normal scores on harm avoidance measures. Persistence was slightly higher in young adults.

Anorexia Nervosa in The Elderly
All his life my father had been a big man. Oversized. I often heard people crack jokes about his weight and tell him to stop eating so much. But now, I was worried. At 80 years old, he was depriving himself of food. He had fallen a number of times this past year and had sustained a fractured shoulder and a few broken ribs. Many times when I had phoned him, he told me he felt dizzy, weak and light-headed. Now I understood why. He was refusing food.

When Your Parent Has an Eating Disorder...
Your role in relation to your parent's illness and recovery depends on many variables. In general, except in an acute medical or psychiatric crisis (and, some would argue, even then), your parent is an adult and is responsible for his or her own recovery work. You can offer support in whatever ways are comfortable and reasonable, but don't chronically overextend yourself. If you get worn down or become exhausted, you won't be able to take care of yourself, and you won't be in any state to support your parent either.

Doctors Treating Older Eating Disordered Patients
Eating disorders have long been considered diseases of the young, but in recent years more women have been seeking help in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and older. According to Holly Grishkat, who directs outpatient programs at The Renfrew Center, women over 30 who seek treatment tend to fall into three categories. Some have had an eating disorder for years. Others had a disorder in remission that resurfaced because of new stress in life, such as a divorce or loss of a parent. A third group, the smallest of the three, includes women who develop an eating disorder late in life.

How to Keep the Weight Off
According to the Mayo Clinic, the "key to successful weight loss is a commitment to making permanent changes in your diet and exercise habits."

Teaching Children that It's Okay to Be Angry
Teaching children how to be angry in a safe and productive way.

Moving in Together Stirs up Old Fears
If you're divorced and have moved on to a new, meaningful relationship, the prospect of moving in together can stir up a lot of fear related to your past marriage and its demise. Anyone who has gone through a divorce will tell you that it takes some time to get over it and move on (understatement of the year.)

What To Do If Your Spouse Won't Go To Counseling
The scenario of one spouse recognizing that therapy might be useful to look at a troubled relationship while the other is resistant has several possible explanations.

Father
On this Father's Day, what will you to to acknowledge the man that brought you into this Earth, and who showed you the ropes about how to be the good guy you've grown into?

Solitude, Part 2: The Benefits It Brings, and the Special Strengths of the People Who Enjoy It
Here's what makes solitude so sweet

Sweet Solitude, Part 1: Two Meanings of Alone
Time spent alone is not just about loneliness

Risk of accelerated aging seen in PTSD patients with childhood trauma
Adults with post-traumatic stress disorder and a history of childhood trauma had significantly shorter telomere length than those with PTSD but without childhood trauma, in a study by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

Why Do Bullies Bully?
We're all familiar with bullying - those deliberate, aggressive behaviors intended to cause harm to others. Chances are, if you haven't been the recipient or the doer of these hostile acts, you've at least seen bullying occur at some point in your childhood.

In The Blink of an Eye
There is no way to prepare. No way to brace yourself or let yourself down easy. When a loved one dies suddenly or their death is perceived as sudden, your entire world is turned upside down and inside out.

Expressive Mask Making For Teens: Beginning Insights
Learning new skills and rapid change can be intimidating. Even psychologically "normal," healthy adolescents, defined for the purpose of this article as adolescents who are not involved in mental health services and do not have an active Diagnostic and Statistical Manual diagnosis, experience a decline in their self-concept between the ages of 12-14 (Hadley, Harris, & Moore, 2008).

Art Therapy and Special Education
Art therapists who are interested in working in the public schools might find it helpful to understand the special education system and how art therapy services can be utilized in a special education setting. A good place to start with is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a 1990 federal law (reauthorized in 1997 and again in 2004) that ensures a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment to all youth regardless of ability.

Empowering the Traumatized Child Through The Use Of Art And Action
When a child has been personally traumatized or is part of a family, school, or community system where trauma has been experienced, the child's sense of his or her own power is generally shaken. The trauma destabilizes the world as the child knew it prior to the event(s).

Pathological gambling may be successfully treated with medications for substance addiction
Pathological gambling can be successfully treated with medications that decrease urges and increase inhibitions, according to researchers at the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).

Addiction and Recovery - Choosing the Right Level of Care For Treatment
Addiction is treated on a continuum of care principle, with a variety of treatment options available. The overarching goals of alcoholism and other drug addiction treatment is the development of abstinence and relapse prevention.

Why the Holidays can Bring More Conflict than Joy
Help with the emotions around the holidays typically focuses on the "Holiday Blues", but there is very little press regarding the tension and conflicts that erupt during this time of year. Relationships are like the proverbial canary in the mine shafts, in that they are the first to be affected by stress and tension.

How Can I Get It All Done?
Most of us know that we should consistently make time for Self-Care, but often we do not seem to find the time.Our fast-paced culture teaches us that "slowing down to smell the roses" is a luxury we cannot afford - there is always more to do than time to do it all.

Positive "Peer Pressure"?
I recently heard an audio clip of Mrs. Nancy Reagan speaking to a group of inner-city youth back in the early 1980's. Her message was short and clear: "When someone offers you drugs, Just Say No".

TRACYS KIDS ART THERAPY PROGRAM
Tracy's Kids employs six art therapists in four treatment centers, helping patients with cancer and blood disorders cope with the emotional stress and trauma of illness and treatment. Art therapy is built into the treatment setting, engaging young patients, their siblings, and parents in creative work that helps them express feelings and reflect on their treatment experiences.

How to Deal With an Angry Spouse
It is important to differentiate the spouse whose anger is a healthy response to various partner insufficiencies, such as lack of attunement, inadequate empathy, neglect, poor partner functioning -in short anger as a protest to loss of love and safety – and anger which is more...

6 Keys of Assertive Communication
Communication is so important that it can make or break a relationship, is critical to success, and instantly reflects your self-esteem to listeners - for better or for worse. Assertive communication commands respect, projects confidence, and inspires influence. It is respectful, direct, honest, open, non-threatening and non-defensive. It is not demanding, aggressive, or manipulative.