Subscribe by Email

Your email:

eating disorder blog

Client Testimonial

"Thank you so much for all the blog posts you provide. I find the information a huge, valuable source of support. Posts are a great way to get info from Dr. Warren. All parents should be on the email list."

--Adolescent program parent

Blog Roll

Most Popular Posts

Browse by Tag

Posts by Month

Living With Food: The Science Supporting Eating Disorder Treatment

Current Articles | RSS Feed RSS Feed

Review of Eat (Its Not About Food)

Posted by Sarah Emerman on Fri, Apr 30, 2010 @ 11:23 AM
  
  
  
Add to delicious  delicious  
  

Take a look at this review in The Plain Dealer by Evelyn Theiss for Eat (Its Not About Food) featuring CCED's own Amy Luzar and Ellen Hoffman. The play is currently running until May 2nd at the Mayfield Village Civic Center. We highly recommend it to clients, families, friends, and anyone who would like to learn more about eating disorders and the conflicting messages about food and body image within our society. 

To read the review, click the link below:

Fairmont Performing Arts Center play examines baffling world of food and body image


 

The Dangers of an Unspecified Eating Disorder

Posted by Mark Warren on Fri, Apr 23, 2010 @ 11:29 AM
  
  
  
Add to delicious  delicious  
  
Tags: 
In the DSM IV there are three eating disorder diagnoses: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Eating Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS). The use of the term “EDNOS” somehow makes people who fall into this category seems less ill than people who have one of the classic eating disorder diagnoses. This assumption, however, has recently been show to be quite untrue. In fact, we now know that people with EDNOS have as high a risk of illness, hospitalization, and death as people with anorexia or bulimia. This finding is critically important since somewhere from 60-70% of people with an eating disorder fall into the category of EDNOS.
 
The reasons for this are complicated but worth exploring. Both anorexia and bulimia are diagnostic categories that were defined for research purposes. As a result, the categories are exclusive rather than inclusive. That is, these categories were drawn as tightly as possible so that research can be done on a group of similar people rather than focusing on the largest group that requires treatment. Unfortunately, it turns out that many people with life threatening eating disorders fall into the excluded categories.
 
Commonly, people who fall into the category of an unspecified eating disorder include:
  • Someone with significant weight loss who may not be markedly underweight but may have all the other criteria for anorexia.
  • Someone who purges and/or restricts but may not binge, or someone who binges but does not purge or restrict.
  • Someone who uses dangerous behaviors to lose weight, but not at a frequency recognized by the DSM IV.
  • Someone who once met criteria for anorexia, has had some increase in weight, but continues to have all the life threatening behaviors they once had.
  • Someone who meets all criteria for a diagnosis aside from amenorrhea, which has been shown to be irrelevant in the diagnosis.
A recent study by Dr. Rebecka Peebles highlights these issues. Her study demonstrates that the diagnosis of EDNOS does not present a less serious eating disorder than anorexia or bulimia. In fact, mortality may be higher. But even if mortality rates are only the same, one should never think that “NOS” means that the diagnosis isn’t as serious as traditional anorexia or bulimia. Eating disorders come in many forms, they all represent life threatening illnesses for which we now know there is effective treatment.
 
Contributions by Sarah Emerman 

The Impact of Messages Surrounding Obesity on Eating Disorder Treatment

Posted by Mark Warren on Fri, Apr 16, 2010 @ 12:36 PM
  
  
  
Add to delicious  delicious  
  
By Dr. Lucene Wisniewski and Dr. Mark Warren
 
Recently, there has been tremendous attention being paid to obesity throughout our culture. From Michelle Obama, to the recent articles in The Plain Dealer, to medical experts, to television shows, we are hearing with great frequency about obesity. This focus on obesity can create unique problems for individuals who suffer from eating disorders.  
 
One of the challenges of working in the field of eating disorders is the reality that for most people in America the primary concern is losing weight, not gaining weight or stopping restriction and over-exercise. For our clients who may be having life threatening weight-loss behaviors, the focus on obesity in our culture may be confusing at a minimum and at its worst may present a risk to their well being.
 
We believe that messages around obesity may be potentially detrimental to our clients for several reasons:
 
  1. The culture implicitly suggests that weight loss in and of itself is a good thing regardless of why and how it is done.
  2. The method of losing weight, which may involve behaviors which are highly disordered (e.g. severe caloric restriction, and/or intense and compulsive exercise) is rarely questioned since the focus is on weight itself and not how it is lost.
  3. Messages regarding obesity and weight loss are often delivered by well meaning and sometimes uninformed individuals who fail to understand the impact of their words on the person who is hearing them.
If one is obese it is not helpful to be told “you should lose weight”. This is just about as useful as telling someone with anorexia, “you should gain weight”. What we are in need of is better information on how to talk to people about food and body issues, how to help people focus on health rather than on size and how to counter the overwhelming negative messages that exist in our culture about our bodies. Most importantly, is the need to know how to help everyone, wherever they happen to be on the weight spectrum, to know how to take care of their bodies and to value themselves as a a unique individual, based on the things that are truly important. 
 
Contributions by Sarah Emerman and Julie Norman 

ED: What you have done to me

Posted by Sarah Emerman on Fri, Apr 09, 2010 @ 01:40 PM
  
  
  
Add to delicious  delicious  
  
Tags: 

This post was written by a client at our center. It is published with her permission in hopes that it will inspire others to work towards recovery.

Even though you, ED, made me so sick, I liked it in a way. You were what I treasured for so long. You were mine and you controlled me. I stopped caring about my health and started adoring my protruding bones and my twiggy arms and legs. I felt accomplished for starving myself and eating less than X calories everyday. You made me brag about my illness and deny that I was sick. I liked that feeling of emptiness that you gave me. You gave me something to be proud of. You made me feel and look truly thin for once in my life. You made me numb. You made me tough and strong. You made me stand out.

ED, You also:
Made me drop to a dangerously low weight. Made my whole body weak. Made me depressed and irritable toward others. Made me restrict like no other. Made me lose hair. Made me grow lanugo on my body. Made me get edema. Made me cold all the time. Made me lose my athletic/fit body. Made me very self conscious. Made me get headaches. Made me shake and feel numb. Made me feel faint. Made my arms so small I can fit my hand around the upper part. Took away sleep. Caused nightmares. Messed up my digestive tract. Told me I was worthless and didn't belong in the world. Told me lies. Made me lie, a lot. Made sitting down hurt. Made me not care. Hurt my heart so badly and made it weak. Put me in the hospital. Took me away from school, my friends, and my goals. Took over my time and thoughts. Made me so sick. Made my body twitch. Made me fear dying, soon. Made my clothes fall off me. Made me lose my period. Took away my "glow". Made my chest hurt. Made me orthostatic and dehydrated. Denied the good things in life. Ruined a part of me. 

ED, I'm not sure if I'm ready to let go quite yet. Someday, though, you will be banned from my life; escorted out of my dreams and goals. You will no longer have hold of my entire being. I promise you this ED; your time is running out. You might as well start packing. I'm slowly losing interest and desire for you. It's almost time to say goodbye.

CCED's Involvement with EAT (It's Not About Food)

Posted by Mark Warren on Thu, Apr 01, 2010 @ 03:44 PM
  
  
  
Add to delicious  delicious  
  
Tags: 
The Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders is very excited to be sponsoring the Fairmont Center for the Arts play, EAT (It’s Not About Food). As we discussed in our post about the media, there are efforts going on that attempt to provide better understanding about eating disorders and their consequences. In the play, EAT (It’s Not About Food), CCED hopes that a much broader audience than those who are currently or previously involved with eating disorder treatment will have the opportunity to learn more about eating disorders. The play focuses on what eating disorders are, what it is like to experience them, and the variety of problems that can be experienced when one has an eating disorder. From this play we gain a sense of hope for those who suffer from these illnesses. 

The play EAT was written by Linda Daugherty, a Dallas playwright who became interested in this field. It was first preformed first in Dallas last year to very positive reviews. By bringing the play to Cleveland, the Fairmont Center for the Arts is providing a tremendous service to our community. Please plan to join us to see this very special production, which will run from April 15- May 2nd at the Mayfield Village Civic Center. CCED will have an educational program following each performance and will be available to answer any questions you may have. For reservations please call: (440) 782-4087.

All Posts