Welcome to The Eating Disorder Institute

The autopsy report revealed that at the time of death Michael Jackson weighted just 50 kilograms which is very low for a man his height and age.
Also it was said that his body was covered with marks from injections of pain killers. He had no hair and wore a wig before his death. His stomach was absolutely empty except of partially dissolved drugs which he took a few hours before his final moment.

According to medical professionals Michael survived on one small meal a day and a regime of painkiller’s injections and other drugs. The injected painkiller is believed to be pethidine, which were administered three times a day. Michael also was taking a cocktail of different drugs daily. Jackson’s use of painkillers has been linked to a burning accident on set while filming a 1984 Pepsi commercial. He was treated for painkiller addiction at a clinic in 1993.
How Anorexia Could Have Contributed to the death of Michael Jackson?

1. It is most likely that Michael died from the cardiac arrest which was caused by high dose of prescription drugs. When medications like strong pain killers, antidepressants and relaxants are taken in excess or in combination – they kill people causing respiratory and heart failure.

Also, these medications spread around the body, get absorbed by fat and muscles tissue.  This means that the bigger person can tolerate higher dose of drugs, but light skinny person can tolerate only small amount of the drugs.

In Michael Jackson’s case his body weight was only about 50 kilograms but he was taking the amount of drugs that would be too high even for a person twice as heavy as Michael.
He had no fat and not enough muscle tissue to absorb that amount of drugs.

It is possible that if he had more weight he would not have died that quickly because the fat tissue  would have absorb some of the drugs.  In this respect anorexia did contributed to the Michael’s sudden death.

2. It is reported that Michael Jackson had “poor health” for years before his death.  By “poor health” they meant his general weakness, lethargy, not eating properly looking for “quick fixes “, like drugs. It looks like all these symptoms also related to anorexia. Anorexia became his friend and was the way he coped with life. The only question remains how all the qualified medical professionals who were looking after Michael didn’t see all the bad things coming.  Why was it still acceptable to feed Michael drugs instead of taking care of his nutrition, his spiritual and emotional health?

Why is it acceptable in our society when a person has emotional problems or coping problem ,  we think it is OK to give him a hand full of drugs. If the hand full of drugs does not help – give them an injection of drugs on the top of what he is already taking?

Why do doctors still continue to promote and prescribe treatments that can eventually kill the sufferer?

This makes you think that if celebrities are treated like this (“drug them out” technique) what treatment can be expected for non-celebrities?

Why is it that many medical professionals force people to believe that “the quick fix” medicines are the way people should be treated?

Haven’t we had enough wake up calls in the last a few years? Heath Ledger , now Michael Jackson has died from the same over use of prescription drugs. Who will be the next victim of the modern “quick fix” medicine?

Pharmaceutical companies keep pushing there drugs and they do everything to protect the notion that drugs are the only way. They even hire researchers and scientists to do studies for them but the result of these studies are always screwed towards the results the drug companies want to promote: many times little things like they can kill you are never mentioned.  Medical text books (the one doctor’s study in medical schools) are written in accordance with the research that pharmaceutical companies do, so they completely control the media and literature.

Doctors go through many years of studies and have to pass extremely difficult medical exams but they get programmed to believe in what they are taught is the truth. Dogmatism still prevails in medicine, doctors are given a roadmap to follow and as long as the doctor does everything according to the written rules they are safe from prosecution, even if something happens to the patient.

But the written rules about the use of drugs, doses of drugs, combination of drugs now need a full revision on how they should be used.  The whole medical system needs to be revised otherwise more and more people will continue to die needlessly, like Michael Jackson.

Now the drug companies are all excited about inventing a drug to treat anorexia.  Apparently some research was done and they found a strong genetic link for developing anorexia so the race is on for an anti anorexia drug to sell and making millions of course too.

Anorexia does have a genetic predisposition but it is only the vulnerability of a person to develop anorexia that can be inherited: not the disease itself.  Any vulnerability can turn into a disease but only if the right circumstances prevail.  If a person with a predisposition is exposed to certain environmental triggers like stress, emotional or physical abuse, grief, sadness etc: then there is a chance of developing a disease.

For example, if Michael Jackson didn’t have a difficult childhood, emotional abuse from all the people who were constantly trying to steal his money he may never have developed anorexia. But because he probably had a genetic vulnerability and circumstances plus environmental factors occurred at the same time he contracted this horrible disease called anorexia.

To conclude, I want to say that I feel very sorry for Michael and that he has died so early. But I would really like his death to be a wake up call for a long slumbering society to realise that drugs are not always the solution.

Hopefully doctors and more medical professionals change their attitude to a patient’s treatment and start look at a holistic treatment approach and not just follow the medical textbooks that are not always accurate.

Everyone should be aware about the modern  day  drug overuse and be very careful in choosing the right treatment if problems arrive.

“First, do not harm” is a major part of the Hippocratic Oath but it is often forgotten by modern medical professionals.

7 Signs That Michael Jackson Had an Eating Disorder.

Michael Jackson has died and there are speculations about the cause of his death. Stress, drug problems, weak lungs and heart and extremely low body weight are all implicated. Numerous rumors suggest that at the time of his death Michael weighted slightly over 100 pounds. Taking into consideration his height 5’.10” his BMI at the time of his death was 14.3 (compare to a healthy range BMI between 18.5 and 25.) This is about 29 pounds lower than would be considered a healthy level.

Low body weight can be a symptom of many diseases but in Michael’s case, reports saying that he suffered from an eating disorder.

Eating disorders often have their own causes and certain personality traits make different people more prone to developing them. Apparently, Michael Jackson had many personality traits that would make him susceptible to developing an eating disorder. His stressful life and deprived childhood could be causes for his mental problems.

According to many sources Michael Jackson suffered from Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa.

What are the facts that could point to Michael Jackson having an eating disorder?

1. Jackson did mention publically about how his father physically and verbally abused him as a child and how he developed an eating disorder (provoked by a fear of his father’s discipline) by the age of seven.

2. After the case of alleged child “molestation” with a 13-year-old boy, Jordy Chandler, Jackson developed a drug addiction and his childhood bulimia came back to haunt him. The stress from this case put enormous pressure on fragile health of Michael. Although the charges were dropped and the boy refused to testify any further against his “best friend Michael”, the damage was already done.

3. Many people who saw him closely over the last few years before his death said he was very thin and frail. They also said that he ate very little.

4. Because of the deep concern about his physical health Jackson postponed the opening night of his comeback in London by a week. Apparently he was worried about his ability to recreate his trademark exhilarating dance moves. This tiredness is also very indicative of an eating disorder; sustenance is needed to be able to do extraneous exercise, something Michael was struggling with.

It is obvious that his fatal heart attack was precipitated by weeks of strenuous fitness routines which could have contributed to his tragic death. Just a week before the tragic event he said: “I don’t know how I’m going to do 50 shows. I’m not a big eater – I need to put some weight on”.

5. A few months ago at his last appearance in front of the media he announced the comeback shows in London. When he made this announcement his body was skeletal and his skin was extremely pale. He had difficulties making it through the two-minute press conference.

The show’s promoters were in doubt about Jackson’s ability to continue with the show and some even suspected that he wouldn’t even make the first concert date, so they sent a doctor to look after him.

6. Michael Jackson obviously had lots of problems regarding his body image and perfectionism. He undertook numerous plastic surgeries, changed skin color and supported different diets and body cleansing routines. All this had become his obsession and he performed these acts in very extreme unhealthy way.

7. His drug addiction also confirms his obsessive personality trait that is present it most eating disorder sufferers. Before his death he apparently was taking a cocktail of eight different prescription drugs:
- Demerol (a painkiller that was injected 3 times daily by his doctor to stop his chronic back pain),
- Dilauded (a painkiller he took orally for the same problem),
- Vicodin (the third painkiller that was prescribed recently because of the back pain),
- Soma (used for muscle relaxation, he took them orally),
- Xanax (anti anxiety drug, he took them orally, twice daily),
- Zoloft (antidepressant that influence his serotonin level in the brain, he took it orally, daily)
- Paxil (another antidepressant that influences serotonin levels in the brain),
- Antibiotics to stop skin infection after minor surgery.

This is enormous amount of drugs for anyone, even for a healthy person, but for Michael they were probably fatal.

It looks like Michael’s eating disorder definitely contributed to his death. All the things make you wonder why the medical professionals who looked after Michael didn’t do anything before his death about his eating problems.

You have to ask yourself why they allow him to stay on so many drugs while his body weight was extremely low. It is just another example of how little most medical professionals know or understand the seriousness of an eating disorder.

Michael would have had his eating disorder to cope with the stress in life. His Anorexia and Bulimia would have temporary made him feel good and he may have felt that nothing could hurt him while he had an eating disorder. This is quite common for suffers of an eating disorder, they actually think it is doing them good, while in reality it is killing them.

How to Built Self-Esteem in Adult Eating Disorder Sufferer.

This article is for spouses, parents, friends or other caregivers who want to help their loved ones to recover from their eating disorder by building their self-esteem first.

A lack of self-esteem can ruin any relationship. Unfortunately, most of eating disorder sufferers have low self-esteem and if you are in relationship with them it is your responsibility to help them to built their self-esteem up.

This problem is especially relevant for marriages because in adult life there is no other relationship like marriage. Eating disorders can cause serious problems in marriages because the sufferer often feels guilty, inadequate, not worthy, anxious or depressed.

This can lead to lack of intimacy, openness and poor communication.
But, by helping your spouse (or other loved one) to build her/his self-esteem will improve your relationship with the person and also help them to fight their eating disorder.

Here we are giving you 12 useful tips on how to build self-esteem in eating disorder person.

1. Show unconditional love. Love your spouse (or daughter, or friend or other loved one) without any conditions or limitations. If you have issues with your loved one’s behaviour, discuss it with them in friendly manner. Don’t show your distress with them. Show your love, without demand and command. Tells them : “I love you and love the way you are, but this behaviour make me think that maybe we should talk and discuss if there is anything wrong.”

2. Offer your genuine support. Let your spouse (or the other loved one) know that you support them completely. This means that when someone is berating them you will  step up to your loved one’s defence. In a marriage, the relationship between the husband and wife outweigh all other relationships. So, you should stand by your spouse first and foremost.

3. Appreciate what they do. Appreciating her for what she does will help her to trust you and feel more comfortable with you.  Whether it is something small like cooking a dinner or washing up, let your loved one  know that you appreciate it. Is she a great mom or daughter , or sister, or friend?  Acknowledge this . Try to appreciate her as much as you can. That will pull her attention away from her eating disorder  and make her focus more on the things she is good at. This also will build her self-esteem up by knowing that she is useful and needed.

4. Show her your respect. Respecting means simple things like to say “please” , “thank you”  and to talk in a friendly tone of voice. Those are little gestures that go a long way. Don’t treat your loved one like a child. She/he is  an adult so, treat them as an adult. Criticising your loved one and treating her/him as a child is degrading and rude.

5.  Share the credit. Because eating disorder sufferers have low self-esteem she may not see the contributions she makes or regard them as insignificant. You should point out these things to her and tell that without her this would not happen. Tell that not only to her/him, but to others as well. Brag on your loved one (within earshot preferably) about her/his talents or what she/he does.

6. Discover their “hidden talents”. Ask your loved one about things what they like to do or do well. Eating disorder sufferers normally are perfectionist. Perfectionism is their personality trait. This trait is also one of the things why they got an eating disorder in the first place. Perfectionism can also mean that the person is very clever, smart and talented but because of the eating disorder and the low self-esteem all her/his talents remain hidden.

Help them discover their hidden talents. Encourage them to take a class, pursue a dream or get an interesting job. You may be surprised that her/his interest will interest you too. Then, you can go on the same journey together. 

7. Don’t forget “little things”.  “Little things” means leaving notes, giving  little gifts and do special things for your loved one. In a marriage it is nice to write her a letter even though you don’t go away.  Just write her nice encouraging words, express your dream and write something you think will inspire her.
But don’t wait for a special occasion. “Just because” gestures mean much more.

8. Never be deprecating (especially in public). Never put your loved one down. Avoid generalizations such as “you always make a fuss out of nothing” or “you always behave immature when you talk to your parents.” These types of statements will leave your loved one with feelings that they never do anything right.  Saying bad things about your loved one in public is unacceptable. It damages their self-esteem even more. It can also bring depression or anxiety on.

9. Be interested in them. Make sure that you know your loved one favourite colour and their favourite animal. Talk to them about the way they were brought up. What did they want to be when they grew up? What is the one dream they would like to fulfil before they die? Find out the little things and then use that information.

For example, if your loved one loves the blue colour, buy for her as a little gift a blue coffee cup or a blue scarf or blue slippers.  Let them know what you love. If they present you with a little gift – express your joy and general good mood.
Continue to explore your loved one and play on “little things”. Remember, “little things” can mean for her/him more than big ones. “Little things” can make her feel loved and trust you more. Trust will improve her self-esteem significantly.

10. Ask them for their opinion. The four most important words to create and maintain a good relationship are “What is your opinion?”  Nothing else decreases a person’s self-esteem faster than having a partner who does not take their opinions into consideration.

When you are going to buy a car or a suit for a meeting  or even change the colour of the kitchen walls just ask your loved one what they think. Let them know that you value and trust their opinion. Thanks them for their opinion even if you disagree with it.  When you do that you show them  that you value and trust them  and that will improve their self-esteem.

 
11. Respect their privacy and respect their personal space. Although you and the loved one are in a close relationship this does not mean you own the person. Many abusive problems are personal space problems. Personal space depend on a habitat level by profession, livelihood and occupation. Learn the boundaries of how far you can go without becoming an intruder. The boundaries are very individual and what is good for you – may not necessary good for her/him. Watch her/his emotional reaction to your action and follow your intuition. 

12. Develop trust. Trust is what you should focus on in all your actions.  Anorexia people have difficulties to trust something or someone outside one’s self. When trust begins, it is likely to grow into acceptance many things which were forbidden in the past – such as food and relationships with other people. Trust will make your loved one love herself and others.

Building Self Esteem in an Eating Disorder Sufferer Might Help them recover.

Very often people wonder how they can help an ED person to get better. What they can do at home that can be useful for the sufferer’s recovery?

My answer always is “First of all, help them to built their self-esteem up and trust in others. Trust will make them love themselves and respect others.”

Also, family members often want to know if there was anything they have done in the past that could contribute to the development of an eating disorder in their loved one. They often say that they have never abused the sufferer not physically nor emotionally and they can’t understand why their loved one has an eating disorder.

But the child emotional trauma is not always obvious to adults. The child emotional problems in the  family could be due to:

- Poor communication between parents and a child: this is one of the primary problems from which many other issues come also. Poor communication with a child can manifest itself in several damaging ways. When a child has issues with something that the parents do or say, that child may seek refuge inside themselves rather than talking to the parents.

In holding back their feelings, emotions and thoughts, existing issues can often seem exaggerated and insurmountable. Because a child can’t find refuge in their parent’s arms, the child can start using other available things to moderate their emotions – like food for example.

- Failing to listen what child is saying: A damaging side effect of poor communication is a tendency to not hear what the child is saying or showing with her/his behaviour. Children with low self-esteem may be distracted by the internal conversation they are having within.  To notice the subtle hints displayed by the child is the responsibility of the parents.

The parents may grow weary of resolving issues by listening because they fail to understand what their child is going through. This breakdown in the communication process can create a wedge between the parents and a child.

- Arguments About Trivial Things: When children suffer from low self-esteem, these children may try to camouflage major issues which is really bothering them, and discuss less-important or trivial problems. Children delude themselves that the parents will understand what really is bothering them.
 
The problem is that children are typically unable to infer the real issue because it has not been clearly communicated.  As both parties (children and parents) become frustrated, they often begin arguing about matters that have little to do with the real issues.
 
For instance, the big argument about cleaning up a bedroom could be a result of parents not understanding that the mess in the bedroom is result of the child rebelling against something.

- Lack Of Intimacy: A family in which children have low self-esteem typically lacks strong intimacy. This could be due to a couple of reasons. First, children with poor self-esteem may simply feel inadequate (due to their own perception or a perception encouraged by parents).

Second, older children may not feel worthy to have an intimate experience with anyone.
By intimate experience I mean being closely connected spiritually to someone.

It is a simple fact that in families where warm relationships are encouraged by parents the children grow up much better adjusted people then in families with cold parental attitudes. Psychological problems and disorders in families with warm parental attitudes are less compare to families with cold parental attitudes.

- Growing Resentment: When a child’s self-esteem is damaged, she/he can begin to internalize and personalize issues. Over time, resentment builds for the parents and other people as well. This is largely due to not being comfortable in communicating their issues.

When children and parents stop talking to each other and one of the family members begins personalizing problems, both children and parents can often develop a lingering resentment against each other.

To conclude, self-esteem is a key factor in the success or failure of a family and its members.
When one family member has low self-esteem, communication and intimacy suffer, leading to growing resentment between child and parents. This kind of resentment could be one of the reasons why children develop eating disorders.

So, building up self-esteem is still the first major step that families must undertake in order to help their loved one recover from their eating disorder.

Orthorexia is a dangerous obsession with “healthy” eating.

It is great to eat healthy and most of people will benefit greatly by paying more attention to what they eat.
 
However, some people get so involved and focusing on their food that it becomes an obsession.
This obsession with “healthy” eating can override people’s other interests in life, impair their relationships, replace their love and joy in life and cause other mental and physical problems.
 
Too much of “healthy” eating can easily turn into an eating disorder that is called orthorexia.  Health food junkies are more at risk of developing orthorexia than balanced eaters. The sufferers avoid certain foods such as things with preservatives, fatty foods, animal products, sugar and others. 

Many of them get obsessed with raw foods. Sometimes this obsession goes so far that the person lives just on raw green leafs for weeks or months. This results in malnutrition, starvation and even death.

 
 Orthorexia often begins with a desire to overcome a chronic illness or to improve general health so people start watching what they eat. Unlike anorexics who want to just lose weight; othorexics have different motives for their behaviour. People with orthorexia strive to be pure, healthy and back to what they call nature. This kind of motivation creates lots of confusion about their diagnosis amongst health workers. Many doctors diagnose anorexia in patients who actually have orthorexia.
 

The term orthorexia is coined by a doctor from Colorado Steven Bratman MD.  What does it mean?  The Greek word “ortho” means “correct or right” and “orexis “means “appetite”.

There is an element of obsessive –compulsiveness in orthorexia and people who have obsessive personalities develop orthorexia much easier than people who don’t have these traits.

The Statistics on orthorexia show that it is much more common than anorexia and even bulimia. Many more people describe just the orthorexic traits in research questions, not anorexic or bulimic ones, these people may already have a fully developed disease.

What are the criteria for someone who may have orthorexia?
- Exaggerated concerns about healthy eating
- Avoiding social events because they may be connected to unhealthy eating
- Feeling of isolation from people because of the “food” matter
- Visiting health food stores every day for the reason of finding “healthy” products
- Loss of weight and emaciation
- Starving because they are afraid of eating “unhealthy” food
- Describing some foods as dangerous
- Attaching  too much emotions to food
- Constantly making “next day “ diet plan
- Strong uncontrollable desire to eat when feeling nervous, excited, happy or guilty.
- Spending too much time shopping for “healthy” food
- Obsession with different diets (trying new diets all the time)

In conclusion it is worth noting that moderation and balance is still the key to everything especially concerning food and eating.  Dieting can be a great tool to improve some health problems but when taken to the extreme a diet can turn into an obsession that can completely distort the person’s rationality when it comes to food.

 Before people start on a diet they should understand both sides of their actions: the negative and positive side of the diet. The mechanism for developing obsessions should also be taken into consideration.

When a person knows how their brain works and how it is possible to get hooked on things, especially if you are prone to obsessive behaviour.  Knowledge of what can happen to them should be taken into their dieting plans at the beginning, not waiting until it is too late to change their eating habits.

Diabulimia is an extremely dangerous eating disorder for diabetics.
 
Diabulimia is an eating disorder that is becoming more common among people with type 1 diabetes, especially in teenagers who are more affected than adults. This is happening because teens often lose weight before their diabetes is diagnosed but then when their insulin treatment begins they quickly gain weight. Some teens get very unhappy with the fact they are putting on weight, they then figure out that if they skip an insulin dose it is possible to lose weight.

 
It is estimated that among type 1 diabetics the prevalence of eating disorders is 2-6 times higher than in general population. Nearly a quota of females with type 1 diabetes may have a diagnosable eating disorder. This happens because both disorders (diabetes and eating disorders) involve the control of food consumption and body weight. Food for both individuals is no longer considered to be just for nutrition but the object of strict control.  

Diabulimia can include not only skipping the insulin doses but many kinds of behaviours such as:
-reducing the insulin dose
-binging
- compulsive overeating
- restrictive diets
- starving
- inducing vomiting
- taking laxatives
- over exercising
The most dangerous practice is misusing their insulin doses.

To lose weight some individuals with type 1 diabetes deliberately miss the dose or take fewer doses than needed of insulin. Why they start to lose weight is because without the insulin their blood sugar rises; the kidneys produce more urine and the sugar then is passed out of the body in their urine.
 
Skipping insulin doses is very appealing for diabetics who want to lose weight; it is an alternative to engaging in a purging and a vomiting routine. So now they have realized they can overeat but still lose weight simply by not taking the insulin. There is a component of obsessive –compulsiveness in acting out this kind of behavior and if it gets out of hand can be extremely dangerous. This is because they can build faulty neuronal pathways in their brain, making the problem deep-rooted and difficult to treat. (see Neuroplaticity)

Being a diabulimic results in serious complications such as;
-       Kidneys failure
-       Heart failure
-       Circulation problems
-       Loss of vision
-       Dangerous infections
-       Osteoporosis
-       Increased chance of death

As you can see these conditions are not what you want the diabetic to endure.  

How to tell if the person has diabulimia?
-       weight loss
-       increased urination
-       lethargy and low energy
-       high blood sugar level
-       constant thirst
-       sugar in the urine
-       inability to concentrate
-       electrolyte abnormalities
-       low sodium levels
-       vomiting
-       over exercising
-       taking laxatives or diuretics in order to lose weight
 
Diagnosing diabulimia can be difficult because the dietary concerns of the diabetic can mask the eating disorder. Ongoing education and explanation about diabetes and eating disorders should play a major role in the prevention and eradication of a dangerous problem such as diabulimia.

Pregnancy has always been a time when a woman can put on 30 -35 pounds and still feel good and proud of herself, after all she is bringing a new life into the world.  But now it is not like this for every woman.  A new study shows that 20% of all pregnant women in the Western world do not gain enough weight during pregnancy.

These women don’t eat enough during pregnancy or induce vomiting, overexercise, take laxatives and diuretics. They do these dangerous things  for the sake of having a slim figure during and immediately after pregnancy.

 
Many of these women get inspired by the super-slim celebrities whose pregnant images we often see on TV and magazine covers.  These celebrities manage to go through their whole pregnancy without putting on much weight and continue to look slim. They keep their belly bump small so they become skinny again immediately after their baby is born.  This unnatural “skinny” image becomes a role model of many other “non-celebrity” women to follow.

 
So, how much weight should a woman gain during a normal pregnancy? The normal range to gain during pregnancy is 25-35 pounds but the amount of weight to gain is different during 1st, 2nd and the 3rd semester.  In the 1st trimester it is normal to put on 5 pounds. During 2nd and 3rd trimester it is normal to put on 1-2 pounds per week.  So all up it should be about 30 pounds by the end of the pregnancy.
When a woman tries to be skinny during pregnancy she is starving the foetus.  Starving the foetus is a high risk action and can result in foetal mortality plus a high risk of getting conditions such as:
-  Spine bifida
- cerebral palsy
- increased incidents of asthma
- increased incidents of allergy
- ear infections
- low birth weight
-  prematurity
-  metabolic abnormalities
- growth retardation
-  birth defects
The  list of serious problems that a baby can get is much longer that this.

 
Don’t you think that pregorexia is the most selfish thing you can ever do?  Ask yourself what is this for?  – It is all for the sake of attaining this glamorous unnatural look you see on celebrities like Nicole Kidman, Nicole Ritchie who never even had a normal baby bump when they were pregnant, not to even mention their general low body weight.

 
Also, the big challenge for anorexic women (for those who had anorexia before pregnancy) is that they are expected to gain even more weight during pregnancy then non-anorexic women do – to support the baby.  How much more do you need to gain if you are anorexic?  You should check this with your doctor because weight gain can be an individual thing and depends on your initial body weight and body mass index to start with.
As a general guideline, pregnant women are supposed to put on about 30 pounds during pregnancy.  This means that you should consume an extra 50 calories in the first trimester of pregnancy, an extra 300 calories in the second trimester and extra 400-500 calories in the third trimester.

 
Now, how do you know if you are getting pregorexia?
If you think too much about being skinny during pregnancy, think about what clothes to wear so you look like you are not pregnant, about how to fool people in to thinking that you are not pregnant.  If you constantly think about food and eating or non-eating – these are all signs that you may have pregorexia.

 
If this is the case go to your doctor immediately and fix the problem as soon as possible. Otherwise your baby could be in big danger of dying in the womb. You will regret it your whole life, and even if the baby is born do you want it to suffer all its life from birth defects: just because you wanted to be thin to look good for the sake of vanity?
Anorexia and pregnancy are totally incompatible and against nature.

Recently I received an e-mail from Kelly whose daughter is a 39 year old anorexic. She asked me for advice on what to do in the situation she has now found herself in. I have already given Kelly my opinion but  she also asked me if I could talk to other people who may have a similar situation  for their opinion. 

Here is her story.
“My daughter Lisa recently told me that she has anorexia. She is 39 years old and said she has had anorexia since the age of 14, which has come as a shock to me.

Now she is very sickly looking and her weight is about 70 pounds. Her hair is falling out and she is losing her front teeth. She has broken her wrist bones twice in the last 18 months: just from simple falls in her own kitchen.

Lisa has never been married although she has had many relationships with men and recently she admitted to having a relationship with a woman who was 10 years older than her. All of her relationship have finished badly with lots of arguments, name calling, fights etc.

Lisa has admitted to taking drugs and alcohol for a long time and she probably still does it now as well: but probably not regularly anymore, just on weekend binges sometimes”.

Kelly told me that she never knew about her daughter’s anorexia until Lisa recently told her about it.  Kelly considers herself to be a good mother and she has another adult daughter, who is “normal” Kelly’s words.

Kelly is an art teacher and has been working all her life. She has been a single mom since her husband left her for another woman when her girls were toddlers. She said she was committed to supporting her family; earn money for her children’s education, food and paying for her house.

Kelly said that Lisa use to be a very good student at school until her mid teenager years when something happened to change all that. Once she came home after school in tears and very anxious. She refused to tell Kelly what was the reason for being upset. Kelly thinks it was some sort of bulling or even something more serious concerning Lisa’s friends, but as Lisa would not tell her she thought it would probably resolve itself.

Kelly believes that after this particular episode everything went wrong with Lisa: mood swings, withdrawal from family, bad marks at school and etc.

When Lisa finished high school she moved out of the house and has never returned back again to live. Kelly said she tried to find out what happened and why Lisa changed so much but she never received a clear answer, so she gave up asking.
Kelly has never known what her daughter really feels, thinks or believes in. Kelly said she felt she was powerless to do something about Lisa so she thought that the best way for her was not to get too involved in Lisa’s life.

But now Kelly is really concerned that her daughter Lisa may need help from her (from Kelly) and she wants to know what she can do now to help.

Lisa has seen doctors and psychiatrists for anorexia problem. She has been on many antidepressants. The treatments she had wasn’t really helpful for her.

Any replies to help Kelly are welcome. 

The names have been changed to protect their identity.

More Information: http://www.eatingdisorder-cure.com

Anorexia Recovery.

I have often been told by sufferers, family members and even other experts that anorexia can never be cured and you have it for life.

I want to refute this claim because it can be cured. People who normally make these statements do not understand or have even heard of the power of neuroplasticity on eating disorders.

Let me ask you this: if you cut your arm and have to have in stitched does the open cut last all your life? No in gets better, you may have a scar on your arm the rest of your life, but you don’t have the wound.

Anorexia like all eating disorders is a manifestation of out of whack brain chemicals and faulty neuronal pathways in your brain. These can be reversed using neuroplastic therapies. Sure you will always have a scar to show for all your years of physical abuse, but the disorder will not be in control.

Neuroplasticity gives you the means to change your brain by applying simple methods to stop the urges from controlling your actions. As long as you apply them the urges will fade away until you have changed the way your brain functions and the anorexia will disappear.

We have put together this video that goes from suffering to health and this can easily be you.

 You lived in a deception
Your mind created once

But now is the time to stop it
For good, not just for a month

 You will become a person
Who lives in a richer world

Who eats to Live to Love and Hope
To thrive, progress and grow!

By Dr Irina Webster.

If you have any inspiring poetry or story about fighting Anorexia please send it to us and we will post it on the blog for you.

The Main Questions You Must Ask Yourself in order to Cure Your Eating Disorder.

We have already discussed what eating disorders are about. They are about coping, relationships, life-style, thoughts and feelings.

Sufferers become slaves to their disorder.  They do everything possible to be able to act out their compulsions (binging-purging, starving, overexercising, taking laxatives etc.)  The ED becomes a substitute for the most valuable things in their lives like friendship and lifestyle.

Think about it– would you have turned to an eating disorder if you had good coping strategies, were able to manage your emotions better and had good relationships with people? Probably not, because eating disorders are always caused by discomfort and discomfort comes from paying too much attention to the problem that caused the discomfort in the first place.

1st  question: What would you be doing right now, if you had absolutely no limitations, you were a billionaire, and you knew you could not fail?

2nd question: What would you share with the world, if your message were to be broadcast throughout all of the world’s television stations for 5 minutes? What would you say, what would your message be?

Did you answer these questions?  If not stop reading and answer them first… Why?
Because knowing the answer to these two questions are very important to conquer your ED.

As we know eating disorders are disorders of:
-     life style,
-    relationships,
-    coping ,
-    thoughts and feelings.

So basically what is holding you back from a better life is only a bunch of negative feelings and emotions that appear to be your eating disorder.  You really have to think of why this is, what good is it doing you to be held back by something that is not real and thoughts and negative emotion are not real.

They are just how you perceive them to be, ask someone else about these feelings and see what they think. The answer would probably be: so what, what’s the big deal, just laugh them off and get on with life. They are not trying to be mean to you or put your feelings down; they really are not such a big deal in the grand scheme of things. So why are you letting them ruin your life: it just doesn’t make sense?

But now let’s go to your answers for the questions above. Did you find the questions difficult? Or you just can’t believe in that they are possible? If this is the case, please open your mind, accept the possibility without the proof and discover the real you that hides in the shadows of your eating disorder.

Every experience we have had in the past, or will have in the future, always, without exception, has an emotional element attached to it. You got your eating disorder because you started attaching too many emotions to your body image and yourself in general. This emotional component took up most of you attention.

OK there may have been some really bad things that got you to where you are, but you can’t change the past. Is the person responsible for these bad things suffering?

I don’t think so?

So let me ask you this: why are you???

Don’t let these misguided misplaced feelings and emotions ruin your life: it is time for you to change and neuroplasticity will certainly do this for you.