Overcoming Disordered Eating
If someone you care about has an eating disorder, knowing what to say — if anything — can be awkward. Tricky. Uncomfortable. You don’t want to make things worse, and you don’t want to risk losing your relationship. So what do you say to someone with an eating disorder to express your concern? What makes…
Eating disorders are complicated in origin, presentation, and treatment. Observers see the physical and behavioral effects, if anything at all. But those who suffer, with or without an eating disorder diagnosis, have a complex mental and psychological experience that others don’t see. For Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) with an eating disorder, everything about the experience…
If you’re thinking about joining an online eating disorder support group, there are things to consider in advance. The decision to join a support group can be daunting and empowering at the same time. Thinking it through and evaluating the pro’s and con’s is important. The main purpose of any support group is to provide a…
Eating disorders are serious, complex, and often debilitating. They’re also treatable. Eating disorder solutions, however, are not the same across the spectrum of eating disorders. So finding the one that is most effective for you is critical to successful treatment. But where do you even start? If you guessed “eenie, meenie, miney, mo,” try again. …
Diagnosing an eating disorder is hard. Symptoms are hidden, by design. And you can’t tell just by looking at someone if they have an eating disorder. So then how do you know if someone has an eating disorder? For that matter, how can you tell if you have an eating disorder? Let’s be honest. Denial…
Parenthood, by its very nature, opens the floodgates of attention to issues and responsibilities you may never consider otherwise. Car seats, potty-training schedules, childproofing everything in your home, monitoring social media activity – the list grows as your child grows. So don’t despair of your parenting skills if “researching eating disorder behaviors” doesn’t top your…
Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a highly effective psychological treatment approach. It’s considered the gold standard for treating eating disorders, depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance abuse, insomnia, and many other psychological conditions and illnesses. This discussion is about why CBT for eating disorders works well for Highly Sensitive People (HSPs). Let’s start with the basics. What…
In the world of addiction treatment, interventions allow concerned friends and family to meet with and confront a loved one engaging in addictive behaviors. Upfront. Direct. Nothing held back. Properly executed and strategically timed, an intervention can be helpful with an addiction such as alcohol or drugs. Eating disorders, however, are not an addiction. So…
Eating disorders are equal-opportunity destroyers. Their sufferers develop them for many different reasons. Risk factors from psychology, biology, and genetics combine with culture to create a perfect storm. And wow, what a storm it is, especially for Highly Sensitive People (HSPs). Understanding the reasons behind the prevalence of eating disorders among HSPs comes down to…
More often than you might think, people with eating disorders don’t recognize or acknowledge they have a problem. They may be full-blown into eating disorder behaviors while turning a blind eye to how severely ill they are. . Getting treatment for an eating disorder, therefore, can be difficult. And recognizing when eating disorder inpatient treatment…
Welcome to my Blog
Here I get real on body image, eating, sex, yoga and more. Sometimes the topics are more random. All relate to psychology (after all, I am a psychologist!) --Dr.D