Eating Disorders: A Look At What Some ED Bloggers Are Talking About

The Paradox Of Choice
ED Bites: Carrie Arnold

On my move, I had lots of time in the car in which to listen to music, think, and try to ignore Aria's backseat yowling. To help pass the time and keep me awake, I downloaded a bunch of TED Talks onto my iPod. They were an eclectic mix, from anthropology to physics, but they kept me awake and alert for many hours.

One that left a lingering impression in my brain was a talk by Barry Schwartz, author of the book "The Paradox of Choice." I've blogged on the book before, but there was a brief phrase in the talk that really caught my attention. Schwartz was talking about buying jeans, and how many years ago there was only one style of jeans, and they fit very badly. More recently, Schwartz went out to buy a new pair of jeans because his old ones had worn out, and he found a mind-boggling array of jeans from which to choose. Ultimately, he did find a pair that fit better than before, but with such variety available, any issues with how his jeans fit was his problem, not the jeans'.

Let me try to explain this better.

Read The Paradox Of Choice in full here.
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A Factor Of Starvation
Are You "Eating With Your Anorexic?": Laura Collins

Years ago I spent time in an airport waiting area with a mom and her young son with autism. The silent young man, she said with both chagrin and bravado, lives on a diet of fresh MacDonald's french fries, milk shakes, and megavitamins. At the time I appreciated both her honesty and her predicament, though I think I probably had some smug disapproval going at the same time. These were his boundaries, and this mom was not catering to whims, she was loving him and taking care of him from where he was. I did not know that some day I would understand this mom's nurturing in a very personal way, and that I would continue to wish that I could go back and really hear her and make sure she felt supported and understood, if only from a stranger.

When you spend time in the ED world you cannot help but notice how often you see certain traits in patients, many former patients, and often in family members. Things like difficulty with 'set shifting,' a blinding focus on detail, and difficulties with correctly interpreting the emotions of others. There is a lot of talk now about a connection between autism and anorexia.

Read A Factor Of Starvation in full here.
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Join The Online Boycott Of Ralph Lauren
The-F-Word: Rachel

Remember the Ralph Lauren shrinky-dink hack job of already underweight supermodel Filippa Hamilton? Followed by them firing the same underweight supermodel for being too fat? Now the producers of America the Beautiful are waging an online boycott of the unrepentant fashion house.

On behalf of all the girls who feel ugly, overweight, and just not-good-enough;

On behalf of the parents who worry, cry, strive to help their daughters, and shell out $20,000 a month and above for eating disorder treatment centers;

On behalf of all the Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Aunts, women everywhere who have ever been made to feel insecure by the magazines, billboards, ads, and television commercials;

We are calling for the Boycott of Ralph Lauren products.

Read Join The Online Boycott Of Ralph Lauren in full here.

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Dealing With Your Eating Disorder And Parents As An Adult

Actively Arielle: Arielle Becker Bair

This week's video is in two parts, because what I had to say took a bit longer than 10 minutes. :) The topic of the video is: Dealing with your eating disorder & your parents as an ADULT --'cause let's face it, they affect us even when we're grown or we carry issues with us.

Click here for Arielle's Blog and Links to the Videos

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13 Years Old And Anorexic: Kourtney's Story

Medusa

Kourtney's story...

"It all began when I was a mere 13 years old. Almost exactly one year ago. I was running cross country, having fun with friends, and getting into fashion and clothes. Life was great, I was happy and healthy, and everything seemed "perfect."

First, came the OCD. It hit like a brick to the face. I started feeling anxious about running and times. I started calculating times of 3.5 miles in my head, obsessively. All of the sudden, nothing seemed to trigger it.

The OCD caused me to isolate from friends because I was so trapped in my head, all of the time. So habitual, so compulsive. I stopped going shopping with my best friend over the weekend, and all I would do between classes was look at the school record times, calculating how I could obtain them with my current times. All of the isolation led to depression.

Once the depression hit, I stopped eating, but just a little bit.

13 Years Old and Anorexic in full here.