Eating Disorders Today

Emergency Hospitalization, Eating Disorder, Coming Home

       Yes, you can help your eating disorder recovery by ordering your environment. 

       Jeremy asks in his blog http://jeremygillitzer.blogspot.com/ if bringing his home into order will help him stabilize after his emergency six week hospitalization for eating disorder recovery.  To me, it sounds as if his emergency escort to the hospital was a rescue mission, and that he is lucky he got his life saved.

       Now it's time for him to take over and rescue his own life.  That's true for everyone with an eating disorder. The big questions are what to do? how to start? when to start?

       When to start? Answer: ASAP, with now being best.

       How to start?  Not as easy but the answer is usually right before our eyes.  As old school 12-step says, "Do what is in front of you to do."  Then follow it.  If it's a paper clip on the floor, pick it up and then see what's next.  If it's a phone call to make or hair to wash and comb, or a diaper to change, or a bed to make, or dishes to wash, or an appointment to keep, do it.  Then you'll see what comes next.

       If you can see what's in front of you to do and take healthy and practical action regardless of how you feel you are on a good road.  But maybe you can't see it.  Maybe you're so flooded with so many tasks and feelings that you are immobilized.  What then? That's when people ask, "What should I do?"

       Jeremy asks, should I clear out and organize my home?  I say, Yes!.

       Living with an eating disorder in control of your actions leads to chaos in your life and environment. Creating a healthy structure that will hold your life securely even when you feel insecure is the insurance you need to keep your life and your relationships intact.

       What's above reflects what's below and vice versa. Inner chaos creates outer chaos in your home, your file system, you closets, your kitchen cupboards, your closets, your work, your relationships. Everywhere you look you see the chaos theme reinforced.  That view goes in your psyche, and you feel hopeless and overwhelmed.

     You know where those feelings lead: binge, purge and more.

       So, by putting some order in your outer life you can give your psyche the signal of order and personal empowerment than can influence your state of mind.

       Yes, Jeremy. Clear the clutter out of your house.  It will help you clear out what's unnecessary in your mind. Get rid of what doesn't work for you, especially if it's broken.  That will help you get rid of your reliance on old ways of thinking that don't work for you. Put some beauty in your home.  That will help you smile and be more comfortable in your own skin.

       House organization is certainly not a substitute for ongoing and deep psychotherapy that is necessary for recovery. But, following the principles of Feng Shui in the home can help you bring more balance and health to your life and help your stabilize on your path to eating disorder recovery.

Joanna Poppink, MFT, psychotherapist, eating disorder recovery specialist, Los Angeles, CA   

bulimia, anorexia, binge eating, compulsive overeating recovery work. www.poppink.com

 

Coping with Feelings after New Years

A Nourishing Treat for Getting Through This Week Well

       As you move through this first week of the New
Year, I recommend that you read or re-read Joseph Campbell's
Hero with a Thousand Faces.

       This is the classic that can guide your through
your journey to eating disorder recovery.  Even if you
don't see the relevance, your unconscious will gladly take
in the healthy nourishment Campbell has to offer.

       I met Joe many years ago at an imagery conference
at UCLA.  We met in a big hall outside the workshops.
Many of the speakers and workshops were good, but at that
moment I was fleeing a bad one.  Joe was also in flight
from something he couldn't bear as well.

       We sat on a step at the bottom of the staircase and
talked for well over an hour.  The energy, honesty, humanity
and richness of the man came through so well I can feel him
today.  He also had a twinkle in his eye for attractive
young women which I enjoyed.  After all, he was a most popular
professor at Sarah Lawrence for many years.

       Many books came later.  His influence on the creation
of Star Wars came later yet. 

       But give yourself a gift and a boost into healing by
reading his first book, the book he wrote when he was a young
man starting his own journey.  Enjoy.  Please know that you
can be the heroine of your life.

Joanna Poppink, MFT, psychotherapist eating disorder specialist, Los Angeles, CA
bulimia, anorexia, compulsive overeating recovery, www.poppink.com

Binge Eater Discovery

A post just came in to my eating disorder recovery discussion board on www.poppink.com.  The poster was shocked in her discovery that she is a binge eater.  She is now looking for help.

I hope you can appreciate my gladness at her discovery.  I'm not happy that someone has any form of an eating disorder.  But when a person discovers that she does have an eating disorder that discovery is good news.

Now she has an opportunity to stop criticizing herself about her weakness, bad character, and all the other horrible  and relentless judgments she makes about herself.  Once she knows she has an illness, a disorder with a name, she can begin to look for guidance in her recovery work.

She can stop the endless pain of trying to do what doesn't work and begin her path to health and freedom from those debilitating binges.

Joanna Poppink, MFT, psychotherapist, Los Angeles, CA eating disorder recovery specialist

bulimia, anorexia, binge eating recovery;  www.poppink.com

Hung Over or Exhausted or Frightened?

       The week after New Years can be tough.  Fantasies around
New Years may be more powerful than Christmas wishes.  New Years
is often a time of hope for the end of eating disorder symptoms.
You hope for the beginning of a new and true love. You hope that
at last, you can be your real self, be recognized as the quality
person you are and welcome peace and opportunity in your life.

       When all those wishes don't come true as the New Year opens
the disappointment can be intense.  That disappointment can bring on
a state of depression where you have low energy and just want to cry
alone with your best friend - bulimia.

Please, hold out.  You might be hung over from too much
of everything over the holiday.  You might be exhausted from
activity and tension.  You might be frightened because of the sudden
transition from holiday to quiet regular life.  Maybe you are
experiencing all three.

       Give yourself a chance to adapt to the shift your mind,
heart, body and emotions need to make after the holidays.

       A big tip that always needs reminding, that all of us
tend to forget:

Don't get too hungry.
Don't get too thirsty.
Don't get too tired.

Hunger, dehydration and fatigue will play havoc with
your emotions, your ability to think and your ability to
perceive realistically.

       Give yourself a few days of eating three healthy
meals a day, drinking 6 - 8 glasses of water a day and
getting eight hours of sleep at night. 

       You will be happily surprised at how much better
life looks. 

       This is not a cure for bulimia.  But it is a way
to catch hold of some health so you can take the steps
necessary for solid recovery.  And wouldn't that be a nice
way to start the New Year?

Joanna Poppink, MFT, psychotherapist eating disorder specialist, Los Angeles, CA
bulimia, anorexia, compulsive overeating recovery, www.poppink.com

Bulimia Emergency Tips for New Years

        When your gut trembles and aches with fear, when your upper arms
seem to vibrate on their own, when the back of your throat aches, when
what you see begins to have an unreal quality you are experiencing raw
vulnerability that is a prelude to a binge/purge episode.

       If you suffer from bulimia the end of a holiday season can leave
you in this fragile emotional condition.  You may attempt to use rage to
wipe out these feelings. You may try to control the people around you to
prove your power when deep down you feel powerless. You may want to hide
under the covers or throw a full on tantrum.  Please remember these are
symptoms of your illness.  You can get through this.

       After the holidays a quiet comes to town, which is difficult for
a person with bulimia to bear.  Generally people use the after holiday
time to rest, clean up, see how much money they’ve spent and get ready
to go back to school or work.

       A person with bulimia can’t move smoothly from high-energy conditions
to a calm and even state.  Other people relax after an intense time.  They
rest and regroup. The bulimic person crashes and feels frightened and unstable.

       This instability can set off one binge/purge episode or a series of
binges and purges that can last for days or weeks. 

       If you are near this state, please remember to be kind and giving to
yourself.  Try these simple tasks:

       1. Take a shower and wash your hair
       2. Make your bed
       3. Eat breakfast and immediately go for a walk
       4. Go to an OA meeting
       5. Call your therapist.  If you don’t have one, start looking for one.
       6. Go to an animal rescue shelter and volunteer to walk a dog
       7. Go to the library and write thank you notes to anyone you can think of
       8. Look at something you usually think is beautiful – even if nothing seems beautiful now.
       9. Postpone your binge or purge. Start thinking about what else can nourish you.
      10. Journal, journal, journal.
   
       Find ways to put yourself in environments that nurtures healing, creativity
and learning. Someday you will create that for yourself.  For now, stretch yourself
in that direction because every moment of your life can be the beginning of a New Year
for you.

Joanna Poppink, MFT, psychotherapist eating disorder specialist, Los Angeles, CA
bulimia, anorexia, compulsive overeating recovery, www.poppink.com