Several weeks ago I wrote a post — that I never published — titled, “I need an iPad for recovery.” There has been a lot of negative press about eating disorders and technology, so in contrast I’m going to explain how I’ve used my iPhone / iPad to aid my recovery…

It has occurred to me lately how often I say “I don’t know” in my appointments (possibly even more often than I say “I know” !). My therapist has come to totally disregard the phrase, which for me, has become very versatile:

Type 1: the how-did-you-feel-in-that-situation “I don’t know”

I just couldn’t resist…
On the 12th day of Christmas,
my therapist gave to me…

12 new feeling words
11 prying questions
9 self-affirmations …

There are lots of situations where I’m tempted to say “use your words!” (don’t worry, I usually resist the urge). Often this is with the ED, becuase often people use their eating disorders to communicate. I’m a huge offender.

(in no particular order)

You measure the cost of things in nutrition appointments (ex: That shirt is one nutrition appointment. These shoes are worth two appointments).
You start dressing like your professionals (or maybe, they starts dressing like you…)
“Treatment” is a recurring event with no end date on your calendar.
You’ve never needed to purchase “Eating in the Light of the Moon” because at some point you have been given a photocopy of every chapter.
In group, no one sits in your seat, even when you’re not there (because you’ve been sitting there …

“I wish that all these guys were going to stay clean, I really do. I’ve just seen it so many times that I can tell when someone’s really willing to do whatever it takes and when someone’s willing to do what they think it should take. And it’s just not going to work like that, unfortunately.”
–Shelly, Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew 2

I was watching Celebrity Rehab 2 online tonight (since I’m a little behind), and these words from Shelley really caught my attention. There are so many …

What’s the value of mental health blogging? I stumbled upon this post on The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive, where Seaneen discusses the role that blogging has played in her struggle with bipolar disorder. At the end of the post she poses a question:
What are your views on mental health blogging? If you have a blog, why did you start writing it?
I wrote this in her comments (in case it sounds familiar), but I think that mental health blogging is valuable for several reasons:

It can provide …

Top 10 Eating Disorder Controversies:
(In my opinion, and not in order of importance)

Full recovery is possible (to the point of being “cured”)
EDs are symptoms of a deep-seeded childhood trauma or toxic environment
Treatment should not be forced upon those who don’t feel ready to recover
Weight gain goals should be 100% of ideal body weight
Meal plans and/or monitored exchange/calorie counting is necessary
Without working through the underlying psychological causes of the eating disorder, one cannot completely recover
Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating Disorder are all on one disordered eating continuum
Society is largely to blame …

To build on yesterday’s post… I have quite a few “rules” that seem very logical to me. Not really eating disordered rules, like “no liquids with calories”… although some of those do still linger (at the height of my disorder, I could have probably written a book with all of my rules). No, these are different — we’ll just call them “Grey Logic.” Obviously they are influenced by recent events / arguments.
1. You must abide by “ED recovery etiquette” – By this I mean, no matter how …

Just finished watching Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Addiction Special… and I’ll be the first to admit that I love Dr. Drew. I think that he is insightful, sensitive, non-nonsense, and passionate. I also think he has said one of the most true things about addiction: “You are as sick as your secrets.”
Eating disorders are different from drug / alcohol addictions, but there are definitely a lot of similarities. There are a lot of components of addiction treatment that I believe in and think are important, and should be …