Dr. Wilson: House! Why the hell did you let an unstable patient wander the hallways?!
Dr. House: His leash broke.
I’ve always found the transition between “treatment” and the “real world” fascinating. One minute you are a “real adult” — you can drive your car, eat what you want, walk the dog, go to work, go on a vacation, make bad choices, make good choices… but as soon as you walk through those treatment-center doors, all of these adult “privileges” are revoked. Your purse and coat is locked up …

This is nothing new, but everyone seems to be on some kind of diet.  Or, if they’re not “dieting,” then they are eating purely organic food, or only raw foods, or cutting out all white flour and sugar.  All of this leads me to ask myself — if this kind of eating is “healthy” or “okay” for the rest of the world, why isn’t it okay for me?
I think that the line between healthy and disordered is so fuzzy (grey territory, I’d say).  Eating organic is healthy.  Raw foods are …

Perfectionism is a pretty common trait among individuals with eating disorders. That’s no secret. However, I think that people would be surprised to find what large procrastinators perfectionists often are. People think perfectionism = turning in assignments a week before the due date, keeping your house OCD-clean, and being perfectly dressed and put together every day. But actually, my place is messier and my work less productive during periods when I am being especially perfectionistic. Why is this?
“In a positive form, perfectionism can provide the …

Recently a woman joined my eating disorders group who doesn’t have issues with bingeing, purging, restricting, or compulsively overeating. She talked a lot about needing to diet… and about her weight being everyone else’s fault. She gained weight because she moved to the South and everyone is lazier than in the North. She gained weight because her boyfriend buys junk food. But, her biggest problem? Food allergies. She is allergic to everything. Including:

Fish (she can’t even be in rooms where fish was cooked …

I don’t even remember how I ran across this article today: Pro-anorexia websites inspire controversial photo exhibit
A controversial new photo exhibits opens tonight in Washington D.C. that has many people grimacing in disgust. The exhibit features a collection of work by German photographer Ivonne Thein and is titled ‘Thirty-Two Kilos.’ If your math is rusty, thirty-two kilos is roughly seventy pounds. Why is that important? The collection of photographs features extremely emaciated models.
I really think the only unique part about this exhibit is the title (while very sick, it is …

‘But I ask myself if an eating disorder unit is the best place for an impressionable young girl to be,’ says Deanne Jade. ‘As any inpatient will tell you, a specialist unit is the best place to learn how to be really, really good at anorexia.’ They also breed their own subculture.
– Still at war with our bodies

Oh, what a statement! This article is a couple of years old, but I still think it’s bold to suggest that the “highest level of care” for eating disorders actually makes …

I am a little rigid about my daily routine. I like waking up at the same time every day, doing the same workout every day, working the same hours, eating the same foods, etc. I’m not totally inflexible (I can skip the workout, sleep in if I’m tired, take a half-day from work, spontaneously go out to eat, etc.), but when given the choice will follow my routine.
My routine basically went out the window when I moved to a new city this summer. I couldn’t walk the …

“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 …

I had a dietitian call me this once… and I’m sure she didn’t create the label just for me. By “dishonest” she meant that I wasn’t a vegetarian for moral reasons, but for ED reasons.
If you’ve ever been residential, you know that there is a much higher incidence of vegetarianism in eating disorder patients than in the general population (similar to how there are so many more runners (even marathoners!) with EDs… but I’ll save that thought for another day). Coincidence? Probably not.
Converting to vegetarianism is often …

Laura Collins raised a GREAT question today — Does (mom’s) size matter? While I have a lot to say about the matter, two main points come to mind:
1. Mothers with eating disorders
I think that your mother’s weight and behaviors surrounding food are much more relevant in recovery than in the downward eating disorder spiral. Parents model for their kids — I’d argue that this is even true for adult kids (adult kids, ha — you know what I mean). While I think that the eating habits of …