Hello and welcome to another edition of Best 5 Reads!
1) Nine Truths about Eating Disorders
Truth #1: Many people with eating disorders look healthy, yet may be extremely ill.
Truth #2: Families are not to blame, and can be the patients’ and providers’ best allies in treatment.
Truth #3: An eating disorder diagnosis is a health crisis that disrupts personal and family functioning.
Truth #4: Eating disorders are not choices, but serious biologically influenced illnesses.
Truth #5: Eating disorders affect people of all genders, ages, races, ethnicities, body shapes and weights, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic statuses.
Truth #6: Eating disorders carry an increased risk for both suicide and medical complications.
Truth #7: Genes and environment play important roles in the development of eating disorders.
Truth #8: Genes alone do not predict who will develop eating disorders.
Truth #9: Full recovery from an eating disorder is possible. Early detection and intervention are important.
2) Virtual Reality May Soon Become Clinical Reality in Psychosis Care
While VR therapy is still in the early stages of research, the current evidence suggests it can reduce paranoia and improve sociability without significant risk of patients’ becoming detached from reality.
3) Feelings of Depression, Anxiety Common Among Graduate Students
An international survey of over 2,000 graduate students found that negative perceptions about work-life balance and the advisor-mentee relationship are highly prevalent among students with elevated depressive and/or anxiety symptoms.
4) 5 Ways to Ask About Hypomania
Hypomania is critical to rule out, but hard to pin down. In part 1 of this 2-part series, Dr. Aiken shares his top pearls for making the diagnosis.
5) Symptoms worsen around menses for people with borderline personality disorder
Symptoms associated with borderline personality disorder — a severe and chronic mood disorder characterized by an inability to manage strong emotions — tend to worsen just before and during menses.
See you tomorrow for another edition of Best 5 Reads!
Best Regards,
Vikram
Hi Vikram, Thank you for highlighting eating disorders in your post. I’m afraid I can’t agree with some of the “truths” about eating disorders – in particular #2 “Families are not to blame”. There is a considerable amount of research indicating that insecure attachment and adverse experiences in childhood lead to eating disorder development (Google “attachment issues and eating disorders” for research articles). For the clients that I work with (overeating issues, BED) it is generally the case that their bingeing began in response to unmet emotional needs in childhood. I feel the need to clarify this for anyone reading who might be affected.
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Dear Dr. Rohan,
Thank you very much for your input. Any form of difference in opinion is always encouraged here.
Actually, the points are borrowed from National Eating Disorders Association (actual link is provided in the heading of the article) which posted these points around 3 years ago.
Thanks for indicating that insecure attachment and adverse experiences in childhood.
I would appreciate if you could add more points to this topic given your experience in this topic.
Best Regards,
Vikram
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Many thanks for your response, Vikram, I had a feeling you would encourage debate on your site! I understood that you took the points from the NEDA website – I’m not sure why they promote this idea of “families are not to blame”. For me, it’s not necessarily about assigning “blame” but allowing the individual to examine their experiences in their family, particularly in relation to unmet emotional needs. That way, they’re able to uncover the beliefs they formed as a result of those experiences and explore how those beliefs impact on their eating behaviour today. Best wishes, Julie.
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Thank you Dr. Rohan for sharing your insight with us. Looking forward to hear more from you in upcoming posts 🙂
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