Body image and eating disorders can be very devastating for people. It is estimated that 30 million people in the US have an Eating Disorder and of those every 62 minutes an individual dies from the complications. Is it any surprise that people have concerns over diet, body dysmorphia and other concerns with their bodies? The following blog is all things Eating Disorders and Mental Illness in order to help empower people through science, story-telling how to live their happiest lives. If you stay to the end you’ll read about a Journal I am really proud to share with you.
Compassionate Factor #1: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 Know What It Looks Like To Have An Eating Disorder and Dealing With Mental Illness.
This topic can be a hard one for people to talk about, but it’s also the one that needs more awareness. There are more eating disorders than just Anorexia, there’s also Bulimia, Binge Eating, Orthorexia, ARFID, but there are more coming to the surface of research as well.
According to the Toledo Center For Eating Disorders, they said the following when it comes to Depression and Eating Disorders coexisting together. “Research shows that 32-39% of people with anorexia nervosa, 36-50% of people with bulimia nervosa, and 33% of people with binge eating disorder are also diagnosed with major depressive disorder.”
Emma, my Head of Creative, shares a story from her experience. “I don’t personally struggle with an eating disorder, but I have friends that do. This one friend of mine, let’s call her Spencer, she struggles with Anorexia. I’ve known her since we were in Elementary school, and in 6th grade, that’s when it started. The first thing that I noticed that was changing was her personality. She went from always wanting to go exploring, to someone that didn’t want to do anything but workout. Fast forward a year, she had lost a lot of weight (I’m not going to say exact numbers because I know that can be triggering) and no doctors believed that she had a problem. She knew deep down inside of her that she did, though, and she asked for my help. I tried everything that I could, but Spencer ended up getting worse, and so she had to go to a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) to get help. Now, today Spencer is recovered and thriving.” The thing is, though, everyone’s story is different, and Eating Disorders come in all different shapes and sizes. That being said, do you or someone that you know struggle with an Eating Disorder? If so, here’s an article that can help with the first steps from the National Eating Disorder Associations (NEDA).
Have you ever known someone with an Eating Disorder? What are some signs that we didn’t list you’d like to share? Tweet us @MoveHappyTeam and we’ll retweet your info ❤️
Compassionate Factor #2: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 Know The Signs and Symptoms of Eating Disorders and Mental Illness.
When it comes to signs and symptoms of depressed states and eating disorders, I want to take a look at depressed states first. Some of the signs and symptoms that come with depression are the following: Trouble concentrating, tiredness, feeling of guilt or worthlessness, irritability, loss of interest in things you once enjoyed, increase or decrease in appetite, persistent sadness, or empty feeling, anxiety, and more.
When having these symptoms and emotions, it can be incredibly difficult. It’s important to remember that depression looks different for everyone, so even if someone doesn’t look like they have it on the outside, we can’t say whether or not someone is or isn’t struggling.
Now’s let’s take a look at the signs and symptoms for Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating, Orthorexia, and ARFID. Some signs and symptoms of Anorexia: Preoccupied with their weight, making comments about their appearance, restricting their calories, skipping meals, brittle nails, dizziness, and more. Some signs and symptoms of Bulimia: Weight fluctuating, difficulty concentrating, having calluses on hands and knuckles from self-induced vomiting, discolored teeth, evidence of binge eating, evidence of purging behaviors, swelling in cheeks or jaw area, and more. Some signs and symptoms of Binge Eating: Evidence of binge eating, hoards food in hidden places, secret and recurring episodes of binge eating, feeling embarrassed around eating, and more. Some signs and symptoms of Orthorexia: Compulsively checking ingredient lists and nutritional labels, cutting out food groups, concern over the health of ingredients, and more. Some signs and symptoms of ARFID: Not consuming enough calories based on your age, gender, height, and activity level, significant nutritional deficiencies, feeding disturbance, and more.
As you can see, each eating disorder has different things that people struggle with, but the one thing that they all have in common is the mental struggle that comes with it. And when you add depression into it, it can feel like it’s impossible to overcome it, but I promise that it’s not. For more info check out this article.
What are some things you’ve experienced around Eating Disorders you’d like to share with us? Share to our Instagram Stories @TheRealMoveHappy and we’ll share it to our audience and give you writer’s credit
Compassionate Factor #3: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 Understanding The Global Prevalence of Eating Disorders and Mental Illness.
According to the National Library of Medicine, they did a study regarding the Global Prevalence that Depression and Eating Disorders have, and the results were interesting: “Mood disorders were more frequent among eating disorder (ED) patients than among controls, with a global prevalence of the order of 80% for each ED group. The majority of the mood disorders comorbid with ED were depressive disorders (MDD and dysthymia).”
What this means that within the study, it shows that people with Eating Disorders are more likely to be struggling with a Mood Disorder like Depression.
What are your thoughts on this? Snap us your thoughts and some wholesome ways to combat Eating Disorders to @TheMoveHappy and we’ll share it to our Snap connections
Compassionate Factor #4: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 Know Some Possible Solutions and Support of Mental Illness Specific To Eating Disorders.
Eating Disorders and mental illness looks different for everyone, so there is no one size fits all when it comes to diagnosing these mental illnesses or reasons why someone might struggle with it. What I mean by this is that everyone’s eating disorders form from different reasons. Whether someone is looking for control, someone wanting to get into shape but it goes too far, etc. there are different reasons why someone might develop an eating disorder. No matter what someone looks like on the outside, it doesn’t mean they’re not struggling on the inside.
What are some of your favorite positive affirmations you’d like to share? Tag us in your LinkedIn post @Move-Happy and we’ll share it to our audience giving you writer’s credit
Move Happy®️ Updates: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏
The Move Happy Movement Podcast© is in full swing! Together we are bringing awareness to mental health, providing practical strategies to empower those with depressed states to move towards their own happiness and inspiring the joy of movement! Next Monday I’ll be releasing episode 61 with Natasha Bray. She is a transformational healing coach. We met through a Money Bootcamp Course Facebook Group 3 years ago. She is a former Social Worker, mother and super rad businesswoman. She’s even been invited to meet former President’s Wife Hillary Clinton from her business success. The episode will be released Monday by 6p EST. You can follow the show on iTunes so you don’t miss out!
Follow the Move Happy Movement Podcast©️ wherever you listen (iTunes and Spotify) and Tweet us @MoveHappyTeam if you’d like it on a different platform. The last few weeks my computer has not been converting files which Spotify requires (#TechSupportNeeded). With that in mind, listen to current episodes on iTunes or straight from the distribution website here.
Once we have 10,000 listeners we’ll be offering a sweet giveaway! A private concert by me and my cool singer 🎶 friends! (Check my TikTok @TheRealMoveHappy for examples of my genre preference). You must be one of the monthly listeners to qualify and be active in commenting/liking/sharing/tweeting Move Happy®️ content on any and all social media platforms (and leaving iTunes reviews 😉😉😉). The more platforms you follow Move Happy®️, the easier it will be for us to remember your name when deciding on random giveaways 🙌. We’ll keep things updated from the distribution website below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
More Updates: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏
The World Health Organization estimates that $1 trillion dollars is lost annually due to lack of productivity from employees specifically diagnosed with depression and anxiety and not receiving adequate resources from their workplace. I designed a solution to help decrease this statistic. “Work Happy: The Practical Tools For Effective and Inclusive Workplaces©” is in beta.
Employees will benefit from this because the workshop is designed with you as the main focus in a positive manner. Employers will benefit from this because people that are cared for work harder and take less sick days, thus increasing your bottom line 💰. The workshop includes a follow up refresher (2 days total). Next 2 businesses/EAPs to sign up get prioritized scheduling. Email me “Work Happy Workshop Interest” here to set up your Work Happy Analysis©️.
If you need services from Move Happy®️that can be provided by my team, that will be first priority. If you absolutely need to chat with me personally, I only have time for 1 for VIP client. Specifically, you look like a mental health practitioner/employer wanting specialized training in resilience/positive psychology. If that be the case for you, pay my $7,500/mo retainer rate here and email me your time zone and 3 days/times that work best with your schedule: subject line “MOVE HAPPY VIP CLIENT SCHEDULE REQUEST” to prioritize your email to the top.
Compassionate Factor #5: 💃🏽 🏃♀️ 🤸♀️ 🧘♀️ 🙏 Understand How Move Happy®️ Can Help Those Struggling With Eating Disorders and Mental Illness.
With mental illness and eating disorders, it can seem difficult to deal with the. Journaling has been shown to help. Which is why I’ve created the Move Happy Participant Journal©. It’s a 16-week journal that moves you towards happiness with pre-planned questions and lines to write your reflections. This journal has helped my patients in a locked psychiatric hospital through difficult times in their lives, and I want to be able to help YOU too! My patients loved the journal, and spread word around the hospital. I would love to give you a free copy of my Move Happy Participant Journal© here or you can purchase a copy of it here and 40% goes back to mental health charities of YOUR choice and YOUR local chapter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Simply email me if you’re purchased it your desired charities and I’ll donate on your behalf.
Keep in mind we do not recommend group therapy for patients with Eating Disorders as that has been shown to exacerbate conditions. Instead, we encourage people with Eating Disorders to find a friend or family member that does not have any eating disorders and share their reflections together and join in a workout most days of the week.
So there you have it. Eating Disorders can be difficult to deal with but not impossible. Those struggling with EDs need our compassionate and kindness. They see themselves differently than we see them. When working with those with EDs encourage them to focus on positive affirmations daily. If. you are working with someone that you feel might have an Eating Disorder, we encourage you to schedule them for an appointment with a licensed therapist or psychiatrist. Eating Disorders are diagnosed disorders and require specialists to evaluate. Lastly, if you live with someone that is saying negative things about their body and perhaps isn’t eating as much as you feel they should or eating more than they should on the regular, have a conversation with them. Let them know you care.
PS: Don’t forget to tell someone you love them today.
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