The holidays can be an especially tough time for people who are affected by eating disorders. But we in the eating disorders community can all act as resources for one another by sharing hope and support! That’s why we’re asking you to share short videos (no more than one minute long) about the unique challenges – and joys – that are part of the holiday season for those working toward recovery.
Need some ideas of what to talk about? How about posting…
In a story about the complex world of mental health and insurance, called “Denied,” 60 Minutes anchor, Scott Pelley interviewed Nancy West. Nancy, who is a friend of NEDA, shared the tragic story of her daughter Katherine’s death as a result of complications from an eating disorder.
NEDA has designated today, December 15th, as Donor Appreciation Day!
Our work would not be possible without you and we are so grateful for your support.
Because of you…people are finding recovery and gaining their lives back.
Please take a moment to watch!
Do you overspend and overeat? Deprive yourself of possessions as well as of meals? If so, there may be a connection between how you spend money and what’s going on with food.
Many behaviors with food and finances are strategies to cope with uncomfortable or intolerable thoughts, emotions and conflicts, including, but not limited to, the following:
The Internet has played a complicated role in my battle against an eating disorder.
In the depths of my illness, I used to scour the web to learn how to become a “better” anorexic. I was a slave to it. With every year that I lived with it (twelve in all), anorexia consumed increasingly more of my mind and body, until its goals fused completely with my own. I wanted—I needed—to lose weight, and the Internet, a vast fund of information and pro-eating disorder communities, seemed to hold the key.
I am a volunteer Navigator with NEDA. What’s great about being a volunteer with NEDA is the freedom to bring ideas to them on how to spread awareness of eating disorders. An initiative I have undertaken is lighting landmarks and buildings around the world blue and green to kick off National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (NEDAwareness). Of course NEDA’s home base in NYC has gotten the Empire State Buulding lit for the past three years, but I wanted to take the lightings to cities across the country.
My Inspiration
Ashtyn
For a holiday that surrounds itself around a feast, it can get pretty overwhelming. But I know that I can get up, take a breather, call my therapist or dietician and leave a message, or do some other skill that I’ve learned during my journey towards recovery. This year will be one of the first holiday seasons in a long time where I - Ashtyn- am at the table, around the Christmas tree, singing at Church…and not my eating disorder. There will be no compensating and “saving up” for the feast; there will be no forced eating.
Our country has set aside holidays for giving thanks, exchanging gifts, bringing light to a dark time of year. I cherish these ideals. But the actual experiences of the winter holidays often revolve more around food and complicated relationships, busyness and loneliness. Gratitude can seem far away.
Last week, my Pinterest account beckoned me with an alluring collection of pins under the heading, “Thanksgiving goodness without the guilt.” Featured were holiday “clean plates,” a virtual smorgasbord of vegan, raw, and gluten-free meals.
Part and parcel with Thanksgiving is the inevitable diet talk that ensues. Often, it starts days or weeks before the holiday, as careful eaters strategize about how to conquer the feast with their diets intact.
Body image. We all have one. We all have an idea in our heads of how we look, in other words, our own body image. We also have thoughts about how attractive or unattractive we perceive our body image to be. How do we come up with our body image? What standards of beauty do we compare our body images to? For our American society, the answers to those questions can be found in the media we consume on a daily basis.
