Relating breakthroughs in phenomenology and neurobiology and current strategies for diagnosis, assessment, and clinical care, this long-anticipated Second Edition provides expanded descriptions of clinical features, further evidence linking heritability to etiology, and revised epidemiological estimates as observed in the most recent research on Tourette’s syndrome (TS) and associated disorders. The latest information about the controversial poststreptococcal hypothesis is also presented and discussed.
Tourette’s Syndrome is now recognized as a common, lifelong condition and a “model” disorder reflecting the interaction of genetic vulnerability and environmental factors. Along with progress in research on Tourette’s and other tic disorders, new approaches to treating this neuropsychiatric disturbance are now attracting wide interest among mental health workers. This book provides the broadest, most up-to-date account of this group of disorders, their features, symptoms, etiology and diagnosis, and various psychosocial disorders with similar symptoms. It also presents a variety of environmental and pharmacological therapeutic approaches that underscore areas of disagreement in the field, as well as new genetic, neurochemical and pharmacologic knowledge. Contributors to this work are all leading researchers or clinicians.
Grounded in a comprehensive model of Tourette syndrome (TS) and related disorders, this state-of-the-art volume provides a multidisciplinary framework for assessment and treatment. Leading authorities present the latest knowledge on the neurobehavioral underpinnings of TS, its clinical presentation, and how to distinguish it from frequently encountered co-occurring disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Strategies for managing symptoms and providing effective support to children and families are thoroughly detailed, with an emphasis on integrating medication and psychosocial therapies. Several chapters also address clinical work with adults with TS. User friendly and practical, the book includes three reproducible assessment tools.
The Diseases & Disorders series offers young readers and researchers a means of understanding ailments and their ramifications. Clear, careful explanations offer insight into what these conditions are, what causes them, how people live with them, and the latest information about treatment and prevention. All volumes include primary and secondary source quotations, annotated bibliographies and lists of organizations to contact for additional information.
What causes eating disorders? The development of an eating disorder is multifactoral, says Barbara Alderete, LCSW, LPC, LMFT, an eating disorder therapist at Texas Health Springwood Hospital. There seems to be a genetic component, a psychological personality pattern component, and the experience of trauma or abuse during childhood. Also, family dynamics and the culture are a big factor. Participation in programs or activities that may emphasize body type, such as cheerleading, gymnastics, dancing, running, acting, modeling, may also be associated. One of the biggest risk factors is dieting during the teen years. Texas Health Resources www.TexasHealth.org 1-877-THR-WELL Video Rating: 5 / 5
Children and adults with autism are unable to relate to others in a meaningful way. They have difficulty developing relationships or understanding other people’s feelings and often develop strange obsessions or odd behavior patterns. Autism is believed to be a brain development disorder, and while there is no cure there is hope.
Autism is rare, affecting every two to four children in 10,000, and nearly three times more boys are affected than girls. It is also more common in higher social classes. Most cases present themselves before the age of two and a half or earlier. Although the cause is unknown, it has been linked to epilepsy (10 to 15 percent of sufferers develop epilepsy) and later schizophrenia (there is some indication that autism may be a form of schizophrenia, although it does not, as yet, respond to the same medication).
Most sufferers remain educationally subnormal, although some have an isolated special ability, for instance, with numbers or music.
Treatment
There are a vast range of approaches that can help people with autism develop, communicate, and become more independent.
Diet and Nutrition High doses of vitamin B6 and magnesium have been found to be helpful in improving sleeping habits and attention span, decreasing hyperactivity, irritability, and aggression in autistic people.
Consult a qualified practitioner/therapist for:
Massage Hand and foot massage (with or without essential oils) can help autistic people learn to enjoy positive touch and be calm. Carers can be taught how to massage.
Music Therapy Trained therapists have had good results using music to communicate with autistic children and help them express themselves.
“Holding” Therapy When combined with other treatments, holding – where the parent insists on comforting an unwilling child – has been found to be effective in improving the behavior patterns of autistic children. Families will find that they need support and advice from experienced therapists when attempting to use this form of therapy.
Relaxation Techniques Learning relaxation techniques can help avoid violent outbursts.
Osteopathy Autistic children can benefit from gentle manipulation by specialized osteopaths.
Talking Treatments These can help the family deal with an autistic child. Behavior therapy may help reduce difficult behavior and teach new skills.
Read out for Strength ball training [http://www.bodybuilding-workouts.org/strength-training/strength-ball-training.html]. Check out arthritis and diagnostic tests
What does it mean to be “nourished?” To many, the idea of nourishment is associated with the provision of sustenance to the body, mainly in the form of food and water. Such a Westernized conceptualization ignores the fact that one’s mind, spirit and body all need to be nourished in order to survive and thrive. The mind, body, and spirit are intimately connected, and an individual must provide nourishment to all aspects of the self to attain feelings of being alive and full. Spirituality is not a unitary concept. Rather, it encompasses three aspects. Spirituality on an individual level relates to the connection with one’s inner self, that is, how one nourishes their own individual soul and fulfills their life and universal purpose. However, this inner spirituality needs to arise in conjunction with a spiritual connection to others, satisfying the human need for interpersonal relationships, as well as a larger ‘cosmic’ spirituality that bring awareness to and links us to the greater universe we are a part of. This process is slow, and the journey towards a sense of spiritual fullness can span decades and lifetimes. This article will explore the journey an eating disordered individual takes when developing her mind, body, and spirit, and the role eating disorders may play in understanding one’s greater purpose in life and learning how to achieve true and long lasting nourishment.
One may often ask, “Why did I get an eating disorder?” What many don’t realize is that eating disorders are not random unfortunate occurrences but in fact have a purpose. In many instances, the eating disorder is symbolic of a difficulty in finding other more satiating ways to deal with important needs and emotional issues, some of which may not be accessible to awareness. As well, eating disordered clients typically will be resistant to giving up their eating disordered behaviour because they believe it makes them exceptional and unique, providing an identity when they are confused about their own. In this sense, the eating disorder serves as a mask while an individual attempts to figure out their own true identity and purpose in life, covering a true hunger for meaning about where one belongs. When individuals are ready to confront these underlying issues, they first need to recognize, confront, and heal their eating disordered behaviours by re-feeding and slowly re-nourishing their mind. Working with a therapist aware of the role that an eating disorder plays in self-transformation, one is provided with the opportunity to learn how to feel ‘full’ in their mental and spiritual lives as well. It can be very scary for an individual to accept and acknowledge their spirituality, because it means confronting greater issues about death and the cycle of life. From this standpoint, an eating disorder is a transition point on a spiritual quest, serving as a catalyst to explore what one needs to feel fulfilled in their mind and spirit. As the following case study shows, the better question to ask is, “How can I learn and grow from my eating disorder?”
Jennifer was a white, well-educated, upper class young woman who battled with anorexia for seven years. In her work in therapy, she was at first indignant to the idea that there was more to her eating disorder than counting calories and wanting to ‘lose 5 pounds.’ Over the next couple of years, we worked on both the physical and emotional components of her eating issues, endeavouring to understand the goals underlying her eating disordered behaviour. In this case, Jennifer’s eating disorder was a way for her to regulate her internal emotional state, that is, the anxiety associated with experiencing feelings that scared her and that she didn’t understand. By controlling her food intake, she was able to focus on something else besides how she felt lost in the world and didn’t know where she fit in. By remaining extremely thin, she felt as if she could remain like a little girl and thus avoid having to confront her true purpose in life. Using therapeutic techniques meant specifically to reconnect the mind and body and spirit, including Reiki, Yoga and other body oriented therapies that will be described in more detail below, Jennifer not only returned to a healthy body weight, but also realized the importance of nourishing her mind and spirit, and learned to experience and accept her emotions without resorting to eating disordered behaviour as a coping mechanism. By exploring the issues pertaining to why she started restricting her food intake, she came to the realization that she maintained her physical hunger as a way to maintain congruence with her more intense spiritual hunger. Through meditation, Jennifer became aware that the way to attain inner spiritual nourishment was to strengthen her spiritual connection with others. She realized her purpose in life was to help other people with eating disorders, and that her own eating issues would enable her to understand and truly help others who also felt lost in their bodies or present lives. Jennifer has begun to help others on the path to healing, and no longer feeling starved spiritually, has been able to maintain her recovery.
How can other individuals, like Jennifer, learn to re-connect their mind, body, and spirit? There are a multitude of experiential therapeutic techniques, many of which can be used in combination, that can help an individual to heal their body and to grow spiritually. The therapist in these situations can serve as the individual’s healer and spiritual community, helping to engender feelings of connection with another being and gently guiding the client to her own mindfulness and spiritual awareness.
It has been widely noted across multiple psychological orientations, including Adlerian psychology, that one’s early developmental experiences play a critical role in how an individual forms internalized perceptions of the self and others. These early relationship experiences remain with us as we further develop into adulthood, and become the basis of the internal scripts that we use to guide our thoughts and behaviours in our daily lives, particularly in our interactions with others. For example, an individual who had self-critical and restricting parents would mistakenly learn from this relationship that she is constantly being judged and is inferior and undeserving. As we react in response to our environment, such a perception may be internalized, with the individual coming to believe that she is not worthwhile and does not deserve to feel “full,” and may aim to restrict herself in any way she can. This perspective will later be played out externally, fuelling maladaptive and destructive life goals, by being self-critical and engaging in restricting towards the self. Not only do such developmental experiences make one feel worthless and unloved, but also will likely precipitate eating disordered behaviour.
Psychodrama is an ‘action’ oriented technique developed by J.L. Moreno. Its main tenets involve the therapeutic re-enactment and role playing of influential and important ‘scenes,’ or events in an individual’s life, rather than only talking about them. For example, early aversive parental experiences may be re-enacted, highlighting the influence of interpersonal relationships in one’s life and the thought and belief patterns arising from such interactions. Props may be used to facilitate these mini-dramas, and empty chairs may also be used to represent people to whom the client needs to express herself. Such techniques help an individual step back from the salient scene and take the perspective of an observer, which often can provide more insight.By acting out in psychodrama, an arena for one’s internal dramas can be brought to consciousness and expressed in the external world, bringing to awareness underlying reasons for one’s thoughts and actions and correcting psychologically disruptive and/or mistaken internalizations and beliefs. In this sense, psychodrama can be a means to spontaneously and creatively express one’s emotions, inner voice and to tell one’s life story, in addition to expressing any desires, fears, and deeper questions. The use of the body in psychodrama to relay one’s inner world can help to connect the mind and body, and can provide a cathartic release of physical and emotional tension. Psychodrama is advantageous because it can be done in both an individual and group setting, which can help an individual feel supported. This provides an opportunity to connect spiritually with other people and to view one’s experiences from another perspective. In short, psychodrama can help an individual to recognize their feelings and give meaning to their internal experiences in a more concrete and reality-oriented form.
None the less, it is important to recognize that some individuals experiencing an eating disorder will have issues verbalizing their emotions in psychodrama. Thus, it may be beneficial to explore other art forms, like painting and sculpture, that can express thoughts and feelings in images and symbols rather than words. Additionally, based on the premise that adaptations in bodily movement impact emotional and physical well-being, dance or movement therapy could also be used to bring an energized awareness to the experiences of the body that have emotional valence.Such techniques allow an individual to non-verbally symbolize their life journey and experiences and work to liberate one from their psychological distress. Regardless of the medium used, the important idea is that a creative experiential process is initiated. Summoning our creative potential and using our bodies and mind in an interconnected way can help us to move towards spiritual grounding by reconnecting us with the intangible creative force that controls and moves the universe.
While psychodrama can work to establish and nourish a stronger mind-body connection in an eating
Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified covers all eating disorders that do not fall into either of the two main diagnostic groups: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Although these less well known conditions are common and can be very severe, they are often neglected.
This book brings together contributions from many of the leading researchers and practitioners in the field of eating disorders and presents the topic of EDNOS from a range of perspectives including the clinical, the epidemiological, the nosological, the biological and the trans-cultural.
This comprehensive summary of the subject of EDNOS demonstrates that by investigating the nature, cause and treatment of these disorders, we can throw light on the classification and nature of eating disorders as a whole. It will be of great interest to all professionals in the field of eating disorders.
Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified covers all eating disorders that do not fall into either of the two main diagnostic groups: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Although these less well known conditions are common and can be very severe, they are often neglected.
This book brings together contributions from many of the leading researchers and practitioners in the field of eating disorders and presents the topic of EDNOS from a range of perspectives including the clinical, the epidemiological, the nosological, the biological and the trans-cultural.
This comprehensive summary of the subject of EDNOS demonstrates that by investigating the nature, cause and treatment of these disorders, we can throw light on the classification and nature of eating disorders as a whole. It will be of great interest to all professionals in the field of eating disorders.
Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified covers all eating disorders that do not fall into either of the two main diagnostic groups: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Although these less well known conditions are common and can be very severe, they are often neglected.
This book brings together contributions from many of the leading researchers and practitioners in the field of eating disorders and presents the topic of EDNOS from a range of perspectives including the clinical, the epidemiological, the nosological, the biological and the trans-cultural.
This comprehensive summary of the subject of EDNOS demonstrates that by investigating the nature, cause and treatment of these disorders, we can throw light on the classification and nature of eating disorders as a whole. It will be of great interest to all professionals in the field of eating disorders.
The Brunner/Mazel Mental Health Practice Under Managed Care Series addresses the major developments and changes resulting from the introduction of managed care in health care delivery. Volumes in the series enable mental health professionals to provide effective therapy to their patients while conducting and maintaining a successful practice. The series is under general editorial direction of S. Richard Sauber, Ph.D.
A working manual for brief, effective treatment of adjustment disorders. Following the authors’ step-by-step format, the therapist progresses from initial contact and diagnosis through treatment, assessment of progress, and termination. The psychotherapeutic focus is tailored to the demands of managed care programs, and closely follows the DSM-IV — enabling therapists to demonstrate the need for proven-effective treatment appropriate for a specific impairment within a specific time frame as required by managed care and insurance companies.
This article examines the rise of eating disorder websites. Eating disorders are most common in young women (both teenagers and young adults). As this demographic is a also known as a high-level user of the Internet, the proliferation of online eating disorder (ED) communities is of particular concern to ED support groups (ANAD 2006). Eating disorder communities are known a ‘Pro-Ana’, (pro-anorexic) and it is the term used both for their community and to describe an individual. While Pro-Ana is used to describe a person who is ‘pro-anorexic’, Bulimics use the term Pro-Mia (pro-bulimic). In this definition, people who identify as ‘Pro-Anorexic’ or ‘Pro-Bulimic’ embrace their eating disorder and generally consider it a lifestyle choice and not an illness or disorder. Pro-Ana communities are not generally limited to anorexics and generally include bulimics and other eating disorder sufferers within the community.
Pro-Ana websites represent themselves as online communities for those who are existing Anorexics and as such are not intended (as is frequently assumed), to lure non-sufferers into the illness. To the people who join them, they can be ‘a place’ that accepts their status without moral censure or social stigma as well as a site of advice, tips and support from fellow anorexics to help them become ‘better’ anorexics. While some of the Pro-Ana sites will also provide links to recovery and health sites, being ‘Pro-Ana’ symbolises a choice not to go into recovery. For pro-Anorexics, if you identify as ‘Pro-Ana’, then by definition you have chosen to live as an Anorexic or Bulimic at this point in time. The term ‘permarexic’ can also be used to describe those people who choose to live with their ED for the foreseeable future.
Eating Disorders Overview
Eating disorders (EDs) are characterised by a preoccupation with weight that results in severe disturbances in eating and subsequently other behaviours. Eating disorders embrace Anorexia, Bulimia and generic eating disorders such as purging, binging and night eating. The two most high profile eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. Anorexia can be defined as essentially self-starvation, as this disorder involves a refusal to maintain a minimally normal body weight, a distorted body image and a fear of obesity or weight-gain (CEED 2006). People who have Anorexia generally develop unusual eating habits such as avoiding food and meals, picking out a few foods and eating them in small amounts, weighing their food, and counting the calories of everything they eat. Its incidence is increasing in the Western world and it has been described as one of the most lethal psychiatric disorders (Lucas et al 1999 in Hsu 2001). Sufferers of Bulimia are involved in repeated episodes of binge eating, followed by ways of trying to purge the food from the body to prevent expected weight gain by utilising methods such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, enemas, or medications fasting, and/or excessive exercise to control weight (CEED 2006).
Common Aspects of a Pro-Ana Website
In order to research this article, I had to spend some time following dead links and doing diligent searching until I came across some functioning sites that catered to existing eating disorder sufferers. The nature of the public’s attitude towards many of these sites is such that they must change addresses constantly to avoid censure, or close voluntarily as a result of harassment and flaming, or are being arbitrarily closed down by their ISPs. The Pro-Ana communities manage to stay alive by frequently changing site addresses and communicating new web addresses within their community group.
Diaries: Many author’ of these websites offer personal accounts of their battle with anorexia or bulimia and how they struggle with starvation, how they feel about their body image and how they wrestle with taking control of themselves and their self-image. While the intention of some may well be to inspire weight loss among the website readers, the constant struggle and self loathing and self-castigation of the writers does not make Anorexia or Bulimia appear at all attractive. The diaries are also places to keep logs of food intake as well as ‘vent’ about unwelcome attempts by family members or friends to make the blogger recover from the disease, or the struggles she has in hiding her lack of eating from the rest of the world.
Discussion Forums: So that members can discuss their eating, their weight and their feelings. The forums act as both a source of dietary information and dieting support as well as somewhere to share their feelings and disclose in a non-judgemental environment. I observed the members to be very supportive and protective of each other.
Weight Loss Tools: Such BMI(Body mass index) calculators, homeopathic remedies and pharmaceutical pills. However, a search of Google on any given day will reveal similar information on many sites unrelated to Pro-Ana.
Food and Beverage Hints: Glycemic counters, calorie counters, lists of foods that are of negative calorie value, recipes for drinks and foods. In fact, all the things you can buy in the average women’s or girls’ magazine at your local newsagent.
A Recovery Room: a discussion forum specifically for recovering eating disorder sufferers. I only found this on a handful of sites.
The more militant Pro-Ana websites would typically contain some of these additional attributes:
Tips and Tricks: Mostly a list of methods, tricks and hints on how to make the process of starvation easier. It may give hints on hiding weight loss from relatives and how to pass weekly weigh-ins if parents make a teenager go to a nutritionist or counsellor. These lists may also contain explicit details on how to vomit after meals with the least amount of discomfort or on what to take to make the vomiting occur more quickly, as well as listing which foods are easiest to purge. This section will also contain tips for ways of avoiding eating and not getting caught (e.g. get up early and rinse cereal and milk around in a bowl and leave in the sink so your parents think you ate before them).
Thinspiration does exactly what the name implies: inspire readers to be thin, achieving this through pictures of unhealthily skinny models and movie stars. Favourites are pictures of young celebrity role models, including teen stars Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton and Nicole Ritchie. Thinspiration may also include articles on being fat, famous people’s height and weight, and triggering quotations such as ‘Nothing tastes as good as thin feels’, or ‘Food hinders progress’. Some Pro-Ana websites also encourage the use of a personal ‘Thinspiration book’ to always carry around as a means of remembrance when the person cannot be near a computer or they suggest the wearing of bracelets to signify the particular eating disorder and remind the wearer of her status (red for example signifies Anorexia and purple Bulilmia). The less militant sites do not contain ‘Thinspiration’ and may also ban tips and caution users that they will be banned if they give tips on vomiting, hiding their food, etc. In addition, they may also provide more information available on related areas of danger such as dental problems, heart disease and diabetes as potentially dangerous to ED sufferers.
Ana is my ‘Friend’
The Pro-Anorexia websites are able to provide eating disorder experts unprecedented insights into the world of their patients, revealing an obsession with the disease that may surprise even the most veteran eating disorder observers. For example in some cases, the younger sufferers can be observed to personalise their illness and naming her “Ana” (or “Mia” for girls with symptoms of bulimia), and some girls even worship her as a type of ‘deity’:
I tried to recover once & I gained so much weight so my savior mia came back to rescue me just when i needed it most (Anon Bulimic)Pro-Ana Websites and Support
I found there to bedegrees of Pro-Ana websites. While some did not acknowledge the possibility of recovery, others recognised that some sufferers wish to recover from their illness and as such focussed on support and community rather than dieting tips. In this way they provide an important forum for what can be both a marginalised and misunderstood segment of society. For young girls that suffer social stigma and misunderstanding of their eating disorder illness, simply being able to communicate with others who share their problems can be a huge relief:
I am an active bulimic, and I know I would be in serious trouble right now if I wasn’t in contact with other mias/anas through the sites I’ve been on. It’s really necessary to get your thoughts and feelings out somehow, and the sites are a great way to do that… (Anon Bulimic) I think that to take these sites away would be removing a valuable support network that we need to carry on, not with our disease, but with our lives. Most of these people cannot get support from family or friends, and these sites are where they go to talk about what they are going through freely, without being judged (Anon EdNOS Sufferer).However it is precisely this aspect of community and belonging and how it interfaces with an eating disorder that worries some experts. Pro-Ana communities may in this instance be unintentionally encouraging the eating disorder as they provide an environment and opportunity to belong to the “eating disorder club”. Other experts concur, arguing that these ‘pro’ eating disorder websites are potentially deadly, because they normalise and affirm the very behaviour that
The vast majority of findings in the published literature, apart from the studies of early trauma and early development, are either descriptive, or relate to predisposition, or measure what IÂ believe are the biological results of the disease process. While description, predisposition and biological change pertain to the disease process, they are not proven causative, and exploration has not led to significant prevention. In contrast, the early traumata identified and demonstrated in this text have exceedingly high correlations with disease processes that can surface 20 to 30 years later, and these early traumata can be identified and eliminated or attenuated, making prevention possible.Nonetheless, I review briefly some of the literature pertaining to serious mental disorders
DESCRIPTIVE PSYCHIATRY:
Over the last century a number of descriptive scientists played an important role in the identification, description and categorization of serious mental disorders. Their work drew interest to the field and provided a framework for future study. Aside from its historical value, their work continues in the form of DSM IV, which is an elaboration and extension of the same efforts to categorize mental illness in a way that facilitates study, research, treatment and prevention.
Noteworthy descriptive scientists of the past include Emil Kraepelin, Eugene Bleuler, Gabriel Langfeld and Kurt Schneider. Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926), a German psychiatrist, categorized seriously disturbed individuals into three main groups: dementia praecox [schizophrenia], manic depressive psychosis, and paranoia. His main contribution to the field was his careful description and categorization of serious mental disorders.
Eugene Bleuler (1857-1939), a Swiss psychiatrist, coined the word schizophrenia, and provided the four “A”s of schizophrenia: Associations (looseness of), Autism, Affective disturbance, and Ambivalence. Gabriel Langfeld described schizophreniform psychosis, and Kurt Schneider gave us first rank and second rank Schneiderian symptoms.
From Kraepelin through DSM IV, classification has been largely descriptive. I believe this is because little has been understood about cause. This leaves the process of categorization in its infancy. We find it more helpful to know the age of origin of a disorder than to know that the disorder meets a certain set of diagnostic criteria, and we think that future studies likely will confirm our impression that medications and regions of brain activity are specific to age of origin-not to current diagnostic criteria.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSATION:
Causation has been addressed in many ways, including psychological attempts at explanation. Sigmund Freud came the closest to the theories presented in my work when he described ego disintegration and regression as a return to a state of primary narcissism. The idea of a return to a time when the ego was not yet developed matches closely my findings. I have developed the concepts further, however, describing original trauma, precipitating trauma, the return to a specific time, age and brain site, and adding the connection between psychological mechanism and biological change.
The psychological explanation of regression, attributing it to a return to an earlier time “because” the patient was more comfortable then, is a misunderstanding of the process. While there is a tendency to adapt or “settle in” to the most comfortable aspect of the regressed state, the reason for the regression is survival, and in the case of schizophrenia and other serious disorders, the survival mechanism is maladaptive. My data correlating early traumata with the later development of serious mental illness bares this out.
The most damaging of all attempts to explain the cause of schizophrenia psychologically was the attempt to blame the parent for his or her interaction with the child. The parent often suffers more than the child because of unwarranted feelings of guilt. The attempt to indite the parent was often presented in a way that was cruel and insensitive to the feelings and the needs of the parent, and this effort brought emotional destruction to lives of countless persons who already were in a state of great emotional despair.
Frieda Fromm-Reichmann (Campbell, 1989) was the first to discuss the “schizophrenogenic mother.” While she and others were astute in capturing intricate nuances in the relationship, the significant mistake was to identify the unique interaction between the patient and the mother as the cause instead of the result of the disease process. My work clearly makes this distinction: When the patient returns to the infant mind/brain/reality, everyone treats the patient like an infant, and this includes many mental health professionals.
Family support groups evolved as a means of self preservation, and as they grew in number and gained political influence, researchers retreated from exploration of interpersonal causes. The work of G. W. Brown (1966) had identified a strong mathematical correlation between living at home and recurrent hospitalizations, however, and this sparked a search for elements in the home environment to account for relapse. Expressed emotion in the family, referred to as the “EE” factor, was identified as the culprit, and family therapy to lower the EE factor was proven effective in reducing the relapse rate.
According to my findings, this effort does not go far enough. It is like detonating a small charge next to a combat veteran instead of a large one. The absence of an explosion precipitates no flashback at all. Likewise, a zero EE factor, brought about by a complete separation, is immeasurably better than a low EE factor.
This is not an inditement of the parent or an implication that he or she caused the disorder in any way. Even if the parent is exemplary and behaves in the most ideal way, contact can lead to relapse. The mechanism for this is the same as that between an alcoholic and the bottle. The bottle of scotch may be the finest in the world, but after the subject has “crossed the invisible line” and has become alcohol dependent, one sip returns him to the infant-on-the-bottle mind/brain/reality, and he drinks until the belly is full and passes out.
My sympathy is with family members who often suffer more than the patient, and every effort is made to protect the parent. There may be ways in which families do share in responsibility for the perpetuation of serious disorders, however, and if so, then it is in their best interest to be aware of these factors and to learn what to do.
Two important psychological factors led to the development of family organizations: 1) strong feelings of guilt (even though unwarranted) as parents were targeted unfairly for the cause of schizophrenia, and 2) powerful psychological defense mechanisms of denial and projection, as family members could not tolerate the pain of feeling guilty. These factors influenced the direction of research for nearly two decades, and a strong desire emerged to find a biological cause or an act of God responsible.
To search for the cause of schizophrenia, with the precondition that the result not precipitate feelings of guilt, is not the scientific method. Nonetheless, we have spoken with numerous mental health researchers who have said they would not dare explore possible influences related to family interactions.
Ironically, while my theories identify psychological traumata, they vindicate the parent from blame because they identify accidental traumatic experiences that happen to occur at crucial stages of development, and about which no one is aware.
Dr Clancy McKenzie is a widely acclaimed authority on the understanding of origins, mechanisms and treatment of schizophrenia. He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Medicine in 1962, and then focused his attention on the study of the human mind. Dr. McKenzie has studied the relationship between trauma and Schizophrenia. Through the years he has dedicated himself to the evaluation, analysis and treatment of trauma and its immediate and long-range effects on behavior and mental health. Learn More: http://www.drmckenzie.com and follow his blog: http://www.drmckenzieblog.com
Eating disorders cause a lot of distress to those who suffer with them, they often suffer in secret, and also too their loved ones who can be at a loss as to how to manage and how to help the person, be it a male or a female. Men can suffer from them just as women can.
Having more facts about the problem and so a greater understanding, can be very beneficial for both the sufferer and the people around them. Just knowing that other people can be affected by disordered eating can be comforting.
An eating disorder is defined by ‘severe disturbances in eating behavior’ (DSM-IV 1994) and originally included anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. More recently binge eating d also called compulsive eating disorder, has been generally recognized as. Obesity is considered too as there is often an overlap with compulsive eating, just as there is often an overlap between bulimia and compulsive eating with anorexia. One of the unfortunate facts about is that the same person can have both anorexic and bulimic symptoms.
With anorexia nervosa the sufferer refuses to eat enough to maintain the appropriate body weight for their height. They have a fear of becoming fat even though they might be very underweight, and they have a distorted perception of their shape and size. People are who anorexic are said to be either ‘restricting’ types or ‘binge eating/purging’ types. The restricting types keep their weight down by limiting the amount of food that they eat whilst the other type binge eat and purge themselves by vomiting or taking laxatives, diuretics or enemas.
With bulimia nervosa the person has a strong urge to overeat and will alternate those times with when they starve themselves or vomit and purge to control their weight. As they are usually of normal weight, people who are bulimic can often hide it from friends and families, sometimes for years.
Interesting eating disorder statistics include how many people will suffer in their lifetime from them, how many men and how many women, what age are they, how long will the disorder last, how many obtain eating disorder treatment, how many people who get treatment get the intensity of treatment necessary to stay in recovery, how many die from the eating disorder etc.. Eating disorder recovery can be a lengthy and challenging process and can depend on the quality of treatment received and the determination of the sufferer to overcome the disorder.
The known facts about eating disorders are increasing all the time and general awareness is improving. Whether you are someone suffering from an eating disorder or a loved one of a sufferer, it’s vital to seek the right help now!
