tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post3948270306454270151..comments2024-03-23T08:25:22.526-04:00Comments on ED Bites: The myth of motivationCarrie Arnoldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02569839838912988783noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-62905260022400025662010-06-21T18:18:27.392-04:002010-06-21T18:18:27.392-04:00Imagine you are a parent. You and your kid are st...Imagine you are a parent. You and your kid are standing on the ledge of a burning high rise building. The fire department has a safety net waiting for you to jump into, but your kid is extremely afraid of heights (as many people are) and cannot force herself to jump to save her life. As a parent, you wouldn't engage in talk therapy to try to overcome her fear of heights. Instead, you would lovingly grab her hand, temporarily think for her, and you would jump to safety, taking her with you. She might not have been "motivated" to jump on her own, but as a parent you can be motivated for her, by not giving her the choice not to be motivated.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-72347570721597121182010-06-21T18:16:17.828-04:002010-06-21T18:16:17.828-04:00I read this post and the "no other option&quo...I read this post and the "no other option" post. I think what's hard is that for a lot of us chronic adults, we don't have outside help. I don't have parents or anyone to help me or cook for - I'm on my own, with children to tend to. I was easily outpriced for a nutritionist and it's not covered by insurance. Once a week therapy is barely helpful. What do adults do when there really is no outside help? It's hard to be motivated and not get obsessed even more when one is the only one in charge of cooking and when there is no time off to focus on recovery. It seems an endless battle, and one hard to stay motivated for.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-763926517905997402010-06-21T02:17:28.441-04:002010-06-21T02:17:28.441-04:00Some really interesting thoughts and I find myself...Some really interesting thoughts and I find myself going "yeah, that's me" with a lot of stuff. Also, Dr Waller's "The anorexia can only be trusted to try to survive" is also a really powerful truth.<br /><br />Sustained motivation is vital but not easy when you've got anorexic intuition arguing against it. Thanks for yet another resonant post!James Claytonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02649874906360931246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-46742681982990173682010-06-20T09:33:22.940-04:002010-06-20T09:33:22.940-04:00Thanks as ever for this post Carrie...
You write:...Thanks as ever for this post Carrie...<br /><br />You write:<br /><br />"The main factor for me was anxiety and fear about changing my behaviors. I was often tired of the eating disorder but unable to push through the anxiety that was keeping my ritualistic behaviors in place".<br /><br />My response to that is "Ditto". Anxiety was the number one deterrent for my recovery for many years. My anxiety was mainly linked to my feeling that I couldn't survive the world (especially the social world). Remaining engrossed in my anorexic rituals kept me occupied and it was an 'excuse'. <br /><br />It was difficult to feel motivated to continue to eat (and hence to gain weight) when I was overwhelmed by anxiety. I didn't eat and gain weight to do all the social things that people tell you recovery will bring you - like having social competence and self confidence. Rather, I ate because I had already had so many 'near misses' with death and I felt so physically ill. I was tired of feeling 'crap' and scared of dying.<br /><br />Like you Carrie, I don't believe that patients choose to remain ill. Most don't want to stay sick; they're just terrified of what recovery might mean for them; the overwhelming anxiety associated with behavioural change; and, whether mental recovery (not just weight gain) really does happen.Cathy (UK)http://www.youtube.com/user/misstiggykinsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-40389853750160473132010-06-20T04:20:49.183-04:002010-06-20T04:20:49.183-04:00Fascinating report Carrie - thanks for attending a...Fascinating report Carrie - thanks for attending and writing about it. This was one of the talks I would have gone to had I been able to go to Salzburg as I enjoyed Dr Waller's talk at EDIC and was intrigued by the title. <br /><br />One thing that did strike me about Waller's talk at EDIC though, in marked contrast to at least one of the talks deliberately set up to challenge his ideas, was the lack of any mention of "life outside therapy". It would seem that he didn't have much to say about the client's other support mechanisms (ie the people who live with him or her 24/7 rather than just see him/her for 50 minutes a week) here either. <br /><br />I'm very glad that clinicians such as Waller are out there developing and delivering evidence based treatments that really do work but I wonder whether services attempting to deliver evidence based care to a wider population than just those who "choose" to attend and are "motivated" to change (and have independent transport and a coordinated enough lifestyle to actually get to the appointments) can justify not looking to drawing in a wider support mechanism for their clients.Fiona Marcellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07985022521354870620noreply@blogger.com