tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post7959408235057607407..comments2024-03-23T08:25:22.526-04:00Comments on ED Bites: EDs are mental illnessesCarrie Arnoldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02569839838912988783noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-10911980835454323182009-07-13T17:06:28.775-04:002009-07-13T17:06:28.775-04:00Isn't it so strange how we can continue to lie...Isn't it so strange how we can continue to lie and distrust the very core of who we are? Now, as you challenge that voice in your head and rediscover your true desires, I wish you grace...and like I said this morning<br />TRUST YOURSELF!<br />I challenge you to participate! http://thespecialktreatment.wordpress.com/<br />Just comment if you do with your story!Special Khttp://thespecialktreatment.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-42612920308021307762009-07-13T13:02:09.634-04:002009-07-13T13:02:09.634-04:00I actually think you're sort of asking the wro...I actually think you're sort of asking the wrong question. I'd pose to you: <i>Is the distinction between illness and mental illness worth preserving?</i> I say no. I say science has led us to see that you can't cleanly say one pile of diseases are mental and one pile are physical and, that the further science gets, the more and more such distinctions will seem arbitrary. <br /><br />The blurring of taxonomy only increases as we learn more and more about the genetic causes of ED's or addictions (or many other illnesses thought of us mental illnesses). At what point, do we say ED's have crossed the imaginary line and have as strong a biological component as a traditionally non-mental illness with an occasional mental health presentation, something like Lyme Disease or Syphillis? Where is that line to be crossed? <br /><br />I don't think it's a worthwhile distinction to make anymore. It's <i>imprecise</i> in the scientific sense, as in you're using a yardstick to measure grams. <br /><br />And it's actually why I disagree with the premise of mental health parity. Mental Health parity is <i>separate but equal</i>, but I think it's all the same and no provider or insurance company should be making arbitrary distinctions either.hungry for hungerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05198385928512425055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-82727356794133315912009-07-13T09:25:54.200-04:002009-07-13T09:25:54.200-04:00Carrie, thanks for your articulate description of ...Carrie, thanks for your articulate description of how you feel normal, even better than normal, inside when in reality your body is starving. I wonder if that is some kind of evolutionary survival technique that our bodies have that allows us to carry on during times of little food. Then, for non-ED people, when food becomes plentiful again, they eat lots of it and get healthy again. ED people, of course, do not. You got me thinking!<br /><br />My D was a restricting anorexic for years as a child and adolescent. Her health care professionals and H & I made sure that she wasn't in physical danger most of the time, but her weight was never high enough to allow for proper adolescent growth and development. She tells me that during her emaciated times in the beginning and during 2 relapses that she always knew that she was too thin, emaciated even. But her ED frame of mind insisted that that was what she wanted. Even though she couldn't hide the effects of her illness from herself, she felt compelled to continue it.KristineMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-547755033285459792009-07-13T08:37:08.689-04:002009-07-13T08:37:08.689-04:00I totally relate to this as well... when I'm r...I totally relate to this as well... when I'm restricting, it feels like I'm doing this wonderful thing for myself, to improve myself, and I obviously look fat to myself, so how can it possibly be wrong? It becomes VERY hard to see all the lies that ED wraps my brain in. Eventually, though, you can learn to see it.Niikahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792061979259494208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-12140162721031099722009-07-13T01:37:07.775-04:002009-07-13T01:37:07.775-04:00I especially appreciated your point about the fac...I especially appreciated your point about the fact that others so readily acknowledge and noticed the 'side effects' of your ed, but not the OD- - inspired spotless hands.<br /><br />Great observation.Wrapped up in Lifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18210700542140339831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-86946106399193638282009-07-13T01:17:42.253-04:002009-07-13T01:17:42.253-04:00I completely relate to this. Logically, I know I h...I completely relate to this. Logically, I know I have an "illness," but part of that illness is disbelieving, in my heart, that it's really there. Some days, I'm more logic-based than others. But, other days, I get stuck in the emotion of, "mental illness? What mental illness?" Like you, I have to remind myself pretty frequently that I have a disease and I have to stay on top of it. I would love for it to be the passing fad that the media thinks it is. Too bad!Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12524913753671188764noreply@blogger.com