Your body is feeling a bit foreign to you at the moment. There are a number of rules that you’re trying to follow and keep straight about what you should and shouldn’t be eating. A scale has become a crucial tool which your doctor uses to determine whether you had a good or bad month. Your weight is often an (unwelcome) topic of conversation–even with strangers. We’re not talking about an eating disorder–we’re actually talking about being pregnant, but it’s easy to see why pregnancy can be triggering for some women who have lived with an eating disorder or issues with their body image.
By the time she had entered high school, Elizabeth had already been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. By her sophomore year she had been hospitalized, completed a treatment program and was seeing a therapist and taking medication. “Though the transition was difficult at best, high school was a really wonderful experience for me, something I attribute largely to the fact that I had an incredible support system,” Elizabeth recollects. “My parents were amazing – they embraced family therapy, helped foster my coping skills, and disassociated my worth from my appearance. I also saw a therapist, psychiatrist, and nutritionist regularly.”
In a number of studies, friendship and social support have been linked to better physical health outcomes, like lower rates of heart disease. One such study (published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine in 2007) revealed that young men and women who discussed difficult parts of their lives had a lower pulse and blood pressure when a supportive friend accompanied them. Friendship is an important factor in our physical health, but what affects does it have on our mental health?
Ever wonder why so many New Year’s Resolutions are abandoned just a few weeks after they were made? The prospect of setting a year’s worth of goals to improve yourself and your life can be extremely daunting and overwhelming. This year, take a different approach and make your one resolution be to be more mindful.
Winter break can be a difficult time for college students and their parents, who are trying to establish a new dynamic that falls somewhere between students’ new found independence and the structure and rules of living at home. While this period of time can be a struggle for some, it also presents an important opportunity for parents to tune in to their child’s mental health. Having been away for the past three or four months, changes in behavior that might have seemed minute in day-to-day interactions can become easier to identify.
Are you counting down the days until the holidays are over? For those grieving the loss of a loved one, the holidays can stir up a lot of uncomfortable feelings like loneliness, anxiety, and even depression. It can feel like everyone else is looking forward to these celebrations, while you are trying your best just to get through them. Below are a few ways to help carry you through this difficult time:
Screening for Mental Health, Inc.
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