Few Facts About Teen Anorexia and Adult Anorexia

Eating is part of our daily activities. We cannot live without food for more than 11 days. However, there are girls of age 8-35 who under the peer pressure, become victim of Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia in teens is very common these days due to pressure of maintaining good body. The victim fails to differentiate between good body and healthy body. She often avoids food or purges it out after eating. 

Below mentioned are some facts about teen anorexia and adult anorexia…

1. It is a type of mental illness. A person with eating disorder is categorized as mental patient struggling with making peace with the body. They often feel unusual eating habits damages their body.
2. Out of 10 anorexic patients, 9 are women and 1 is male. Women are conscious about their body thus, they practice purging of food.
3. Anorexia Nervosa could become a reason of death. Person obsessing with thin body often fall into the trap of anorexia nervosa. If it isn’t stopped on time, it could be life-taking experience. Many times girls do not share this with their parents and they become physically and mentally weaker day by day.
4. 30 million people are victims of one or the other eating disorder. As the girls grow older, their fear of becoming fat is overtaking their life. The 40% of girls in 3^rd grade are victims of anorexia.
5. Anorexia could be genetic. Thus, if a girl is anorexic or has been anorexic, there are chances that her daughter could suffer the same. Thus, one should keep eye on their children if they themselves have remained victim of anorexia.
6. Anorexia could also lead to depression and other disorders. Amongst all, very few get the treatment of Anorexia. Only 10% of people with eating disorders receive treatment. Only 35% seek treatment from a facility that specializes in eating disorders.
7. The most important fact about anorexia nervosa is that it can be healed with Remuda Ranch. Remuda Ranch heals every kind of disorder including anorexia nervosa. At Remuda Ranch we guide women and girls through recovery by examining the root causes of their disorders. For more than 25 years Remuda Ranch at The Meadows has been helping people recover from eating disorders. Our experienced staff is here to help you.

Because there is hope, there is help.

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Celebrating Hanukkah with Sufganiyot

By Helen Pak, Director of Nutrition Services
At Remuda Ranch at The Meadows, one of the ways we help our eating disorder patients improve their relationships with food is through a series of fun and educational culinary challenges.

This week, in honor of Hanukkah, patients in our residential treatment program made Sufganiyot. A Sufganiyah is a deep-fried donut that is filled with jelly or custard and topped with powdered sugar.
During Hanukkah, it is customary to eat Sufganiyot and other foods that are fried in oil. They symbolize the Biblical miracle of a small amount of sacred lamp oil burning in the Temple for eight nights rather than the expected one.

This challenge helped patients to face some of their fears about fried foods and desserts. It also helped to reinforce the idea that all foods, in moderation, can fit into a healthy meal plan.

Holiday celebrations are often centered around food, which can make them especially tough for eating disorder patients. With this activity, we wanted to help all patients, from a multitude of religious traditions and belief systems, enjoy a holiday tradition, as one of the many small steps they’re taking toward finding the joy, peace, and hope that they deserve.

 

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Adderall Abuse and Eating Disorders

Adderall is an amphetamine stimulant prescribed for ADHD, ADD, and narcolepsy. The effects of this drug include a heightening of attention, energy and awareness. Additionally, the drug can create the compulsion to achieve a task or goal the person taking it might not otherwise think possible. On top of all that, Adderall is an appetite suppressant. These qualities make the drug extremely attractive for college-aged women who are susceptible to disordered eating habits.

According to a study from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, full-time college students between ages 18 and 22 are twice as likely as their non full-time college student counterparts to have used Adderall for non-medical purposes. Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic on college campuses, with more than 4 out of 10 saying they have abused prescription stimulants.

The Study Drug for Weight Loss

Young women entering college are experiencing an inordinate amount of stress and pressure for many reasons. Most college freshmen are worried about gaining the “freshman fifteen” – weight gain that is experienced by many new female students. The need to achieve academic and social success is paramount. And the more competitive the school environment is, the more pressure the student feels to succeed. This is where Adderall comes in: a drug that promises the ability to stay focused while studying and suppresses the desire to stress eat so you can avoid weight gain.

While Adderall will suppress appetite and increase the metabolism of almost anyone who takes it, those who have the potential to abuse it are typically biologically predisposed toward disordered eating. Adderall can bring out disordered eating behavior in someone who hasn’t dealt with that behavior before.

Adderall abuse for weight loss in itself isn’t exactly an eating disorder, but it’s a symptom of other eating disorders like anorexia and binge eating disorder. Women who already have a malnourished brain due to restricting food may even convince themselves they suffer from ADD or ADHD and are in need of Adderall, when really they need to increase their food consumption. Those suffering from anorexia will use Adderall as a way to restrict weight even more, and people engaging in binge episodes can use Adderall for alternative episodes of restricting food for long periods of time.

The Dangers of Adderall Abuse

Adderall produces dopamine in the brain, which is a neurotransmitter that suppresses appetite. It keeps the dopamine from being recycled and metabolized away. This means we connect taking Adderall with a feeling of pleasure, and this undoubtedly leads to a high potential for abuse and addiction for those who are not prescribed the drug. When you take a stimulant medication, or any abusive medication, after three or four months of taking it the brain restructures itself. You become tolerant so you have to take more of the drug to get the same effects.

Adderall can even be deadly. Without having a doctor go over your medical history and health problems, the drug could react with an underlying health problem for serious side effects that include:

• Abnormal heartbeat and cardiac risks
• Increased blood pressure
• Increased risk of stroke and heart attack
• Seizures
• Hair loss
• Sudden death

Used in excess, Adderall has the potential to bring out OCD, psychosis, paranoid personalities, and delusions.

When taking Adderall for weight loss you are dealing with the negative side effects along with the issues that come with an eating disorder. Anorexia and bulimia cause thinning hair, low blood pressure, heart palpitations and heart failure, weak muscles, dizziness, insomnia and can make it difficult or impossible to get pregnant.

While at first Adderall may seem like the miracle study and weight loss drug, the reliance on the drug is not sustainable. Suffering the physical, mental and emotional consequences of addiction is an inevitable fate for the abuser. It’s not unlikely that the user could eventually turn to cocaine or methamphetamines.

Remuda Ranch Can Help

Amphetamines and stimulants are dangerous enough without the added risk of an eating disorder. At Remuda Ranch, we have treated eating disorders for more than 25 years. We know recovery from addiction and eating disorders is possible. For more information about our treatment program, please call to speak to one of our Intake Coordinators at 866-329-7713 and we will contact you with the information you need.

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Why is January the Peak Month for Depression?

The third Monday of every January has been declared “the most depressing day of the year.” Even though there’s little scientific evidence that depressed moods peak at this time, many people do start to feel blue this time of year for one reason or another. In many parts of the country, the weather is cold and dreary, the holidays are over and the credit card bills from said holidays need to be paid.

 

It’s important to note, that there’s a significant difference between feeling a little blue and suffering from clinical depression. If you’re not sure whether what you’re feeling is a temporary “funk” or something serious, please reach out to a healthcare professional.

But, for those suffering from clinical depression, January as a whole can be an extremely troubling period of time.

Family dysfunction or unresolved childhood trauma can play a big role in depression after the holidays. The holidays tend to be a time where we have an abundance of expectations and needs. Unfortunately for most of us, these expectations and needs do not get met in exactly the way we hoped or imagined. In a dysfunctional family, the results can be even worse with unmet needs leading to the feeling of “I don’t matter.”
“Since human nature is to resolve conflict and trauma, we often tend to replay our trauma with our family this time of year, looking for resolution. When we do not get the resolution we hoped for, we can end up feeling emotionally exhausted, distraught or sometimes completely numb, “ says Scott Davis, Clinical Director at The Meadows. “Depression becomes a way to cope with the anxiety and lack of fulfillment we feel throughout the holidays and immediately after.”
There’s also difference between a “winter funk” and the more severe condition, seasonal affective disorder, a form of clinical depression that takes place during the winter months. Most people do not get enough Vitamin D or Vitamin K during the winter, which can lead to a lack of energy and motivation, and eventually depression.
It’s important to recognize and treat depression because it limits people’s ability to live their lives to the fullest and function well on a daily basis.

Treatment for Depression

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an important and effective approach in treating depression at The Meadows Inpatient and Outpatient programs, where relief can be found through a change in negative thought patterns. Our clinicians and therapists specialize in treating the underlying causes of depression as well as the symptoms that have surfaced from the depression. 

 

Depression is overwhelming, but there is hope. Even the most severe and complicated cases of depression are treatable, and here at The Meadows, we offer individualized treatment so each of our patients can enjoy a more fulfilling life.


To learn more about our innovative treatment programs for depression, contact us here or call us at 866-332-2919.

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Your Eating Disorder Lies to You

By Margo, Remuda Ranch Alumna
Note: This is a letter I wrote to myself when I was still at Remuda Ranch, and I've revised it a bit. I still struggle quite a bit in my eating disorder, but every day, I strive to win those small goals. And if I don't, I try again.

Dear Margo,

You deserve to be loved. And yes, that does include loving yourself. In fact, apart from loving God, loving yourself is probably the most important person to love.
So each day you face, get your boots on and go get your horse because recovery is the longest and bravest ride of your life.

First, you need to remind yourself that you've used ED to love yourself, but the truth is he's only destroyed you. He's distorted your thoughts and feelings to use harmful behavior to cover up pain that you've covered up. He's told you lies, such as not eating, running, purging, and numbing out are the safest ways to go.
But he's a lie.

Remember, before going to Remuda Ranch? Your friends had trickled down to toothbrushes, toilets, pavement,and errands because ED said there's no time for the people whose love you ignored.
But he's a lie.

Look back to your time at Remuda Ranch. Remember those who loved you, and pushed you? Remember the day everything looked brighter and clearer? Remember Casper, who showed you every day that he wanted to be with you, despite what you believed?

Now look at yourself. You have made more friends, you've faced fears, you've had fun, and you've let others love you. You have a job that you love, and are good at, and you are capable to do way more than what ED tells you you can.
Because he's a lie.

Remember that when you feel you're too fat, too ugly, not worth it, and that some days the world would be better without you, are all lies from ED. All he wants to do is crush you down. But don't listen to him.

Because he's a lie.

Despite of what's been done to you, or what others may say about you, you have good qualities. You're kind, gentle, genuine, funny, beautiful, you have good hair, and you deserve to be loved.
That's the truth.

Love,
The Part of You that Can See Light outside of ED’s Lies. P.S. Read this every day.

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