Eating Disorders

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What We Learned About Our 15-Year-Old Son’s Lesser-Known Eating Disorder

The DSM-5 (a manual that lists all psychiatric diagnoses, which medical professionals use) states that “avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is an eating disorder involving an extreme avoidance or low intake of food that affects growth and level of nutrients a patient receives.” My 15-year-old son has struggled with this for many years, but we [...]

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Sarah Schuster

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Eating Disorders

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28 Beautiful Tattoos That Represent Eating Disorder Recovery

Eating disorder recovery — like recovery from many mental illnesses — if often spoken of like a life-long journey. Although you can recover from an eating disorder, it’s an ongoing process and one that can stick with you for a lifetime. To capture this journey of recovery, the National Eating Disorder Association asked its community [...]

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Eli Slater

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A Speech About Eating Disorders Every High School Student Should Hear

After being diagnosed with anorexia nervosa back in June 2016, we were asked to make speeches in English about something that was important to us. So here’s mine: A plea for education on the deadliness of eating disorders in secondary schools. Eating disorders are not “glamorous.” They’re deadly. You can thank today’s society for that. [...]

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MightyTogether 2h

I'm new here!

Hi, my name is Invisiblewomanblog. I'm here because

#MightyTogether #Anxiety #Depression #Migraine #Fibromyalgia #EatingDisorder #FND #Midlife #blogger

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MightyTogether 2h

I'm new here!

Hi, my name is Invisiblewomanblog. I'm here because

#MightyTogether #Anxiety #Depression #Migraine #Fibromyalgia #EatingDisorder #FND #Midlife #blogger

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Thomas Ousterhout PhD

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@thomas_of_copenhagen

Conquer Your Mind 4h

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One step at a time.

One of the things depression does best is convince us that we need to solve everything at once.

We think about next week.

Next month.

Next year.

All the things that could go wrong.

All the things we haven't accomplished yet.

All the ways our life isn't where we want it to be.

And eventually the weight of it all becomes overwhelming.

But life is rarely lived all at once.

It's lived one day at a time.

One conversation at a time.

One decision at a time.

One step at a time.

You don't need to figure out the rest of your life today.

You just need to make it through today.

And sometimes that's more than enough.

What's one small thing you're grateful for today?

Also, if you're going through a tough time right now, I want you to know that I post daily mental health videos about how to deal with painful thoughts. So if you or anyone you know is struggling and wants help, click on one of the links below or write me if you have any questions you want me to answer:

www.instagram.com/thomas_of_copenhagen

www.tiktok.com/@thomas_of_copenhagen

~ Thanks to all. Thanks for all. ~

#MentalHealth #MentalHealth #Depression #Anxiety #BipolarDisorder #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Addiction #dissociativedisorders #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #ADHD #Fibromyalgia #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #PTSD #Cancer #RareDisease #Disability #Autism #Diabetes #EatingDisorders #ChronicIllness #ChronicPain #RheumatoidArthritis #Suicide #MightyTogether

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Thomas Ousterhout PhD

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@thomas_of_copenhagen

Conquer Your Mind 1d

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YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW HOW

One of the biggest lies depression tells us is that we need to have everything figured out before we take the first step.

We think we need a perfect plan.

We think we need certainty

We think we need to know exactly how we're going to get from where we are today to where we want to be.

But that's not how growth works.

Most people who accomplish incredible things didn't start because they knew exactly what they were doing.

They started because they were willing to take one small step despite not knowing.

One phone call.

One workout.

One application.

One conversation.

One day of not giving up.

You don't have to know how you're going to get through the next year.

You don't even have to know how you're going to get through the next month.

Sometimes all you need to do is take the next step.

The path often becomes visible after you start walking it.

What's something in your life you've been waiting to start?

www.instagram.com/thomas_of_copenhagen

www.tiktok.com/@thomas_of_copenhagen

~ Thanks to all. Thanks for all. ~

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Haylee Milne

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@hayleemilne

Major relapse

My relapse of my eating disorder makes me feel crazy and incredibly ashamed and guilty

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DissociativeIdentityDisorder 2d

30 Days of DID: Day Two

QUESTION TWO – How do you experience #DissociativeIdentityDisorder ? Do you find your symptoms manifest more physically, emotionally, mentally, etc?

If you asked me fifteen years ago, this answer would have been very, very different.

Before, I felt crazy and out of control. There were too many me’s, and I was never the right one at the right time. My mind either too loud to hear myself think, or a howling, jumbled numbness.

Before, I heard voices. I saw silhouettes. Walls changed colors and the carpets breathed. I became immobilized with fear for no reason, paranoid and convinced I was going to die. I couldn’t sleep; I slept too much. I’d feel things, taste things, smell things; I’d choke on things that weren’t there.

Before, I struggled with eating disorders, impulsivity, and self harm. My relationships were unstable at best and toxic at worst. I would forget my schedule, my job, my address, my friends, my style, my self. I feared myself. I feared losing control. My goals changed. My name changed. The Universe changed. Nothing worked. Nothing fit. I didn’t fit.

Now, our daily memory is the strongest its ever been, and we’re no longer stuck in a permanent fog. Communication is easy; we can switch, compartmentalize, and contain at will, and can still function through what we cannot fully put away in the moment. Even our chronic anxiety seems to be on its way out the door.

Now, most of our distressing symptoms are gone. Flashbacks and dissociative phenomena don’t freak us out anymore because we understand what is happening and how to help.

Now, I’d say, most everything manifests somatically, in the body, or emotionally via passive influence. Occasionally mentally, but these days, unless faced with unavoidable life stress, unexpected triggers, or a flood of memory processing, we’re hardly symptomatic at all.

Except our handwriting. That’s still the worst.

QUESTION TWO-and-a-HALF – Who knows about your system? Who do you want to know? What [does it feel] like coming out as multiple?

Lighthouse is the one person who still works with and talks to Motley members directly on a regular basis. Nowadays, our DID only matters while on the therapist’s couch.

PeanutButter knows because we married him. It would have been impossible to have a serious relationship where our spouse didn’t know.

We used to want friends to know about us, but not anymore. Before I wised up and stopped telling people, reactions varied. From those in my personal life, I got a lot of “That explains so much!” and “I don’t doubt it one bit.” Unfortunately, it rarely ended well.

I think I’d be okay, maybe, with certain, select people knowing about our DID diagnosis – but not the details of the Motley. I’d be okay discussing DID as a concept using our experiences as examples, but nobody needs to know our inner names or how we function or who is around when.

Outsiders knowing that information feels violating, and it’s not always healthy for the other person(s) either. Plus, you can’t control how people react to it or any further spreading of it, so being choosy with disclosure is imperative.

Our blog is public, of course, but carefully and deliberately anonymous. Nobody in my real life needs to know, and I don’t need them to know. I am so much more than my DID, and while I identify as a multiple, being a multiple isn’t my identity.

***

30 Days of DID survey credits go to tumblr user "shihkas", and wordpress blogger "catalyticconvergence". Links can be found in the original post ("Snapshots into DID") on our website.

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Thomas Ousterhout PhD

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@thomas_of_copenhagen

Conquer Your Mind 2d

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Protect yourself

One of the hardest lessons I had to learn during my recovery was that not everyone deserves access to my peace.

For years, I gave other people the power to determine how I felt.

A rude comment could ruin my day.

Someone else's anger could become my anxiety.

Someone else's negativity could become my burden.

But eventually I realized something:

Protecting your peace isn't selfish.

It's necessary.

You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to.

You don't have to prove your worth to people who refuse to see it.

And you don't have to sacrifice your mental health trying to change people who don't want to change.

Your energy is limited.

Spend it on healing.

Spend it on growth.

Spend it on building a life you actually enjoy.

Protect your peace.

What’s something you’ve learned to protect your peace from?

www.instagram.com/thomas_of_copenhagen

www.tiktok.com/@thomas_of_copenhagen

~ Thanks to all. Thanks for all. ~

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Group Leader

Take a Mighty Minute

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@takeamightyminute

Mighty Minute 2d

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Write a three-line poem about the symptoms you're managing right now.

Happy Monday, Mighties! ☀️

Let's write some short poems today. Using just three lines, share about your symptoms through words, metaphors, similes, imagery, alliteration, symbolism, personification, or any other literary devices that inspire you.

What's your body feeling like? What's been challenging? What have you found helpful?

Share your poems in the comments below! ✍️📄

#MightyMinute #CheckInWithMe #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #Disability #RareDisease #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Autism #Parenting #PTSD #ADHD #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #BipolarDisorder #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #EatingDisorders #Depression #Fibromyalgia #Lupus #MultipleSclerosis #Migraine #Spoonie

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What We Learned About Our 15-Year-Old Son’s Lesser-Known Eating Disorder

28 Beautiful Tattoos That Represent Eating Disorder Recovery

A Speech About Eating Disorders Every High School Student Should Hear

I'm new here!

I'm new here!

One step at a time.

YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW HOW

Major relapse

30 Days of DID: Day Two

Protect yourself

Write a three-line poem about the symptoms you're managing right now.

Feed for Eating Disorders