Watch this, then watch what you watch

Thanks to Lori Shuldiner Schor for sending this great video my way. Take a look. Pass it along.

NEDA, here I come!

Looking forward to meeting some of you at NEDA this weekend. Tonight is a dinner for the PFN--I'll be there along with my ch-chair at Maudsley Parents, Jane Cawley. Saturday night there's a meet and greet and signing for authors at the conference--I'll be signing Brave Girl Eating. And I'll be presenting along with Dr. Walter Kaye on Sunday afternoon at 3. Hope to see you there and around the conference!

Serotonin and depression

I just couldn't resist reposting* this link to a blog that questions the relationship between serotonin levels and depression. The conventional wisdom is that antidepressants like sertraline and fluoxetine increase levels of serotonin in the brain and that's what alleviates depression. This blog asks why, then, antidepressants don't work right away, since they begin raising those levels immediately. And if you've ever started an antidepressant feeling rather desperate, you're extremely aware of every day it's not working.

It's all about neurogenesis, according to this blogger—the ability of the brain to generate new cells. Depression may be linked to lower levels of neurogenesis. One thing antidepressants do—after several weeks—is increase neurogenesis.

Fascinating stuff.


*Thanks to Carrie Arnold at Ed Bites for the original link.

University of Wisconsin Medical School talk

I find it uber-creepy to watch myself on video, so I'm linking this talk I gave last week at the UW Medical School without actually watching it.

If you happen to take a look, let me know how it looks. I'll take it down if it's not very good.

The study results are in!

And they're clear and well-supported: For teenagers with anorexia nervosa, the first-line treatment should be family-based treatment (FBT), also known as the Maudsley approach.

I think the days of FBT being labeled as a marginal, alternative, or "very special" treatment for "very special families" are officially over. For a high percentage of teens with anorexia, FBT works--they recover, and they stay recovered.

Does it work for every single family? Nope. But then neither does chemotherapy, or penicillin, or other mainstream treatments we don't question. (For an inside look at how it worked for our family, see my new book, Brave Girl Eating.)

Now, the hard part: Training enough FBT therapists so that more families have access to them. Luckily, someone's already on the case.

We still need more research. We still need better techniques. But there's no question that this is big news, and important news, for families and clinicians.

Big congratulations to Dr. Daniel le Grange and Dr. James Lock, who co-authored the study.

Can you say disconnect?

That's the only word that came to mind when I read this story on Time.com about the extra costs women pay for being obese.

According to researchers at George Washington University, women who are obese lose twice as much money—nearly $5,000 a year—as their obese male counterparts. But not because they use more health-care dollars. The difference comes mostly from discrimination.

Fat women are paid less than women who aren't fat; fat men, on average, earn comparable salaries to men who aren't fat. So women are penalized by employers for being fat.

This says something about how women are perceived in our culture, and it's not news. But it is newsworthy, because, damn it, it's 2010 and we're supposed to be better than this as a society. All the young women who don't identify as feminists because they don't have to fly that flag anymore should take note of studies like this one. Gender discrimination is alive and well in 21st-century America.

But that's not where the writer of this story went. No, her conclusion was quite different. She wrote, It's bad news, but maybe it will help fund better prevention strategies and new treatment methods for this growing scourge.

Excuse me? Did I hear you right? The answer to discrimination is getting rid of the quality that's being discriminated against? How about taking on the concept of discrimination instead? How about educating people about the emotional and other costs of fatphobia, and about how discrimination (and its attendant stressors) actually makes people fatter?

I'm not surprised; this is exactly the kind of disconnect I've seen over and over in the media. It's as if we are constitutionally unable to see the logical extension of our behaviors around weight, especially when it comes to women.

Big fail.

Going through hell? Keep going

That's one of my favorite quotes, from Winston Churchill, as it happens, and the title of my newest post over at Psychology Today. See you over there.

Interview at CarolineLeavittville

Thanks to writer, reviewer, and blogger extraordinaire Caroline Leavitt for posting a thoughtful, thought-provoking interview about Brave Girl Eating on her blog today. I love it when interviewers really get the book--and Caroline did.

Reviewers wanted

I have a favor to ask, dear readers.

If you've already read Brave Girl Eating: A Family's Struggle with Anorexia, would you write an Amazon review of the book? It doesn't have to be long or complex--a two-sentence comment can work just fine.

People actually read those reviews, and make decisions about what to buy from them. I'm doing everything I can to get the word out--not just about the book but about family-based treatment as an option for families.

A great big thank you to you!

Photo ©Forest Wander.

Getting her to eat

In my new blog, Brave Girl Eating, for Psychology Today, I wrote about how we got our daughter to eat when she was in the grip of anorexia. Read it here. I hope it's helpful to those of you who are struggling to help a child or teen with anorexia.

The Diane Rehm Show

Thanks to Lynn Grefe, CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association, and Ovidio Bermudez, M.D., for taking part in the Diane Rehm Show yesterday with me. The subject was eating disorders, and we talked a lot about family-based treatment (the Maudsley approach) as well as Brave Girl Eating. It was an inspiring conversation and I am grateful to all who took part.

You can listen to the segment here.

Atchka!

Thanks to Shannon Russell (alias Atchka) for a good interview about anorexia, Brave Girl Eating, evolution, and other enthralling subjects. You can listen up here.

Russell blogs on a site called Fierce Fatties. It's worth checking out.

I'm happy to report I did not drop the F bomb in this interview. But, like, I really have to, like, stop saying like all the time. Like, know what I mean?

Good Morning America: Cancelled

Please note that my Good Morning America appearance, scheduled for 8/24, has been cancelled for reasons beyond my control.

But there are plenty of other stops along the book tour! Next week: a talk/reading at the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore, and a stop at the Diane Rehm Show in D.C.

Please pass the word about the book--my publisher tells me that early sales figures are the most important. I'd love to see the book gain some momentum in the first weeks after it goes on sale 8/24.

Thanks for all your support!

*I don't know why this image from Mrs. Doubtfire comes up when you search for brave girl eating, but it amuses me.

5 warning signs that your child might have anorexia

Read it at Brave Girl Eating, my blog on Psychology Today's website, and please pass the information to any parents you know who might need the information.

How I wish I'd had this list before Kitty got sick.

Sheppard Pratt Q&A, part III

I'm looking forward to speaking at the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore next Wednesday, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m. I'll be talking about and reading from Brave Girl Eating. Please come out and say hey if you're in the Baltimore area!

Meanwhile, check out Part III of an online Q&A I did with them, which includes 4 essential tips for parents.

For a complete list of stops on the book tour, click here. Hope to see you somewhere along the way.

Memoirville

Here's an interesting interview about Brave Girl Eating on Memoirville, home of Smith Magazine's Six-Word Memoir Project. You'll have to get all the way to the end to read mine.

Note to self: Do not drop the F bomb during interviews.

When families deal with health crises

If your family has ever dealt with a health crisis--whether it's an eating disorder or not--you've probably noticed that some friends step up while others back away. This New York Times piece looks at some of the very common and human reasons why we all back away sometimes, and offers advice for how to be a better friend when those you love are going through something big.

And if you'd care to join an online discussion on the subject, you can do that here.

Jezebel on parents and eating disorders

Jezebel writer Anna North put up a piece today based on an interview we did last week about not just my new book, Brave Girl Eating, but the whole notion of family-based treatment.

The comments, sadly, reveal some of the biases against FBT (the Maudsley approach). Take a look and leave a comment if you are so moved--I think Jezebel readers would benefit by hearing from some who have had positive experiences with FBT.

I'm off to do some deep breathing.

She's not that skinny. Is she?

Why you can't tell if someone has anorexia just by looking. Read about it on my new blog, Brave Girl Eating, here at Psychology Today.

Photo © Steve Pope Photography

We need more FBT therapists!

If you're a therapist who treats eating disorders and you'd like to become certified to do family-based treatment (also known as the Maudsley approach), you're in luck. The Training Institute for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders, run by Drs. Daniel le Grange and James Lock, is hosting a two-day training in Chicago, September 13-14.

For information and to register, visit the Training Institute's website. Because heaven knows we need more FBT therapists around the country/world!