Getting On: marriage and mental illness

Welcome

When I created this blog, I was "getting on" in my early sixties, hence the blog name. However, my adult daughter's eating disorder and co-occurring emotional dysregulation disorder and other co-morbidities - ongoing for about 33 years - became and was our focus as we attempted to help her get into recovery. By learning about, reflecting on, reading about, attending conferences and writing about eating and brain disorders, I created a place to blog what I've learned. I hope this blog will be of use to others, especially families of and adult sufferers themselves to help them get into recovery. I update posts from time and the update date will be present at the top of the post.

Sadly, my daughter passed away in early October 2021 mainly because her body became so malnourished that she was immunocompromised, contracted a severe infection that was not properly addressed during an earlier hospital stay the month before, and developed an overwhelming non-covid pneumonia following surgery to save her life. I believe she should have been able to receive palliative care but Arizona, our country, and even the professionals trained in the treatment of eating disorders, particularly anorexia, are not "there" yet. I address the issue of palliative care in a recent post below, initially written in November 2021. I am not a certified eating disorder specialist. I am an Expert by Experience and college-educated with a BA in Community Work with an additional certificate in a one-year program in Business Administration from the same institution.

I am passionate about all of this because, as Shakespeare wrote in The Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Scene 3: "My tongue will tell the anger [and sadness] of my heart or else my heart, concealing it, will break. And, rather than it shall, I will be free even to the uttermost, as I please in words."[2016]

Travel Guide

If you're new to my blog, I recommend you begin on the right side and take a look at the "Of Note" offerings. Read Dr. Cynthia Bulik's recent published interview (5/4/22) "Rethinking Eating Disorders" if you want to print an easy-to-understand professional's expert opinion about anorexia for your family doctor or the therapist. [Early intervention is absolutely critical. For those whose eating disorder is categorized as entrenched or severe and enduring, read the editorial comment by Stephen Touyz and Philipa Hay for a new approach about treatment. It is possible for your loved one to recover! I have also attached a link here for additional papers on the subject of severe and entrenched eating disorders. If you are a family member or friend of an adult with an eating disorder and have been at this for awhile, I refer you to the posts within the title "Adult Eating Disorders and Recovery Tools" found in the Index on the right hand side of this site. As well, in the "Of Note" section take a look at those posts with an asterisk. If you're a parent and need support, look for posts in the Index about parent support or parent toolbox. In my opinion, the best book to buy, to refer to constantly and to share with members of the medical/psychiatric profession is "Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders" by Jennifer L. Gaudiani MD, CEDS, FAED. "Dr. Gaudiani aims to improve medical diagnosis and treatment, motivate recovery, and validate the lived experiences of individuals of all body shapes and sizes, while firmly rejecting dieting culture." I recommend two groups who will support you on your journey - F.E.A.S.T and the National Alliance for Eating Disorders. Both maintain websites and Facebook private groups.

Showing posts with label marriage and mental illness. Show all posts

Friday, December 2, 2011

"Out of the Darkness"

"Out of the Darkness" is the title of an essay written by Mark Lukach that appeared in the New York Times on Sunday, November 27, 2011, in the Sunday Styles Modern Love Section, p. 6. The title caught my eye because it reminded me of the incredibly illuminating essay that was originally published in Vanity Fair and then became a book by William Styron - Darkness Visible - A Memoir of Madness (Random House, 1990) that I purchased almost twenty years ago when I wanted to understand more about depression and perhaps empathize more effectively with a loved one suffering from a severe depression at that time. The essay written by Mr. Lukach is accompanied by a sketch showing two people in a sad embrace with the image of a woman falling in the head of one of the two people.

I could stop here and encourage you to read it but I want to say a bit more about the article.

A husband walks through and supports fully his wife's journey through a terrible psychotic break and the story is rich with language that so well describes her and his experience.

Essays like these, I believe, are so helpful to the public unfamiliar with brain disorders. So many (and at one time I counted myself among them) do not understand mental illness. So many read and hear comments that stigmatize mental illness. The media publishes and displays the comments and views that stigmatize mental illness/brain disorders to the detriment of many who are seriously ill and need help but who are afraid to ask for it for fear of being labeled unemployable or worse yet, called "crazy" - a terribly derogatory word.

Organizations like NAMI are working to de-stigmatize brain disorders/mental illness including eating disorders. These illnesses and the states that are present during these illnesses are extremely debilitating and undermine the people who develop them. An essay like this and the work of countless people is important to change the mind-set of the public.

Friday, September 9, 2011

"Mental Illness Defined as Disruption in Neural Circuits" - Dr. Thomas Insel

Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institutes of Mental Health, keeps a blog.

On August 12, 2011 he wrote an article with the above title and I've linked it here. I've also linked his blog on my blog site and now intend to review his previous posts. I'm so excited to have found another important source thanks to one of the F.E.A.S.T. folks!!!

What is ADHD? What is schizophrenia? What is depression? OCD? BPD? Bipolar Disorder? Can these be prevented? can these brain disorders be treated before symptoms arise? Can the brain's cortex be kept on track or put back on track to develop normally? Other questions lurk excitedly in the background.

Dr. Insel closes by writing, "While the neuroscience discoveries are coming fast and furious, one thing we can say already is that earlier notions of mental disorders as chemical imbalances or as social constructs are beginning to look antiquated. Much of what we are learning about the neural basis of mental illness is not yet ready for the clinic, but there can be little doubt that clinical neuroscience will soon be helping people with mental disorders to recover."

Getting On