Medication for Eating Disorders?

Hello my darling fudgies!

Preface: For the people constantly googling where I'm going to college next year (I see you in my stats, children!), the answer is...I don't know yet. The moment I do know however I promise to tweet, blog, Instagram, scream it at the top of my lungs. We cool, bros? :) On to the real topic of today:

I must say I am, once again, what else is new, incredibly torn about this topic.
When I started this blog almost 3 years ago (!), I was adamantly opposed to the use of medication to treat eating disorders. But as my understanding of the ED culture and more importantly my understanding of medication has grown exponentially since then, so here are my thoughts on the topic.

Why I was against:

My argument against the use of pharmaceuticals to treat EDs was based on 2 things:
1. my understanding of my own experience with bulimia
2. my understanding of medication

Firstly, I felt that eating disorders could be recovered from without meds. After all, I did it!
Sure it's long, and painful, and requires lots of conversations with others and with yourself that you really don't want to have, but my God is it worth it when you cross the finish line!
So why use meds when they simply are not required to beat the monster growing inside your brain? Especially when some anti depressants are known to cause weigh gain, talk about triggering!

Secondly, I considered medication to be a last resort, for long term, clinical, chronic illnesses, like schizophrenia. This attitude probably stems from my upbringing in Quebec, a province not too keen on pill pushing. And even as I did more research, studies suggested that the use of SSRI (mainstream anti-depressants) to treat anorexia or bulimia had generally great relapse rates. 

Why I am now torn

Here's the deal: my experience with an ED can help me empathize with others suffering or who have suffered, but at the end of the day, everyone's journey is different. Sure, I was able to beat my ED with talk therapy and blogging, but someone else might not be able to, no matter how hard they try.
To use solely my experience as a measurement for what is right or wrong would be foolish!

To top that off, medication can be used for all types of problems. Sometimes depression can be so deep rooted and intertwined with an ED that recovery is not possible if we don't clear up some of the mood issues in order to get to the root source of the problem. Besides, NEDIC says that the average sufferer deals with Bulimia Nervosa for 8.3 years!!!!! Fine, that's not a life time, but that sounds pretty long term to me, so if medication is needed to survive that period of time, than that's the way it's gotta be.

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This topic is delicate, because people's health, physical and mental, is on the line here, but I think this is an important topic to discuss.
Please leave your thoughts down in the comments, I'm really interested in what you have to say. 

xoxo
Gabby

November Favorites

Hello my darling fudgies

Many of you seem to enjoy it when I post about my personal life once in a blue moon, so here are a few things I've been loving recently, non body politics related:)

1. A Clockwork Orange

I am currently reading this morbid classic by Anthony Burgess for AP Senior Lit, and no I'm not done, so don't spoil it or I shall punch you square in the rot. The fact that much of the vocabulary is actually not english, but a made up language called Nadsat is difficult, I'll admit, but incredibly stimulating. Makes you think about the use of language as a theme on its own, like languageception. Mind blowing. Violent as all hell, but even as a squeamish girl, I'd recommend.



2. Kat Von D Tattoo Liner

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I am a die hard makeup addict. Some would say it contradicts my position as a body positive feminist, but I'd argue, and will in a post soon, that it only compliments my ideologies of men and women taking their beauty and self-expression into their own hands, not giving the power to others to define their beauty.

Anyway, as I was saying, I am all about that rouge life. I don't get to do very dramatic looks whilst at school, but at home, watch out neighbors! And there is no better tool to help me create dramatic cat eyes than the kat von d tattoo liner in trooper. Smudgeproof, long wearing, super thin and precise, it's the bomb.com

Here are a 2 of my creations!

3. My Septum Piercing!

Yes, I know, I won't shut up about my damn septum piercing. But
1. it makes me feel 1323242x more like myself
2. the healing has been divine
3. i can hide it
4. deal

4. Kati Morton, the queen of Mental Health on Youtube

Kati Morton, a licensed MFT, devotes an insane amount of time helping those struggling with mental health issues, or people who simply have questions about such topics. She is always a sunny ray of sunshine, promotes beautiful and healthy habits such as self-care, provides free workbooks for EDs and Self Harm, and is overall an amazing person.

Props to you Kati! Here is a good example of what she does:

5. http://destinyboswell.tumblr.com Destiny Boswell

It seems I've made a new Tumblr friend;)

She's nice, her blog is filled with hilarity, social commentary, and overall wonderfulness.
Plus she has survived depression and is always reblogging my stuff, so props to her for being such a great blogger.

I think my mom believes that online friendships are weird, but in a world where social media is everywhere, and social anxiety is rampant, why not use the resources we have to communicate and share and create a smaller community in a way that makes us comfortable and not have a panic attack. just my 2 cents!

Let me know what you think of Tumblr friendships in the comments:)

xoxo

Gabby

Body Positive Tattoos:)

Hello my sweet angels!

I plan on writing a full article this weekend, but today I just wanted to share with you some of my favorite body positive, self-love tattoos. Body mods + Self-Appreciation= I Am In Paradise

Self Harm Scars: To Show Or Not To Show

Hello my darling angels

This is a self harm trigger warning. 
It is a very tricky, delicate and sometimes triggering subject, so if you feel like this post could possibly be problematic for you in the future, I urge you to read something else on the blog. We got all kinds of fun stuff o'er here. <3 

Oookay. I haven't ranted or raved about Tumblr in a while, so let's get down to it.

Truthfully, this debate/topic of discussion makes me incredibly uncomfortable.
Self harm is an absolute tragedy, and alarmingly widespread, and since I myself have never been a self-harmer, I sometimes feel as though my thoughts aren't legitimate or important.

But that's actually one of the reasons I decided to share my thoughts with you today.
Writing about deeply personal issues is a beautiful, cathartic feeling, but objectivity gives me more room to think, and also gives my readers more to chew on.

So here's the sitch.
Recently, on the wonderful website that is Tumblr, I have seen a surge of "self-harm scars" pride.
People taking pictures of their scars, posting them with pride, writing of exposing them like a badge of honour when they are out and about.

The Battle Wound Belief 

My thoughts, good and bad, are as follows:

Pro-Pride?

I'm hardly one to speak about privacy and keeping your problems to yourself. I mean, I did start this blog at the dawn of my recovery, putting myself out there, mostly for my own sanity, but also to hopefully help anyone in a similar situation. 

I will forever stand by my decision to be raw and genuine with myself and others, so how could I judge anyone who chooses to make a similar decision? 

Because isn't that what this whole self-harm scar pride is about? 

Sharing a problematic past, to find closure for yourself but also to prove to others that recovery is possible? 

To the naysayers who depict this practice as a call for attention, I say GTFO. 

Yes, perhaps some show off their scars to attract sympathy, but that is no reason to shame an entire group. 

Besides, a grand majority of those who struggle with self-harm keep their pain and depression to themselves, which results in this destructive coping mechanism. 

Hence, I'd much rather see someone expose their truth in hopes that someone will notice than have a sufferer deal with their inner darkness on their own, unaccompanied by friends or family. 

Wounded Wrist Worries

Unfortunately, my loves, I have issues with scar show-and-tell that I simply cannot disregard. 

There is a reason I put a trigger warning at the beginning of this piece.

Self-harm scars are incredibly sensitive. 

You never know who is struggling, or has struggled, or will struggle with self-harm. 

That means you do not know how the sight of scars will affect them. 

Those who feel proud of their recovery want to show off their accomplishment, which is quite understandable, but I also know none of them would want their pride to result in someone's relapse. 

I've addressed this issue before, but we are not born into this world with the seeds of horrible coping mechanism planted into our brains. Someone or something else, intentional or not, gave us those tools. 

Your classmate may not struggle with self harm or even depression at the moment, but the sight of your wrists could potentially pop into his/her head in a time of distress, and you never know what that could lead to. 

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Is there a clear answer here? No, probably not, but for me there is a solution. 

Solution: Open up about the problems that led you to that drastic measure. The depression, the anxiety, the fights, the school pressure, whatever it was for you.

Details about your self harm, including your scars, aren't as helpful to your support system, and could potentially be triggering for some. 

Honesty, openness, catharsis, AND trigger-free? Check

Hope this helps add to the debate.

Have a wonderful day

xoxo

Gabby