by Fiona Stockard | Apr 16, 2015 | Addiction Articles, Body Image / Eating Disorders
New Facts about Eating Disorders
According to a recent study done by researchers at the University of Southampton and the Solent NHS Trust, women experiencing financial difficulties are more likely to develop an eating disorder.
This study, led by clinical psychologist Dr. Thomas Richardson, examined college age women in the UK. The results, published in The International Journal of Eating Disorders, are a telling look into an often misunderstood area of mental health.
What the Study Found
The study itself was conducted on more than four hundred undergraduate college students from across the UK. Researchers complied information on family affluence, current money troubles, and attitudes towards food (measured using the Eating Attitudes Test).
Participants completed research surveys between one and four times at intervals of three months apart. It’s safe to say Dr. Richardson and his researchers were thorough.
Perhaps the most interesting piece of information uncovered by this new study is the “vicious cycle” aspect of financial insecurity and eating disorders. This came to light when researchers determined that not only do financial difficulties increase the chance a woman will develop an eating disorder, but extreme attitudes regarding food are indicative of future financial trouble.
In layman’s terms, this means that a lack of money can trigger an eating disorder and an eating disorder can further contribute to a lack of money. This may lead to a vicious cycle of financial insecurity, harmful eating, and further financial insecurity.
Aside from the interesting cyclical nature of eating disorders and financial troubles, researchers also discovered:
- Alarming eating attitudes occur more frequently in women from lower income families
- In fact, a lower median family income led to increased potentially harmful eating behavior in later surveys
- Increased financial insecurity in initial surveys led to troubling attitudes towards food in later surveys
- The higher an individual’s Eating Attitudes Test score was initially, the higher their level of financial insecurity in the second survey
- All surveys indicated that financial troubles and eating disorders are linked in women, but not in men
Dr. Richardson had the following to say about his findings,
“There may be a ‘vicious cycle’ for these students, where negative attitudes towards eating increase the risk of financial difficulties in the short term, and those difficulties further exacerbate negative eating attitudes in the longer term” (Medical Express).
Recovery Options
So, what does this information mean for recovery from eating disorders? After all, it’s easy to identify a problem, but fixing it is a bit harder!
Well, this new study shows just how much power money has in our culture. If worrying over money can increase a woman’s risk of developing an eating disorder, well, then something needs to change.
So, women struggling with disordered eating should be able to receive financial assistance. While this is sometimes the case, thanks for family support or treatment centers offering scholarships, it’s not always the case. Let’s change that! Let’s petition the government, or other federal resources, to offer financial assistance for those in early-recovery!
Obviously, this can get dicey. An addict in early-sobriety doesn’t need access to large amounts of cash. With the proper oversight, though, this could be a valid option for decreasing financial trouble for women in early-recovery!
by Sally Rosa | Apr 9, 2015 | Addiction Articles, Benefits of Sobriety
The Roast of Justin Bieber
The roast of Justin Bieber. Ah, the roast of Justin Bieber. It was funny…but not very helpful. This guy, the Bieber, actually needs help. So, I decided I would roast him from the point of view of a sponsor…that he will one day need!
Listen Up, Justin
Thank you for having me here tonight, Justin. It’s really not an honor to be here because if you’d lived your life in a different way, no one would care enough to spend two-hours making fun of you.
You drive too fast, say stupid stuff, act like people you aren’t, and think that you’re God’s gift to twelve-year olds. You act the same way Michael Jackson did. He had a monkey. So did you. Michael Jackson is dead.
The point here, little buddy, is that if you don’t change your actions, thought, and behaviors, you’ll die too!
I know from the top of the mountain everything looks pretty great. Why stop now, right? Well, see you can shut down that part a few years early and start building credibility, respect, dignity, and a life of purpose. You can start being of service and making those around you and the world a better place.
I mean you could do all that and use your immense popularity to solve problems. But why do that? It’s much easier to run around looking like six-year old doing an impersonation of an adult, wearing adult close, and making ten times an adult’s salary.
Keep it up buddy! If you wear a cool looking hat, tomorrow millions of kids will be wearing that hat. That must make you feel good. You could wear a t-shirt with a logo of the American Cancer Society on it, tweet about donating money to fighting cancer, promise to match the donations of your followers, and actually bring some good to this world. That, though, probably wouldn’t make you feel as good as a fat wallet and huge ego.
We have two choices, Beebs. We can chose to take what God has given us and help other or we can take what God has given us and help ourselves.
You chose the “I’m going to be a tiny famous mess route.” That’s cool. A lot of people went that way too. I’m talking about Judas, A-Rod, and Hitler. I guess you feel it’s better to have it all for a couple of years than to have dignity and respect forever.
Again, it’s your choice Beebs. If you’d chosen to do the right thing, we wouldn’t be here tonight. If you’d chosen to do the right thing, you probably wouldn’t be rich. If you’d chosen to do the right thing, your mom wouldn’t have money. So, I can see why you chose selfishness.
If you did choose the right path, though, you’d probably have more money in the long run, more respect and dignity, and your mother would have money and a son that people respect.
Goodnight and God Bless!
by A Women in Sobriety | Apr 7, 2015 | Addiction Articles, Sobriety For Women
By: Tim Myers
Can You See REAL Beauty?
Take the lens cap off your face. Remove the rose colored tint from you eyes. Stop looking at women from the grocery store check out pedestal where you were raised and start looking at women as God intended them to be – beautiful, perfectly imperfect, flawed and pure works of art.
Next time you’re bumping into the slow walkers at the mall or rolling your eyes at the woman bagging your french fries, take a minute to pause and really, really see these women. Look at the curves, the texture, the emotion and the light.
Women are beautiful just the way they were made, without the airbrush, without the make up and without the stereotype. I know this, but Brian Cattelle proved it.
Unfiltered & Real
Once the maroon hazed lines cleared from his eyes and the fumes of booze were five years behind him in the rearview mirror, Brian Cattelle picked up his camera and began to show us how beautiful women really are.
He didn’t set out on a self-righteous quest and wasn’t fueled by injustice or a particular cause. He just wanted to see if he could make the oldest star in the sky shine a little bit brighter. In his attempt he may have just invented a whole new way to look at women. Bare. Not naked, but Bare.
He found the areas of the United States that had already been stripped of their glamor, their paint, and their plastic values. He traveled many hours, climbed thirty feet in the air on rusted and crumbling steel, through rivers, snow and garbage, and when he got where he was going…she took off her clothes.
The delicate, original skin of the women in his photographs jump off the page and into your memories. Vogue, Vanity Fair, and every other red lips, white teeth, offensive, “hey girls, lose some weight” Wal-Mart magazine will never feature women as beautiful as the ones found in Brian Cattelle’s work. You know why? They’re just too real.
A Forgotten Portrait
The forgotten structures, the dark eyes of his subjects, and the innocence of a woman thrown into the world that tries to steal her soul on a daily basis, pushes his women to the edge of the photo threatening to dissolve them forever. Brian’s photographs make these women look like the world has sent them away to be reproduced in mass quantities.
When you look carefully, though, you can see they are still there, crouched just outside the darkness, alive, vibrant, and more beautiful than ever.
Once you see her, you’ll never lose her again. Once we all see these photos, we’ll never be fooled again. Never fooled into thinking that a woman should or could look a certain way. We’ll realize that each woman is created equal. Each woman is perfectly imperfect and that’s what makes her…Perfect.
Once you see these images you’ll never forget Brian Cattelle. A man whose been chipped, scuffed up, bruised and beaten, yet found a way to rise, to shine and in the process he made the world a little bit brighter. Take a look for yourself!
by Fiona Stockard | Apr 2, 2015 | Addiction Articles, Addiction Treatment
Heroin Addict or Heroin Dealer?
I just read the story of Matthew, a twenty-four year old heroin addict from Texas. Matthew, like many of today’s addicts, was brought up in a solid middle-class household. He’s from a suburb of Dallas and went to a good high school.
Matthew has also been in prison for three years for the sale and distribution of heroin. As of writing this, he’s probably a free man. The article I read was written in mid 2014, just as he was about to be released.
Matthew, I hope you’re free from actual prison and the self-imposed prison of addiction!
Matthew’s story resonated with me because his story could have easily been mine. To hear him tell it, he only sold heroin to support his own habit. How many of us addicts and alcoholics have been in a similar situation? I know I sure have!
While I never sold heroin, I did engage in illegal activities to support my addiction. I’m not proud of that fact, but it’s the simple truth. I’m pretty certain I’m not alone in my actions either. In a society that marginalizes addiction, what other option do addicts have?
While reading it, Matthew’s story raised a number of questions. Should addicts be treated the same as high profile drug dealers? Should addicts be sent to jail instead of the treatment we so desperately need?
Find Matthew’s story below. I hope it touches you all as much as it touched me!
A Quick Downward Spiral
Matthew was introduced to heroin in high school. This was the mid-2000’s and a drug called “cheese” was all the rage. Cheese, for those who may not remember, was a popular form of black tar heroin mixed with Tylenol PM.
After becoming addicted, Matthew started selling small amounts of cheese to support his habit. He’s quoted as saying, “I started selling twenties, thirties, whatever. Mainly to friends and people at my high school. Just some small-time dealing” (Huffington Post).
I can relate to that! Again, I never sold heroin, but I certainly wasn’t a saint during my addiction. I lied, stole, and sold whatever I could get my hands on, narcotic or otherwise.
As his addiction grew, Matthew began to inject heroin. He’s quoted as saying, “I went from snorting to shooting in like six months. I never thought I’d be using a needle. People started off looking for powder and before you know it, you’re going to upgrade” (Huffington Post).
Again, I can relate. I started out swallowing pills. Before long, I moved to sniffing them. Not long after, I was introduced to heroin and fell prey to the needle, as so many addicts do.
Matthew was selling cheese to maintain his personal habit. He soon sold to the wrong buyer, though. The Huffington Post reports,
“It ended when he made some sales to an undercover agent who infiltrated his circle of friends. The DEA was targeting dealers selling to high school students…He’d been using and selling for little more than two years.”
I was addicted to heroin for two years too. From seventeen to nineteen, my life was a train wreck of dishonesty, broken promises, petty crime, and disappointment. Thankfully, I didn’t end up in prison like Matthew, though it was a very real possibility.
Treatment Not Jail
At nineteen years old, I went to an inpatient treatment center. It was my second in as many years. I was spared the punishment Matthew received. I was afforded a real chance at the so-called rehabilitation that prisons claims to offer.
Imagine if all those who need treatment received it! Imagine if instead of prison, addicts were offered substance abuse treatment! What a difference that would make!
Sadly, that’s not the world we live in. It is, however, a worthy goal to work towards. Organizations like Faces & Voices of Recovery are advocating for addiction laws to be changed nationwide.
And that’s just one advocacy group! There are thousands more like them across the world, all with one common goal – to break the misunderstanding and stigma surrounding addiction and recovery.
What a great goal! If even a small number of these groups succeed, I believe we’ll see a real shift away from jailing addicts and towards offering affordable treatment options.
Imagine if Matthew was placed in rehab instead of jail. Then, maybe he’d be writing this essay today. Maybe he’d be offering his experience and strength to the still sick and suffering addict. We can only hope.
by A Women in Sobriety | Mar 31, 2015 | Addiction Articles, Drug Addiction
How to Have a Successful Intervention
Those who need help the most, still sick and suffering addicts and alcoholics, often don’t want it. They don’t believe they have a problem. They don’t think they need help to quit drugging and drinking. They’re scared to stop.
Whatever the reason, many addicts and alcoholics are unwilling to get better on their own. This is where interventions step in and become a truly invaluable tool in effecting long-term recovery.
That’s right folks, interventions are more than just that emotionally manipulative TV show! I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here. I know I’ve experienced firsthand what an intervention is like.
For those of you who haven’t had that pleasure, find some tips and tricks for how to organize and run a successful intervention below!
Learn about the Drug(s) Being Abused
There’s nothing that will make an addict or alcoholic tune out faster than being lectured by someone who has no idea what they’re talking about! Can I get an amen!
So, before staging an intervention for your loved one, make sure to learn about whatever drugs they’re abusing. And I mean more than a simple Google search.
Reach out to addiction treatment centers (which you should be doing anyway!) and speak to the experts. Talk to friends and family who’ve struggled with similar addictions. You can even go to an open AA or NA meeting and ask some members for information about various drugs.
Seek Professional Help
This one should be obvious. If you’re going to stage an intervention for a friend or family member, hire a professional interventionist! They exist for a reason!
Nothing’s worse than finally gathering the courage needed to confront someone in active addiction and the confrontation going south. Emotions run high in interventions. Tears will be shed and four letter words will be uttered. Be prepared!
That’s where an interventionist becomes vital. They’ll be able to smooth any outburst and get the intervention back on track. They’ll be able to organize everything efficiently and maximize the potential of your loved one accepting help.
Have a Backup Plan
What’s the plan if your loved one doesn’t accept treatment? What are the potential consequences? What are the very real risks? How can you, as a family member, friend, or spouse, best prepare for the worst-case scenario?
This is where a backup plan becomes invaluable. Figure out the consequences if your loved one refuses treatment. Figure out what proactive measures you’ll take for yourself. These can be things like seeking individual therapy, attending a support group, or even taking legal action.
It’s important to come up with a realistic backup plan, one that you can stick to should the worst happen. Let’s say you decide that if a family member doesn’t go to treatment, you’ll cut all ties. Is that realistic and doable? What about family gatherings?
These are all things to keep in mind while formulating a backup plan.
Patience, Tolerance & Love!
Finally, we come to practicing patience, tolerance, and love. This is the glue that holds interventions together. Remember, even though anger may be running high, we love our addicts and alcoholics!
This is especially important to keep in mind because addicts are masters at manipulation! During my intervention, I tried everything imaginable to change my family’s mind. Thankfully, they’d hired an interventionist who saw right through my tears and yelling!
If my parent’s hadn’t practiced patience, tolerance, and love, I don’t know if I’d be here! So stay cool before, during, and after any intervention and remember, we can all change!
