Health Tools and Resources

This on-line screening program is free and anonymous.

NEDA has great information and resources specifically for women/girls, men/boys, parents, students, school and university staff, as well as athletes and coaches.

Dealing with a friend or a family member who has an eating disorder can be difficult. There are ways, though, to assist them in effectively dealing with dietary and body image challenges.

It is important to honor that you cannot:
   - Force an anorexic to eat.
   - Prevent a bulimic from binging and/or purging.
   - Save them; They need to make the decision to change themselves.

• Remember, eating disorders do not happen overnight. By the time that you have noticed the illness or the sufferer has confided in you, it's likely that the behavior has been going on for a very long time and that the emotional distress accompanying the disorder has been present even longer.
  
  
• Try not to concentrate on the food. The eating disorder is often about the emotional/mental distress.
  
  
• Support and encourage your loved one to express him/herself to you. Learn to listen attentively. You might not understand everything that is going on and it is ok to admit that in a gentle way.
  
  
• Make the effort not to pass judgment on your friend or family member.
  
  
• Preaching about what they should or should not be doing or feeling is not the best way to approach a person you love with an eating disorder. If they ask for advice, give it, but in a gentle and non-threatening manner. Encourage your loved one to seek professional help.
  
  
• Often individuals with friends or family members with an eating disorder take on the role of Food Police. Statements such as, "What have you eaten today?" or "What were you just doing in the bathroom?" are not necessarily constructive for you or the person suffering from an eating disorder.

Discover more great ways to help a friend with eating and body image issues, by checking out the National Eating Disorders Association website.

How Do I Know When to Encourage Medical Treatment?

The following are signs and symptoms associated with eating disorders. If your friend has been experiencing any of these encourage them to get help immediately.

• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Black-outs
• Extreme temperature sensitivity
• Chest pain
• Tingling of the hands or feet
• Blood in stools or vomit
• Extreme stomach pains
• Uncontrollable vomiting
• Incontinence
• Extreme weight loss in a short amount of time

Eating disorders are serious health conditions that can be both physically and emotionally destructive. People with eating disorders need to seek professional help. Early diagnosis and intervention significantly enhances recovery. If not identified or treated in their early stages, eating disorders can become chronic, debilitating and even life-threatening conditions. TREATMENT IS AVAILABLE.

Media, such as TV, radio and magazines often can provide unhealthy behaviors and ideals.

Remember that:

• Advertisements are created to do one thing: convince you to buy or support a specific product or service.
  
  
• As individuals, we decide how to experience the media messages that we encounter. We can choose to use a filter that helps us to understand what the advertiser wants us to think or believe that message. We can choose a filter that protects our self-esteem and body image.
  
  

So talk back to the TV when you see an ad or hear a message that makes you feel bad about yourself or your body. Share your thoughts and feelings with a friend. Be an advocate for change by contacting your local and national TV, radio, newspapers and magazines!

For more information regarding media, body image, and eating disorders, check out the National Eating Disorders Association website.

People with negative body image have a greater likelihood of developing an eating disorder and are more likely to suffer from feelings of depression, isolation, low self-esteem and obsessions with weight loss.

We all may have our days when we feel awkward or uncomfortable in our bodies, but the key to developing positive body image is to recognize and respect our natural shape and learn to overpower those negative thoughts and feelings with positive, affirming and accepting ones.

Here are a few suggestions when it comes to developing a positive body image:

• Work to avoid negative self-talk. When you find yourself being self-critical, bring your awareness to these thoughts and pay yourself a compliment instead. Performing this mini exercise will soon assist in shifting the way you perceive yourself.
  
  
• How much you weigh should never affect your self-esteem or your sense of who you are. Strive for a lifestyle that finds a balance when it comes to food and fitness.
  
  
• See if you can avoid the mirror for a day or even a week. Spend less time in front of the mirror, especially when the experience makes you feel uncomfortable and self-conscious about your body.
  
  
• Turn a critical eye towards advertising and media images. Remember Hollywood and the images portrayed are not reality. Acknowledge your right to define what is and what is not attractive for yourself.
  
  Sources
  something-fishy.org
  edreferral.com
  iambeautiful.com

Other Resources

National Women's Health Information Center: Body Image and Health

BodyWise Handbook - Includes fact sheets and resource lists designed to help detect eating disorders among adolescents and provide suggestions for promoting positive body image and healthy eating behaviors.

20 Ways to Love Your Body

A little exercise is good for you, so more must be better, right? Well, sometimes more is just that - more. There comes a point of diminishing returns and your body says enough. Balance is the key for many things in life, including physical activity.

What is Exercise Addiction?
Psychological and/or physical dependence on a regular regime of exercise characterized by withdrawal symptoms after 24 to 36 hours.

So, How Do You Know You've Become An Exercise Addict?
The logical response is simple: when your exercise controls you, instead of the other way around. When, no matter the circumstances or previous commitments, you must get a workout in today.

Exercise Dependency Symptoms
It's important to be able to recognize the signs of excessive exercise before they become chronic. Physical signs of include:

• Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when restricted from exercise
• Pattern of exercise with a regular schedule of more than once daily
• Decreased performance
• Loss of coordination
• Prolonged recovery
• Elevated morning heart rate
• Headaches
• Loss of appetite
• Extreme muscle soreness/tenderness
• Gastrointestinal disturbances
• Decreased ability to ward off infection

Keep in mind that not all the signs are physical. Much like regular exercise has a positive effect on mood and stress levels, too much exercise can do just the opposite, leaving the exerciser irritable and depressed. Psychological and emotional signs include:

• Prioritizing exercise over other important activities and relationships
• Engaging in exercise despite related health problems
• Depression
• Apathy
• Difficulty concentrating
• Emotional sensitivity
• Reduced self-esteem

Understand The Cause

Once you recognize the signs of excessive exercise, it's important to understand and honestly confront the cause. For some, it occurs as a result of an upcoming competition. Increased training prior to an event is understandable, but if it's interfering with your health and well-being, you have to question its worth. The body needs sufficient time to adjust to your increased demands.

For others, the basis for excessive exercise may have more to do with emotional or psychological reasons than physical ones. Much like eating disorders, exercise addiction is now recognized as a legitimate problem. This includes exercising beyond the point of exhaustion, while injured, or to the exclusion of all other aspects of one's life. It's a difficult problem to recognize, particularly in a culture where discipline and control are applauded.

Individuals who exercise excessively are risking more than poor performance, they're risking their health. Overuse syndrome, which may lead to more serious injuries, is common. The emotional cost of isolating oneself in order to exercise can be devastating. If you recognize these symptoms in yourself or in a friend, it is essential that you seek professional help.

The M Word

The key to staying healthy is to do everything in moderation, which is best viewed as something relative to one's own fitness level and goals. Don't expect to exercise an hour every day simply because your very fit friend does. The body needs time to adjust, adapt and, yes, even recuperate. Exercising to the point of extreme exhaustion is simply taking two steps back.

Healthy Exercising Strategies

The following are some strategies that one can follow to help guard against addiction:

• Train with hard and easy days. Alternating low-intensity with high-intensity workouts can keep the body from breaking down and also keep things in the proper perspective.
• Try to find a partner to work out with who is not obsessed with exercise. This will keep the exerciser from becoming overly obsessed and help him or her stay more realistic.
• Make sure to schedule rest days as part of the exercise regimen. This will allow the body to recuperate and keep the person from exercising when hurt and tired.
• When the exerciser is injured, make sure that he or she has fully recovered before beginning to exercise again.
• Set realistic short-and long-term goals.

For more information on exercise addiction visit Virtual Hospital - A digital library of health information.

To talk to a caring professional about an eating disorder, call Counseling Services at (208) 426-1601. Counseling Services is located in Taylor Hall, Suite B103.

Students in need of medical assistance can contact Medical Services at (208) 426-1459.

Nutrition Consultation is available to students on campus with a registered and licensed dietitian who has experience working with eating disorders and body image concerns.

• Intermountain Hospital - Inpatient
  (208) 377-8400 or (208) 377-5548
  Intermountain Hospital does not have a literal eating disorder treatment facility but have housed eating disorder patients.
  
  
• Behavioral Health - Outpatient
  Saint Alphonsus
  (208) 367-6500
  Saint Alphonsus Behavioral Health Services offers a full range of outpatient mental health services with comprehensive evaluation and treatment of most emotional and interpersonal problems, to include eating disorders. Inpatient services are available.

Support Groups

• Eating Disorder Support Group
  Meets weekly on Mondays at 7:30pm-9:00pm
  Saint Alphonsus
  900 N. Liberty Suite 100
  Contact - Millie Smith, Med, LCPC
  (208) 343-3131
  
  

Therapists and Counselors

Renee Bild, MSW, CSWPC Personal Solutions (208) 938-3837 Cynthia Brownsmith, PhD (208) 342-3942 Carole Carter, MS., LCPC BPA Behavioral Health (208) 344-5457 Cynthia Ellis, Med., MBA, LCPC (208) 336-1900 Susan Mauk, Mcoun., LCPC BPA Behavioral Health (208) 344-5457 Krys Miley, M.Ed., LCPC (208) 947-0608 Millie Smith, Med., LCPC (208) 343-3131 Mardi Stacy, PhD (208) 424-8130

Wendy Taylor, CSW-P Cherry Lane Counseling Center (208) 887-1911 (Meridian) Division of Behavioral Health including Mental Health and Substance Abuse Department of Health and Welfare 450 W. State Street Boise, ID 83720-0036 Phone: (208) 334-0642 Fax: (208) 334-6699

For more information about admission, care, treatment, release, and patient follow-up in public or private psychiatric residential facilities, contact your State mental health agency.

Academy For Eating Disorders: The AED web site promotes ways for effectively treating and caring for patients with eating disorders. The AED offers links to special interest groups such as athletes, Hispanics, and child/adolescents with eating disorders. This web site also has a link to eating disorder conferences for the 2003 year.

Dads & Daughters: The Dads & Daughters web site is aimed at finding effective ways for dads to inspire, understand, and support their daughter(s). DADs provides tools to strengthen father-daughter relationships and transform pervasive cultural messages that value daughters more for how they look than who they are.

Eating Disorders Coalition: The EDC web site provides information on congressional briefings, legislative updates, and reports on eating disorders and federal policies. EDC focuses on education and working with congress to effectively influence federal policy. They have also worked to increase funding and support for scientific research on the causes, prevention, and treatment of eating disorders.

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa & Associated Disorders: The ANAD provides a variety of programs and services. Through its hot-line and response to mail and e-mail inquiries, ANAD provides counsel and information to thousands of anorexics, bulimics, compulsive eaters, their families, and health professionals from all parts of the globe.

National Eating Disorders Association: The National Eating Disorders Association is an excellent web site for a wide range of audiences who may have an eating disorder or a friend/family member with an eating disorder. They offer prevention programs, and educational material to help people eliminate eating disorders and body dissatisfaction. The National Eating Disorders Association also has the nation's first toll-free eating disorders information and referral line.

National Women's Health Information Center has a wonderful frequently asked questions section regarding eating disorders.

Something Fishy: Something Fishy provides a wealth of information on eating disorders. This web site offers various chat rooms including an interactive and inspirational chat hosted by Amy & Tony (aka SFishy & MrFishy), the owners of the site. Amy is recovered from Anorexia and Tony is her husband.