Eating Disorders in Australia

01/05/2024

I'm back after a small hiatus. I have a really interesting opportunity from a researcher whom I have faith in, after talking to her for a little bit. Here is a note from her about the study she is performing:

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Hi everyone! I am an eating disorders researcher currently conducting three clinical trials investigating new treatments for anorexia (TMS, hormonal therapy, and repurposed medications).

We are looking for anyone Melbourne-based aged 16 and up with a diagnosis of anorexia (including partially recovered and atypical anorexia) OR symptoms of anorexia who is interested in participating in a clinical trial. For anyone interested, please fill out our Expression of
Interest form here: https://redcap.link/THRED or contact our research team at THREAD@monash.edu.

Thank you for your consideration!

𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗽:
Email: THRED@monash.edu
Expression of Interest form: https://redcap.link/THRED

Thank you for expressing interest in our trials. Once you have completed this form, our team will contact you to discuss which clinical trial would be best for you.

17/06/2023

HARD TRIGGER WARNING.

Just another issue while I'm here. This little girl died in Melbourne recently, after being tortured in hospital. They called her anorexia 'terminal,' which is absolutely disgusting - eating disorders are not terminal, especially after only two years since onset.

I can't imagine how much they cemented the disease, with how the media is reporting the screaming for hours after meals. I'm disgusted at her treatment, and we all should be.

The funding has been increased for children with eating disorders, which is a good thing, but funding alone isn't enough. Even her father said that a broken system doesn't work, no matter how much funding there is.

If we can't save a 15 year old from a newly-developed eating disorder, how can we expect to save anyone?

Medical 'experts' in eating disorders need to listen to us, to hear what works, what we need, and how we feel, instead of trying to brute force this idea of feeding-and-dumping, or replacing ED rules with other rules (as they often do in inpatient programs. I have experience with one in Victoria, but the others in Victoria that I've looked into admit the same thing).

I don't understand how you can pass medical school, even nursing school (which doesn't get enough credit for how difficult the chemistry, medication knowledge, mathematics, and people skills of it are), and not see the flaws in the atrocious and near-useless mainstream treatment of eating disorders. They need to do better.

A father is opening up about his daughter's death after she lost her life to anorexia nervosa. He says the illness took hold after a bullying incident.

17/06/2023

Sorry I'm so flaky; please don't think I'm gone forever. I will always return.

I thought it was interesting that the American Medical Association is speaking out about this. We all know that BMI isn't the gold standard; I think they're advocating for the disuse of it because they can't convince people that it doesn't mean much at all.

Also, read the pictures in the comments. I'll post them in the comments here. We're really out here diagnosing mental illnesses (eating disorders) with physical criteria. Malnutrition is a symptom of depression, but we're not making it one of the diagnostic criteria.

“I’m literally shocked right now. I never thought I would see the day The American Medical Association would outright say that BMI is no longer recommended as a measure of health and specifically cite that it has racist origins and should not be used in diagnosing eating disorders”

18/01/2023

This is still running; I checked the survey that starts your entry into it.

I personally think that EDGI should have been done first; ANGI (Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative) is just an arbitrary designation.

But hey, we have EDGI now. And this article is from 2020, but I would 100% join if I hadn't already.

https://edgi.org.au/

https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/aged-allied-health/article/australian-volunteers-wanted-for-eating-disorders-study-1112627574

Ever experienced an eating disorder? To find out please take our short 15 minute survey to help us understand more about these devastating illnesses & make a genuine contribution to the diagnosis, management & treatment of eating disorders. Adults (Aged 18+) Children (Aged 13–17) AUS researchers s...

08/08/2022

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, life has been weird and I like to only post things that are interesting and useful.

Check out this flow chart of what happens to your brain after midnight!

“The “Mind After Midnight” hypothesis suggests that late-night wakefulness affects the brain, leading to changes that can make you more likely to view the world negatively, engage in harmful behaviors, and make impulsive decisions. https://t.co/1adrfRJdnU”

28/05/2022

In the United Kingdom, hospital admissions for eating disorders have risen 84% since the start of the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, funding for patients in the UK was £1.13 per person with an eating disorder!

Inpatient admissions should be a last resort, but rates are soaring, says campaigner Hope Virgo

28/05/2022

More people are experiencing an eating disorder now, than before the pandemic.

Objective People with lived experience of eating disorders (ED) may be particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health response due to exasperating situations such as social isolation, presence of other mental and physical health conditions, disruptions to treatment, et...

06/04/2022

Kiara shares why letting go of the weight loss fantasy was crucial to her eating disorder recovery and healing body image.

23/03/2022

Some statistics:

- From 2000 to 2018, eating disorders globally went up from 3.4% to 7.8% (according to The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2019).
- 70 million people, globally, live with eating disorders (according to NEDA).
- Japan has the highest rate of eating disorders in all of Asia, followed closely by Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea (according to International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2015), and Austria has the highest rates of eating disorders in all of Europe (according to Psychology Today, 2012).
- 13% of women over 50 have an eating disorder (according to the International Journal of Eating Disorders).
- About one person passes away every hour from an eating disorder (according to Eating Disorders Coalition, 2016).
- Up to half of people with eating disorders experience a comorbid drug addiction, five times higher than the general population (according to National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 2003).

Thanks to https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/eating-disorder-statistics/ for these statistics.

Learn facts—and how to get treatment–here

11/03/2022

My page isn't very big yet, but I have been noticed by someone who is conducting a study on nutritional supplements. This is a really good study being undertaken by Christina Aberer, who has been really friendly and polite, and generally just lovely, in my Inbox. I know that posting in the Community tab doesn't go to your timelines, so I suggested that I post this for her. I contributed to this study to make sure it was all okay, so I've seen every page on the link, please don't think that I'm selling out or anything by posting for people. It's actually really interesting and I think more research needs to be done on the topic.

This is what Christina has to say:

"Hi everyone, I work on innovative solutions in medical nutrition for people suffering or at risk of malnutrition (also called oral nutritional supplements, ONS). My goal is to understand the need for natural alternatives and I am reaching out to you as you might be affected and might want to share your opinion on this question. It is usually a high energy drink that you receive at the hospital that is prescribed by dietitians. If you want to participate to my short and anonymous questionnaire, please follow this link to share your opinion: https://forms.gle/Aac7oFRr4UtfLWeu8"
Your participation would be of great help!
Many thanks in advance

Thank you for participating to this quick survey on Oral Nutritional Supplements (ONS) for malnutrition. We would like to understand your perception of what a "natural" product could be and what would be the need for such an innovation in the field of medical food. This questionnaire will take less....

11/03/2022

I've just added my list from Christmas about how to cope with all the celebrations during holiday times to this blog, as well as my new article (listed here, click the arrow link at the top to revert to the main page).

I think it's time to start producing my own content for this page, instead of just reposting other people's articles and studies. Obviously, I will still keep sending as many as possible as so to keep informing people, but I will keep producing my own content.

This topic has probably been done to death, but I thought it was a good idea to put my own thoughts on the subject to paper.

Please be nice, a little bit of the article mentions my own struggles.

THE EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON EATING...