Connie Brown
05-14-2004, 10:02 AM
An article from CNN about male eating disorders:
Male Eating Disorders on the Rise
http://us.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/05/12/male.eating.disorder.ap/
This is so synchronous with this article in CST mag published in the same week (!) :
4-Day Beta-Endorphin Cycle
http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/24/brown.html
The connection the CNN article did NOT make is the biochemical underpinnings of these disorders. Why? because the research into the underlying biochemistry is so relatively new, few people know about it. And it is cross-discipline: the depression researchers know about serotonin; the addiction researchers know about beta-endorphin; and hardly anyone is connecting the dots.
So what if it is biochemical? Well because that means that you have to heal the biochemistry to fix it. Behavior mod, while helpful, will not do the job all by itself. It is like trying to stick a fridge magnet to a tree - you can try all you want... Many, many treatment programs focus on behavior mod with maybe some antidepressants (SSRIs) but do not otherwise address the biochemistry except by accident.
Who am I to be saying this? Well I am a recovered non-purging bulimic, and I experienced the downside for oh, 30 years until I found a program (Kathleen DesMaison's Potatoes not Prozac and other books) .
As part of my own health I volunteer as a moderator for her "binge" support groups and I can tell you that every single week someone reports freedom from this sort of thing. It is not icky or scary, just imbalance that can be healed. There is also a group for anorexics and purging bulimics - but the secret is, the treatment is the same for both.
Just some science tidbits for you based on the PnP side:
anorexics typically have unusually high serotonin (great "will power" and impulse control) and very low beta-endorphin, hence tons of beta-endorphin receptors. So they are both good at starving and they get a fabulous high from it.
bulimics typically have low serotonin (poor impulse control) and also low beta-endorphin. So they find themselves eating from the primitive brain, before willpower has a chance to kick in, and then have to purge somehow. and the purge can be the usual you think of (finger down throat) or it can be exercise and there are other purging techniques too.
And there is a beta-endorphin spike that comes from the risk/thrill of the destructive behavior.
Just FYI for you today....
Male Eating Disorders on the Rise
http://us.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/05/12/male.eating.disorder.ap/
This is so synchronous with this article in CST mag published in the same week (!) :
4-Day Beta-Endorphin Cycle
http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/24/brown.html
The connection the CNN article did NOT make is the biochemical underpinnings of these disorders. Why? because the research into the underlying biochemistry is so relatively new, few people know about it. And it is cross-discipline: the depression researchers know about serotonin; the addiction researchers know about beta-endorphin; and hardly anyone is connecting the dots.
So what if it is biochemical? Well because that means that you have to heal the biochemistry to fix it. Behavior mod, while helpful, will not do the job all by itself. It is like trying to stick a fridge magnet to a tree - you can try all you want... Many, many treatment programs focus on behavior mod with maybe some antidepressants (SSRIs) but do not otherwise address the biochemistry except by accident.
Who am I to be saying this? Well I am a recovered non-purging bulimic, and I experienced the downside for oh, 30 years until I found a program (Kathleen DesMaison's Potatoes not Prozac and other books) .
As part of my own health I volunteer as a moderator for her "binge" support groups and I can tell you that every single week someone reports freedom from this sort of thing. It is not icky or scary, just imbalance that can be healed. There is also a group for anorexics and purging bulimics - but the secret is, the treatment is the same for both.
Just some science tidbits for you based on the PnP side:
anorexics typically have unusually high serotonin (great "will power" and impulse control) and very low beta-endorphin, hence tons of beta-endorphin receptors. So they are both good at starving and they get a fabulous high from it.
bulimics typically have low serotonin (poor impulse control) and also low beta-endorphin. So they find themselves eating from the primitive brain, before willpower has a chance to kick in, and then have to purge somehow. and the purge can be the usual you think of (finger down throat) or it can be exercise and there are other purging techniques too.
And there is a beta-endorphin spike that comes from the risk/thrill of the destructive behavior.
Just FYI for you today....