A Source of Fear and Anxiety Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, or ARFID, was previously known as selective eating disorder. Professionals thought that it only affected infants and children. However, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders renamed it and broadened the criteria. It now includes adults who restrict their food…
Details
Creating New Pathways The term, “neuroplasticity,” refers to the brain’s ability to heal and “re-wire” itself in response to both training and injury. Scientists used to believe that all brain damage was permanent and that adult brains eventually become “hard-wired” due to their habits. However, the latest research shows that this isn’t the case. This…
Details
Life After Detox We’ve mentioned withdrawal a few times in this blog, from my personal experiences with alcohol to a more general timeline of symptoms. Those who have been through it know that it can be a terrifying and excruciating experience. Furthermore, for those detoxing from alcohol or benzodiazepines, it can be deadly. For this…
Details
Part Two of an Ongoing Series Last month, we brought you part one of an ongoing series featuring our clinical director, Brian Dunphey, and the way Brian uses movies to connect with clients and to elucidate key concepts of recovery. In the first entry, we discussed The Lion King, a history of trauma, and the…
Details
When Diet Culture Goes Too Far Back in July, I posted a blog called “the Toxicity of Diet Culture”. Lately, I’ve been thinking about a quote in there and it led to the research for this blog. Christy Harrison, host of the podcast, Food Psych, said that “[d]iet culture is a system of beliefs that…
Details
Living Sober and Radically Free Alcoholism and drug addiction do not spring from nothingness. They are a product of behavioral, psychological, biological, and social factors. For example, the families of addicts and alcoholics often have a history of substance abuse. Similarly, many who suffer from substance abuse disorder are also survivors of some type of…
Details
A Wide Range of Behaviors There is such a wide range of behaviors that could be considered disordered eating that it might be helpful to define it by what it is not. “Non-disordered” eating can be described as eating when physically hungry and stopping when full. This is also the goal of “intuitive eating” and…
Details
Making Sense of the World Around Us Myths were an attempt by early humans to make sense of the world around them. Because they had no idea why the sun traveled across the sky, they attributed it to Apollo and his chariot or to Amaterasu. Earthquakes were the result of a cobra shifting or giants…
Details
Together, We Can Save Lives We’re currently in the middle of National Suicide Prevention Week, which began on September 8th and runs until the 14th. As you all know, Ocean Recovery specializes in treating substance abuse and eating disorders. What you may not know is that suicide is that tenth leading cause of death in…
Details
Widening the Circle I’ve gone over the importance of a sober support network time and again in these blogs. And because it’s absolutely essential to a successful recovery program, I’m going to mention it one more time (at least for now.) The value of a close group of people who have been through some of…
Details