<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>RealMental &#187; eating disorder</title>
	<atom:link href="http://realmental.org/archives/category/eating-disorder/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://realmental.org</link>
	<description>RealMental is a safe community where you can share and learn about mental health and everything that goes along with it.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:49:44 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>Who You Are, Lo</title>
		<link>http://realmental.org/archives/905</link>
		<comments>http://realmental.org/archives/905#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:30:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>leahpeah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[eating disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[profile]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://realmental.org/?p=905</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[People call me/I call myself Lo. I see myself as dependent, naive, soft, compassionate, articulate, intelligent, creative, analytical, volatile, short-tempered, flawed, clever, sophisticated, lazy, bored, gifted, artistic, funny, wounded, vulnerable, loving, beautiful, ugly, opinionated, educated, habitual, afraid, strong-willed, tender-hearted, sensitive, precocious, conflicted If I thought you cared and you were listening, I would tell you [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>People call me/I call myself</strong> Lo.</p>
<p><strong>I see myself as</strong> dependent, naive, soft, compassionate, articulate, intelligent, creative, analytical, volatile, short-tempered, flawed, clever, sophisticated, lazy, bored, gifted, artistic, funny, wounded, vulnerable, loving, beautiful, ugly, opinionated, educated, habitual, afraid, strong-willed, tender-hearted, sensitive, precocious, conflicted</p>
<p><strong>If I thought you cared and you were listening, I would tell you</strong> i rarely let on the depths to which i am struggling, i am lying when i say i don&#8217;t regret the past 6 years because they have made me a better person (though they have), i hate being alone, it really hurts when you tell me that it is my fault that i am in this situation and/or that if i &#8220;really wanted to recover&#8221; i just would.</p>
<p><strong>I am struggling with</strong> anorexia nervosa, which goes back and forth between the two subtypes &#8211; purging and non-purging; a body riddled with damage from the eating disorder &#8211; including a stomach that barely digests food and a mouth full of veneers to protect the teeth underneath that no longer have any enamel; anxiety; depression; individuating from my family into the 25 year adult i feel pressure to be and guilt for not being;  ocd; perfectionism; a dysfunctional family system; limited resources</p>
<p><strong>Something I have been keeping a secret is</strong> i have not been gaining weight like i&#8217;ve been telling my family; in fact, i am still at 77% of ideal body weight. most likely due to the fact that i drink half of a can of red bull cola during the day and one mixed drink at night. if i eat anything, (which i won&#8217;t, at least not before 9 pm) either i purge, or i eat from a very short list of food i feel comfortable consuming &#8211; immediately before i go to sleep at night. because it terrifies me to eat at any other time of the day and keep it down.</p>
<p><strong>I am trying to think positive and something I&#8217;m good at is</strong> i am good at many things. here are some &#8211; writing &#8211; both original content and copy editing, languages, art, elaborate gift-wrapping, ad copywriting, math, test taking of all varieties &#8211; essay, multiple choice, standardized, school in general, articulating myself, helping others with eating disorder recovery, analyzing, instigating, motivating, encouraging, loving</p>
<p><strong>I love</strong> my mom, my little sister, my dad, my best friends, laughter, the internet, frozen tropical drinks, new gas stations, staying in hotels, roller coasters, marlboro lights, thrift stores, photo booths and polaroids, catch phrase, scrabble, games in general, receiving emails, text messages, letters and packages, buying random gifts for people i love, wrapping all of the presents at christmas, affirmations, louise hay books&#8230; i love so much, i will stop here.</p>
<p><strong>I want people to know</strong> more than i can express in this box. let&#8217;s pick an easy one &#8211; eating disorders are not a choice, a lifestyle, a habit, or a fad. eating disorders are complex, multi-faceted, deep-rooted life-threatening illnesses that arise as a combination of factors &#8211; genetic, cultural, experiential, environmental, etc. men and women who suffer from or struggle to recover from eating disorders are not inherently vapid. they are often incredibly intelligent, highly sensitive individuals and many of us want to get better just as much as you tell us to. it&#8217;s just hard. really. fucking. hard.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://realmental.org/archives/905/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Edgy</title>
		<link>http://realmental.org/archives/847</link>
		<comments>http://realmental.org/archives/847#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:30:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>MamaKaren</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[anxiety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MamaKaren]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://realmental.org/?p=847</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve always skirting on the fringes of mental illness, I think.  My first panic attack was when I was in eighth grade, but no one was talking about panic attacks then; it was just &#8220;nervous about public speaking.&#8221;  But I kept my over the top reactions to having to do presentation or speeches under wraps well [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve always skirting on the fringes of mental illness, I think.  My first panic attack was when I was in eighth grade, but no one was talking about panic attacks then; it was just &#8220;nervous about public speaking.&#8221;  But I kept my over the top reactions to having to do presentation or speeches under wraps well enough that no one realized how nauseated I was, or how swollen my tongue felt as I tried to squeeze the words out, or how the ringing in my ears drowned out every other sound in the room.  And, eventually, I learned how to pretend that my speeches were coming from someone other than myself, as though my real life was the same as what I did with the drama club.</p>
<p>I remember cutting myself in high school, not enough to do any lasting damage, but just enough to see what the blade would feel like.  But only a few times, not as a habit.  The throwing up was the same thing- every once and a while, I&#8217;d lose control and eat a pound of Oreos and stick my finger down my throat in response.  But never enough for anyone to notice and never enough for it to be a &#8220;real&#8221; eating disorder.</p>
<p>There were days when hauling myself out of bed and facing stuff took all of my energy.  But everyone kept telling me how charmed my life was, so I tried to convince myself that I was just being selfish or whiny, and after awhile, I found reasons that I had to fight past the fog.  I did therapy for a couple years, but my therapist was saying the same things that my sister had been telling me, and I decided to save the co-pay and listen to her advice.   Affirmations and cognitive therapy seemed to address the anxiety and depression that was identified, so I should have been fine at that point.</p>
<p>I reacted to problems and stress in my life by drinking too much sometimes (but nothing like the &#8220;too much&#8221; that I saw from my uncle before he hit AA, or my college roommate who let loose once she was not under her dad&#8217;s thumb), or by seeking attention from guys (but not to the point of being considered at all promiscuous), or by binge eating (yeah, I think we may have covered that one already&#8230;)</p>
<p>And now my children have&#8230;issues.  It&#8217;s probably self-centered for me to think all of those issues have to do with me, but every time one of the professionals asks whether there is a family history, my husband&#8217;s &#8220;Well, no one on <em>my</em> side of the family has been diagnosed with any mental disorders,&#8221; feels like a slap in the face and an accusation.  I&#8217;m not crazy enough to need help and medication any more, not I&#8217;ve never been quite right either.   And I don&#8217;t know how to put my own worries about whether I&#8217;m OK enough to do the right things to help the children to whom I may have passed on the crazy genes.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://realmental.org/archives/847/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Me again, but last week, I hope that is ok</title>
		<link>http://realmental.org/archives/290</link>
		<comments>http://realmental.org/archives/290#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Sep 2008 06:49:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[anxiety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Add new tag]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://realmental.org/blog/?p=290</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This was me last week.  I am really struggling here.  As I have said before, I am not sure people know what to say to me anymore.  Either the people I see day-to-day or my regular blog readers.  So I am re-posting  something from last week, with some changes.  I hope no one minds. Love, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This was me last week.  I am really struggling here.  As I have said before, I am not sure people know what to say to me anymore.  Either the people I see day-to-day or my regular blog readers.  So I am re-posting  something from last week, with some changes.  I hope no one minds.</p>
<p>Love,</p>
<p>JenB</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;&gt;</p>
<p>I can&#8217;t answer in one word.  Let us try a few:  cautious, scared, worried, i can wear a size 14 jeans from the gap.  I am actually getting anxious writing this post.  I have been avoiding writing this post.  I have been avoiding: seeing the doctor, getting my blood work done, checking my sugar levels, eating as prescribed, working out as much as I should be, doing anything right really.  I have been: eating sweets, not eating enough protein, sleeping a lot, changing my (going off of Effexor) psychiatric medications, hemming my workout pants so I don&#8217;t trip on them.</p>
<p>I have been doing good thing in fits and starts.  Protein shake here, no white carbs there, seeing my trainer twice a week, but not doing even remotely enough cardio.  We b ought the Wii fit, for fun mostly, I thought it would energize me to do more serious workouts at the gym and some yoga at the very least.  I had no idea the Wii fit &lt;strong&gt;WEIGHS&lt;/strong&gt; YOU.  I have not weighed myself or been weighed since March when I saw the orthopedic surgeon about my knee.  Then it became scarier and scarier and one day I would be convinced I had lost a few pounds over the past month and then I would be certain I was almost back to my heaviest (impossible according to what size of clothing I am wearing).  It is now become my great white whale, which is funny really, i mean you know FUNNY.  Whale = fat, okay, I am over explaining a lame joke.</p>
<p>I am worried this is it, I will either stay where I am, or I will slowly gain it back and be what I was before.  Which I cannot even define other than &#8220;fatter&#8221;.</p>
<p>I was always worried that when the goals of the weight loss surgery started turning into how I looked and buying new clothes and having people say I look good or I have lost weight or GOOD FOR YOU! We were afraid you were going to be the fat one forever.  I am plateauing or gaining, or fuck if I know, right?  My mom and dad &#8220;how is the weight loss thing, you know surgery and diabetes and everything going&#8221;.  I am defensive.  &#8220;What do you mean?  Do I look fat?  Does it look like I have gained weight?  WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?&#8221; Articulating everything in my own head that I wish they wouldn&#8217;t ask me about ever. That I wish I could just update people without having to answer to anyone or ever talk about it really.  I want to be the person who got to a reasonable weight after 11-12 month, stay at that weight and then be able to advise and muse about how it was to be so heavy and so reasonable and ok with my weight now.</p>
<p>So many obstacles in my way.  The hugest one is me, lots of parts of me.  The eating disorder, always lurking. Someone, (doctors, books, dietitians, my MIND, the interwebs, the world, THE MAN) is telling me what I should be eating, I almost automatically say FUCK YOU, I will have this donut, bowl of chips, ice cream bar.  Bingeing is decidedly smaller amount, but bingeing when you stomach is wee and you know you shouldn&#8217;t but you WANT to HAVE to, is still bingeing.  It is still a fuck you to the rules.  I am 13, 14, 18, 25, all over again.  I had a similar reaction when I found out I was diabetic.  Rebellion via diet.  I am so cool.  I wish I could just pierce my nose, or bungee jump.  Instead I retreat inside myself and eat in secret, hiding it from everyone, pretty much successfully, all the time.  Am I self sabotaging, my therapist asks?  I don&#8217;t know.  I am afraid of finally losing the weight?  Maybe, I don&#8217;t know.  Is it a control issues?  Fuck yes, I can control what I eat and I can&#8217;t control what I eat or don&#8217;t eat all a the same time.  I am the mobius strip of food control. Yes, I feel expectations from family and friends.  I do not feel understood because I do not understand myself.</p>
<p>I feel like this will be another thing I will not complete, I will fail at.  I have trouble starting things and even more trouble completing them.  I don&#8217;t think I know how to be successful, at anything.</p>
<p>I know the small steps my therapist, husband, friend, tell me I should start at.  Get my blood work done, make sure I am not anemic or my blood sugars aren&#8217;t totally fucked, or my liver enzymes are elevated or other things that could go wrong.  Step two would be to actually make a doctor&#8217;s appointment, well, the doctor would call mewith my lab results, I feel sure there would be something to discuss there.  Once I go to the doctor, they will weigh me.  Weigh me.  Weigh me.  My worth a 3 digit number.  My success, my progress, who I have been since having the surgery will be those numbers on the scale.  I want to talk myself out of that melodramatic bullshit, it sounds so juvenile, so junior school, so first true love breakup story.</p>
<p>I am so scared I have already fucked this up to a place where I cannot return.  So scared.  Terrified.  My bed is so less scary. My sleep, my books, my solitude.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://realmental.org/archives/290/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>tripping over the side table</title>
		<link>http://realmental.org/archives/239</link>
		<comments>http://realmental.org/archives/239#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:39:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[anxiety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bipolar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ADD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://realmental.org/blog/archives/239</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It has been so long since I have written anything really mental.  My life has been caught with mostly good things.  Good things.  Some travelling, spontaneous purchase of a new house, won a trip to China to go to the Olympics, went to NYC for the first time, stayed with a fabulous hostess and the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It has been so long since I have written anything really mental.  My life has been caught with mostly good things.  Good things.  Some travelling, spontaneous purchase of a new house, won a trip to China to go to the Olympics, went to NYC for the first time, stayed with a fabulous hostess and the most terrific time.  I did see a Surgeon who wanted to Surgeonate my knee.  I scheduled and then cancelled.  It didn’t feel right.  All the Good Things were and are overwhelming me.  Change is overwhelming me.  I changed from Paxil for my anxiety, which I didn’t believe was doing anything to Effexor, which I think is doing something, but we are tweaking the dose.  If you read my regular blog, you would also know that I had weight loss surgery in December, just before Christmas.  More change.  Rules.  Rules are meant to be broken and CONTROLLED when people tell you what to eat, even though I am almost 40 years old. How to exacerbate an eating disorder: give someone rigid rules about what to eat and when and how much and then a list of vitamins and activity or your expensive paid for out of pocket operation will be for naught.  I got it done to gain health, and the losing of the weight surprises me a bit.  My clothes fit differently, but I feel the same about myself.  My skin is drooping, sagging, my boobs, oh dear, my boobs.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I am still on the lamictal for mood stabilization, and the effexor, but still taking a fair amount of klonapin to keep my shit together most days.  Still taking diabetic meds, except have pretty much stopped my injectible insulin altogether.  My sugars were so low after the surgery and I honestly haven’t been monitoring them.  I am 3 months late getting blood work.  Ok, I lie, I am 4 months late.  I am not monitoring my blood glucose levels.  I am shit at self care right now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I am scattered and paralyzed.  I wish I could add the adderal back into the cocktail of drugs for the ADD.  My memory is sketchy, I miss appointments, I have to write almost everything down.  I am very jumbly and klutzy and trippy and my word aphasia is bad.  It is a good thing I am not working a full-time job right now.  Self imposed deadlines are killing me.  Deadlines like let’s say, packing.  We are moving into the new house on May 15.  I have done nothing.  The spouse has all sorts of boxes, his office is packed.  I just lie in bed or watch tv or flit away time on the computer.  That reminds me I have an eye appointment sometime in May.  As usual I am trying to keep up the ok, functioning façade that only so many people in my life even buy anymore.  Even when I am feeling jitter anxious and tell people so, my affect falls flat and I wonder if they believe me.  I am having a bad day, like a computer reading it.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I can’t tell hypomanic from feeling less anxious.  Initially the Effexor made me feel a little hypomanic, but I think that has subsided.  Still seeing psychologist and psychiatrist.  The meds are ultimately what is helping me right now.  I don’t even want to talk about coping mechanisms.  They might make me give up my ostrich like behaviour.  Sleeping, shutting doors, television, senseless errands.  I sit here in my home office and the debris is everywhere.  It has been for months.  I don’t even know where to start.  Last week I lost my wallet and became obsessed with finding it.  Looking in the same places over and over and over again.  I felt I could not do anything but take my kid to playschool and back.  I felt lost and annoyed because I knew I has misplaced it IN the house.  My husband found it 5 days later and the relief I felt was disproportionate to the actual event.  I felt freakish.  I feel freakish and crazy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have been having little paranoid moments where I keep needing reassurance that people like me and aren’t going to leave me.  Seriously, do you really like me or are you going to change your mind once you find out the mysterious secret thing that is permanently flawed about me that even I am now aware of.  That is why people leave me, or reject me, or ignore me.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have been chastising myself for not writing here.  Reneging on commitments that I made.  I hate breaking promises or not following through.  Or not even starting, finishing.  You know, classic ADD.  I do stupid things all because of my mind?  No, I make choices for certain, but sometimes it doesn’t feel that way.  </p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://realmental.org/archives/239/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>10</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Anything But Silly</title>
		<link>http://realmental.org/archives/162</link>
		<comments>http://realmental.org/archives/162#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[blue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[therapy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://realmental.org/blog/archives/162</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday I read this amazing post by Chris at Serendipity Mine, called &#8220;The Silly Little Girl and Her Magic Closet.&#8221; It&#8217;s a brutally raw piece I could relate to, very much. Chris speaks about her being a people pleaser and a peacemaker and how she has always put &#8216;stuff&#8217; she needs to deal with into [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yesterday I read this amazing post by <a href="http://serendipitymine.blogspot.com/2007/12/silly-little-girl-and-her-magic-closet.html">Chris at Serendipity Mine</a>, called &#8220;<a href="http://serendipitymine.blogspot.com/2007/12/silly-little-girl-and-her-magic-closet.html">The Silly Little Girl and Her Magic Closet.</a>&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a brutally raw piece I could relate to, very much.  Chris speaks about her being a people pleaser and a peacemaker and how she has always put &#8216;stuff&#8217; she needs to deal with into a closet, for later.  But later never comes&#8230;well, until now.</p>
<p>A snippet:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>Part of the problem with this was that over the years I took all the &#8216;stuff&#8217; others did to me and just shoved it in a closet. Better to be a good girl and sit there and shut up and keep everyone happy than to cause waves of upset, hurt or disappointment. I was strong (with a big dose of stubborn) and I could get over it. I expected that with time it would all just magically disappear and make itself better. My own self cleaning magic closet.</em></p>
<p><em>The problem is&#8230;it never did. The hurt and the pain grew. It festered. It became infected. I started suffering from depression and then social anxiety.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Tomorrow will be my 2nd meeting with my therapist, where we pick up the story of my life at 19, having glossed over my childhood in an hour last time I was there.  She wanted the run-down, then we&#8217;re going to go back and take our time over things I need to deal with.</p>
<p>My closet is kind of like Chris&#8217; closet, and because I&#8217;m very much a Mental Tupperware sort of person, the things in my closet are put into boxes, all the good stuff in the front, when you first open the door, and all the bad things I don&#8217;t want to or can&#8217;t remember are in ratty old boxes shoved in the back of the closet.  It&#8217;s very much like <em>The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe</em>, where the closet just keeps going back and back and back and gets very cold once you reach that other world.</p>
<p>The other thing about this closet is that it&#8217;s in it&#8217;s own Mental Tupperware too, and when I find little snippets of therapy seeping into my life, I shove it back, like it has it&#8217;s time and it&#8217;s place and I do not want the two worlds to collide.</p>
<p>Therapy (even in theory) is becoming very much like a sandbox for me, a place to visit, to knock down, to build up and sometimes just to plunge my fingers, heart and soul into but only while I&#8217;m there.  I&#8217;ve played the last 5 minutes of my 1st therapy session over and over in my mind and each time I walk out of the therapy building, I take a deep breath of cold winter air and snap the lid shut.   I don&#8217;t really acknowledge the hour of telling the doctor the details of my life.</p>
<p>Maybe this sounds confusing, that I&#8217;m saying my therapy stays at therapy yet I&#8217;ve played it in my head over and over, but just like the abuse, the yelling, the endless reels of absolute shit that I lived through as a child, it&#8217;s as though it&#8217;s someone else living through therapy for me.  Some other little girl&#8217;s head was pushed down into her step-father&#8217;s lap, some other little girl&#8217;s mother told her that she was a selfish little bitch, some other little girl saved her brother from being murdered and some other little girl grew up and sits in that office and tells her story.</p>
<p>I wonder when I will own it.  Do those of us who pulled a full disconnect ever own our childhoods again or is it a survival tactic?</p>
<p>For the record Chris, your inner little girl is anything but silly.  I hope you find your way.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://realmental.org/archives/162/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mental Maid</title>
		<link>http://realmental.org/archives/141</link>
		<comments>http://realmental.org/archives/141#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:11:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[blue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[therapy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://realmental.org/blog/archives/141</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since calling back the therapist and booking my first appointment for this coming Friday I have felt lighter, happier, more bright, and motivated to get up and go every morning. As the appointment gets closer I wonder if I&#8217;m already pushing myself to heal before I get there &#8212; like when someone hires a maid [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Since calling back the therapist and booking my first appointment for this coming Friday I have felt lighter, happier, more bright, and motivated to get up and go every morning.  As the appointment gets closer I wonder if I&#8217;m already pushing myself to heal before I get there &#8212; like when someone hires a maid but cleans the house before she arrives.</p>
<p>The want I have to become &#8216;normal&#8217; is so overwhelming some days.  In the last week and a half the husband and I have re-connected so well that I don&#8217;t want to let anyone else into the spectrum of my thoughts.  It cheapens the experience, to share, even here.  I cannot describe the love we have without sounding cheesy or overdone but I will say this man is my best friend and I love him with everything I&#8217;ve got.</p>
<p>Jesus, even that sounds silly.  Go ahead, laugh.  I am.  But sometimes I want to be more &#8216;normal&#8217; for him.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m so appreciative of this rock in my life that I can break down to, that I can trust completely, and that when I am up, as I have been as of late, he continues to inspire me on a daily basis to be myself, which is a happy person for the most part.</p>
<p>The less time I spend thinking about petty things and history, the happier I become.  I find if I get my freelance work done in the morning (I work from home) and head off to the gym or go for a walk or even just shower and throw laundry in, I feel as though I&#8217;ve accomplished something.  It beats sitting on this couch while surfing the net and feeling incredibly guilty about such a waste of time.  If I stay on the computer too long, I mope and get <strong>so</strong> down.  But I haven&#8217;t sat around on the computer for over a week.  Now, by mid-day I&#8217;m ready to tackle any project and I&#8217;ve even <strike>found</strike> made time to read a novel again, or knit (I know), or just snuggle with the kids and talk.  I used to brush all that stuff off to surf the internet.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s gray here &#8211; the snow hasn&#8217;t come and the sun is scarce, so I&#8217;m missing the brightness.  I&#8217;m really busy with life though, and the kids.  I haven&#8217;t yelled at them since God knows when, except to call them for dinner.  By the end of the day I&#8217;ve done so much that 9 p.m. seems late and I crash.  I&#8217;m making lists of house stuff and errands and <strong>getting them done</strong>, which is big for me.  <em>Hello, meet the Former Mrs. Procrastinator.</em>  I&#8217;m eating 3-5 small meals/snacks a day, cooking more for winter and sleeping a regular pattern, as opposed to the starving myself of sleep and food.</p>
<p>Like I said, the maid has been hired, and I&#8217;m cleaning the mental house.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://realmental.org/archives/141/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Like Saddling Up Beside The Headless Horseman</title>
		<link>http://realmental.org/archives/122</link>
		<comments>http://realmental.org/archives/122#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:09:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[anxiety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self harm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[she's losing it]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[therapy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://realmental.org/blog/archives/122</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well it&#8217;s Tuesday morning and I&#8217;m supposed to post here but I don&#8217;t much feel like it.  Been up all night and I want to sleep but if I go now, getting up in two hours will be hell. I called the therapist back.  She answered her own phone and I told her right off [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well it&#8217;s Tuesday morning and I&#8217;m supposed to post here but I don&#8217;t much feel like it.  Been up all night and I want to sleep but if I go now, getting up in two hours will be hell.</p>
<p><a href="http://realmental.org/blog/archives/114">I called the therapist back</a>.  She answered her own phone and I told her right off that I wasn&#8217;t sure if our health insurance would cover her.  &#8220;Oh!&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;You&#8217;re completely covered by the government!&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Well then,&#8221; I replied, &#8220;I need fixing.&#8221;</p>
<p>We scheduled the appointment for the 23rd.</p>
<p>I have no clue where to begin with this.  So I go in there, full guns of verbal diarrhea and let &#8216;em fire?</p>
<p>Right now I can&#8217;t think that far ahead.  Everything is coming at me again as far as life goes, so I am busy dealing with the brushfires of kids, home and work, like everyone else.  There&#8217;s not much room for thinking, which really?  Is probably good.</p>
<p>Thank you to <a href="http://realmental.org/blog/archives/114">everyone that encouraged me to call her back</a>.  I think I&#8217;m glad I did.  She sounds nice and comes highly recommended, so we shall see.</p>
<p>In food news, which I know I need to talk about here, I&#8217;ve been sort of okay.  The husband, when he is home, notices the not eating sometimes so he makes extra effort to make things I will eat, like fish, salad and cut up fruit.  Part of me wonders if I do this to see if he will notice.  I think there&#8217;s a few layers that need to be peeled back there so I can see clearly regarding this.   Especially since I do avoid food even more so when he isn&#8217;t around, like I&#8217;m testing myself too, seeing how long I can go, which is like 14 hours now.   See?  Even here it&#8217;s a sick pride, quickly followed by a shadow of shame.  I know it&#8217;s wrong, and I feel stupid for doing it, but at the same time I&#8217;m all like 14 hours!  That&#8217;s such an accomplishment!  And then right back to shame.</p>
<p>I am really a huge mess of a person, and when I have all these overwhelming, noisy thoughts swirling in my head like leaves in the park, I just want to run like hell.  But where the hell would I go?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://realmental.org/archives/122/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Therapist Called Today</title>
		<link>http://realmental.org/archives/114</link>
		<comments>http://realmental.org/archives/114#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:38:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[blue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[therapy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://realmental.org/blog/archives/114</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[By Blue The therapist called today. I&#8217;ve never met her. I was referred to her in March. March! It&#8217;s now November. Thanks Mental Health Safety Net &#8211; good thing I tried to figure this shit out on my own, sorta. I&#8217;m not sure if I want to call her back and begin this process. I&#8217;m [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Blue</p>
<p>The therapist called today. </p>
<p>I&#8217;ve never met her.  I was referred to her in March.  March!  It&#8217;s now November.  Thanks Mental Health Safety Net &#8211; good thing I tried to figure this shit out on my own, sorta.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m not sure if I want to call her back and begin this process.  I&#8217;m afraid.  Really afraid.</p>
<p>Oh I know I should go and talk to a professional, but I do not need drugs.  I will refuse them and look even crazier for doing so, I&#8217;m sure.  I&#8217;m still not sleeping much &#8211; maybe 4 hours a night, but usually less.  I function with coffee in abundance and eat as little as possible unless something I&#8217;m really in love with comes into the house.  Like now it&#8217;s the Halloween candy and holy shit this stuff needs to go already &#8211; it&#8217;s only been 2 days (I bought the stuff for trick or treaters as late as possible so I wouldn&#8217;t touch it) and already I feel completely yucked out by the taste of sugar on my tongue constantly.  Binge eating is always punished later &#8211; though I&#8217;m not puking anymore, which is good.  I just won&#8217;t eat tomorrow until I feel faint &#8211; then maybe an apple.  Whatever.  At least I&#8217;m not refusing to talk to friends like I did back in March, but I will say I&#8217;m doing a lot more &#8216;faking it.&#8217;  Nobody has noticed about the eating this time around.  The headaches are killing me though.</p>
<p>Getting back to the therapist.  Here&#8217;s the breakdown for me:</p>
<p>1) I KNOW what I need to do to get better.  I need to sleep, to eat properly, to cut way back on coffee.  I know that things that were done to me were wrong and I know they weren&#8217;t my fault but the adult in me is saying &#8220;Grow up and get over it.&#8221;  I worry I will sit and tell Dr. Therapy my problems and she will think I&#8217;m a huge whiny baby who needs to get over it, which hello?  I KNOW.</p>
<p>And the thing is, I did think, at some point that by burying shit, that by throwing it into the recesses of my mind, that I HAVE dealt with things &#8212; haven&#8217;t I?</p>
<p>2) If I do decide to dredge up all this messy, intricate webs of slimy seaweed and place it on my lap to unravel and untangle it all&#8230;can I handle that?  Can I handle the sticky, wet mess in my lap, in the forefront of my mind as I sort it out?  What will it do to my personality?  Will it be a strain on my marriage?  I can&#8217;t hurt him.  I just can&#8217;t &#8212; but I look at us, at him, at me, and wonder how long it will be before he gives up.  Sometimes I think never but he is so normal that I just wonder if he has it in him to love me through this?  Will those feelings of inadequacy surface so strong that I will drive him away for fear of him hurting me first?  Will I be the driving force in our destruction?  I wonder that a lot. </p>
<p>3) How will regurgitating the past affect me as a mother?  I so do not want to be a mess.  Right now I&#8217;m a controlled mess.  If I go to Dr. Therapy, I&#8217;m not sure I&#8217;ll make it through this journey.</p>
<p>I am terrified.</p>
<p>&#8220;Blue&#8221;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://realmental.org/archives/114/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Forgive?  Forget?  Let go?</title>
		<link>http://realmental.org/archives/111</link>
		<comments>http://realmental.org/archives/111#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:44:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>bipolarlawyer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[bipolar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bipolarlawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relationships]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://realmental.org/blog/archives/111</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My mother&#8217;s coming to visit.  I&#8217;m very mixed in my feelings about it.  On the one hand, I&#8217;m hoping to confirm what our phone calls are telling me&#8211; that she&#8217;s worlds better than she&#8217;s been for decades, since this spring&#8217;s bipolar diagnosis.  On the other hand, I&#8217;ve got years of pent-up resentment and anger waiting [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My mother&#8217;s coming to visit.  I&#8217;m very mixed in my feelings about it.  On the one hand, I&#8217;m hoping to confirm what our phone calls are telling me&#8211; that she&#8217;s worlds better than she&#8217;s been for decades, since this spring&#8217;s bipolar diagnosis.  On the other hand, I&#8217;ve got years of pent-up resentment and anger waiting to be triggered by the slightest irritation, and my struggle to keep it in check.  I usually do keep it in check&#8211; prior to the bipolar diagnosis, she had no insight on how she affects me, and it&#8217;s like kicking a puppy.  Sure, the damned thing just pissed on your brand new virgin cashmere kilim (or whatever), but it just couldn&#8217;t help itself.</p>
<p>Now?  I wonder about telling her how angry I am, how mixed up I am, how mixed up I may always be.  Because she allowed herself to stay depressed for thirty years.  Because unlike my dad, she didn&#8217;t use any of her rock bottom points as the impetus to change things.  Because she seemed to enjoy playing the victim of cold and critical parents, and the ex-wife of an (undiagnosed bipolar) alcoholic.  Because she didn&#8217;t want to work, and I grew up with the stigma of a fat, lazy mother, section 8 housing, food stamps and free lunch.  Because her refusal to do anything about her weight made me bulimic as a teen (even worse?  she never noticed, despite my losing 30 lbs.), and in possession of a fine set of food and weight phobias for the rest of my life.  Because, because, because.  I&#8217;ve a world of reasons for anger, for shame, for grudges.</p>
<p>Now I wonder if she has the insight now?  ever? to understand these things.  Or whether she&#8217;s been so long in her self-centered groove that she&#8217;ll never have the perspective.   Or maybe that she is, under all the new meds, still self-centered?</p>
<p>And I wonder if it&#8217;s worth it, in any event.  Would I feel satisfied?  Relieved?  Healed? to tell her all these things?  There&#8217;s nothing she can do about it at this point.  And is my anger even justified, if she&#8217;s been bipolar all these years?  Can I hold it against her?  I want to.  Or do I have to forgive her?  I don&#8217;t want to.  I had enough insight, and enough concern for the effect of my behavior on others, to seek help and get the diagnosis that has been such a blessing to me.  My dad had enough strength after his first drunk driving arrest to kick the alcohol.  Is it fair for me to believe that someone who&#8217;s smart enough to write a Ph.D. at Harvard and become an ordained minister should be smart enough to get some clearly-needed help?  Or does it come back to emotional maturity, a lack of self-centeredness, an inherent personality flaw, instead?  If that&#8217;s the case, then I&#8217;d just be banging my head on a brick wall, which gives me a headache, and leaves blood on the wall.</p>
<p>Plus, if she didn&#8217;t get it, then again, there&#8217;s the kicking a puppy thing.  She would be sad, noncomprehending, and hurt because I&#8217;d shattered her self-image as a caring person.  But here&#8217;s the deal&#8211; she&#8217;s &#8220;caring&#8221; because she wants to be thought of as caring.  At least that&#8217;s what my therapist and I think.  But at the same time, there&#8217;s no doubt that she did want to listen to the things I had to say as a teen, and that she did want us to succeed.  And in a way, I have.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t want to forget, and I am not ready or able to let go yet.  Forgetting would mean that none of this stuff was important, negative as it is.  And it&#8217;s who I am, this stuff.  I can&#8217;t, I won&#8217;t forget it.</p>
<p>Right now, I&#8217;m leaning towards just keeping my mouth shut, except for the bare minimum inquiries to make sure she&#8217;s taking her meds, starting talk therapy, and working well with her new shrink.  I&#8217;ll have a horrible stress migraine after she&#8217;s gone, probably get a cold, and fall exhausted into bed every night that she&#8217;s here by, like, 7:00 pm, but the self-inflicted harm at this degree is still better than staving in that poor puppy&#8217;s ribcage, so hard is my urge to kick right now.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s to hoping I can let go at some future point.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://realmental.org/archives/111/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Struggle</title>
		<link>http://realmental.org/archives/107</link>
		<comments>http://realmental.org/archives/107#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:32:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[blue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating disorder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self harm]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://realmental.org/blog/archives/107</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I wrote this part 6 weeks ago: tonight i am not drunk. i started to drink and ran out of booze. that is probably best since it&#8217;s a school day and i want to be sure i&#8217;m up for that. every day i make promises to myself to not give up life, not leave my [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I wrote this part 6 weeks ago:</p>
<p>tonight i am not drunk.  i started to drink and ran out of booze.  that is probably best since it&#8217;s a school day and i want to be sure i&#8217;m up for that.  every day i make promises to myself to not give up life, not leave my family behind in a mess of blood and tears.  i have been close many times to planning it out, and as of late, i do believe that drugs should be had.  the ones that will make me happy.  every day i promise myself i will call the doctor and have that sit down with her &#8211; but last time went so badly and i do not agree with her choices.  how do i trust a doctor who sleeps with her prescription pad under her pillow?  i&#8217;d be better off re-joining the gym and getting stronger.  i hope to do that soon.  my body craves the movement and god knows i need to take that time for me.</p>
<p>i have been on those happy pills before, but they make me gain considerable weight and being fat, especially for me, given my history of abuse, is devastating and comes with bone crushing sadness.  i can&#8217;t be fat.  i have nothing against fat people &#8211; in fact, i tend to gravitate to them.  they are safe to me &#8211; people i can relate to and be raw with.  i can&#8217;t explain it, but fat people are considered safe and more loved by me.  i distrust skinny people, completely. </p>
<p>the only father figure i have recently asked me when i was getting divorced.  i was really surprised at the question since we are happy, but then he followed up with, &#8220;guys don&#8217;t dig fat chicks.&#8221;  i repeat it every goddamn time i look in the mirror.  i shouldn&#8217;t let it get to me but he was one of few &#8216;safe&#8217; family members.  it&#8217;s killing me to think about it all the time but i&#8217;m obsessed with being thin.</p>
<p>the last time i went to the doctor, i refused drugs.  i was going through a horrible relapse with anorexia and never slept.  i was public about it and was quickly shut down by hateful emails.  since that time i have kept things more under control, especially since my husband had me under a microscope and made me &#8216;express my feelings&#8217; and &#8216;open up.&#8217;</p>
<p>what he heard unnerved him i think, but he loves me.  he knows most of what i deal with privately is a mental hell.  still, i haven&#8217;t ever said everything i wanted to say.  no one knows me inside and out.  no one.</p>
<p>i doubt i will ever trust anyone fully.  even after years and years of a great marriage, i find i am staring at the sky, waiting for it to fall.  it happens all the time &#8211; couples fight, lose interest, cheat, lie, whatever.  we haven&#8217;t gone there.  it&#8217;s been good, really good.  i should be happy. </p>
<p>that feeling of &#8216;should be happy&#8217; makes it worse.  my life &#8216;should&#8217; make me happy &#8211; i have everything i want in terms of material things and of loving arms around me all the time, well, when he is here.  i&#8217;m alone a lot and miss him so much i ache.  so then i feel guilty for not being happy &#8211; i feel shitty about starving myself and needing the happy pills but am afraid to get fat, dependent, or deemed weak, by anyone.  these 2 cycles have their hands around my neck and the grip has only gotten tighter.</p>
<p>i can&#8217;t swallow anymore.  i feel very much alone and afraid.  writing here might make everything worse.  i confided in another writer here about how opening up some of these old wounds might make it worse.  i bury things.  it works for me. </p>
<p>so i pen this post as &#8216;blue&#8217; and hope that one day i work through some of this shit .  sounds cliche, i&#8217;m glad to be here, writing with people who know more, and understand me.  it&#8217;s a really good start, and i&#8217;m hopeful for a whole lot more &#8220;every days.&#8221;.</p>
<p>****<br />
I wrote this part last night:</p>
<p>these days, things are a little better.  i joined a gym and got rid of some of the things that i felt had a serious hold on me.  i feel freer, healthier, most of the time.  as long as i get moving, my head doesn&#8217;t want to bend and swoop, diving down into the darkness.  some days are alright. </p>
<p>i quit drinking too.  not completely, but i forbid myself to drink during the week.  i haven&#8217;t drank in nearly 3 weeks.  i&#8217;m proud of that, and most nights, i don&#8217;t think about it.  i don&#8217;t think i was addicted to alcohol so much as the wallowing in self-pity or the high points &#8211; though i never knew which way things would go.</p>
<p>i&#8217;m still abusing coffee and my body.  i&#8217;d like to talk about that more but i think food deserves it&#8217;s own post.)  if you made it this far, thank you.</p>
<p>~ blue</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://realmental.org/archives/107/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

