Top drug and alcohol treatment centers

Too Skinny….How Does It Happen?

How does this happen?

Anorexia is a complex disease, with myriad causes that range from culture to environment to—as recent studies have shown—genetics. Having a predisposition for anorexia means that a simple decision to diet away those last five pounds triggers something (it’s unclear as to what) that could lead you down a slippery slope.  The drive to become thinner is actually secondary to concerns about control and/or fears relating to one’s body. The individual continues the endless cycle of restrictive eating, often accompanied by other behaviors such as excessive exercising or the overuse of diet pills, diuretics, laxatives, and/or enemas in order to reduce body weight, often to a point close to starvation in order to feel a sense of control over his or her body. This cycle becomes an obsession and, in this way, is similar to any type of addiction.  Studies suggest that a genetic (inherited) component may play a more significant role in determining a person’s susceptibility to anorexia than was previously thought. Researchers are currently attempting to identify the particular gene or genes that might affect a person’s tendency to develop this disorder, and preliminary studies suggest that a gene located at chromosome 1p seems to be involved in determining a person’ s susceptibility to anorexia nervosa.  Anorexia could be caused by a genetic brain disorder shared by sufferers of autism and Asperger’s syndrome.  Noticeably sufferers of anorexia share traits with people who have autism, such as an inability to change rules they have set themselves, perfectionism and a tendency to fixate on details.  A few sources suggest that anorexics are addicted to fasting, apparently because of the chemical changes brought on by starvation. The opioids, enkephalins and endorphins are found to be at elevated levels in the spinal fluid of patients with anorexia.

Studies show that 20% of those affected by anorexia die directly from complications surrounding the disorder.  It is lethal, however, there is help and there is a solution it takes a lifetime of change but the only way for those suffering from anorexia to gain the control they are looking for is to admit the powerlessness over their disorder and behaviors.

Not Seeing Clearly

Warped Perception

What are the contributing factors of an eating disorder?  Even the slimmest women have, on occasion, stood in front of the mirror and asked: “Does this dress make me look fat?”  No matter who you are at some point you have been your own worst critic.  Why do we do this to ourselves and what drives body dysmorphia? Scientists have discovered that the body image a person projects in their own brain is “massively distorted” and can be up to two thirds wider than it is in reality. The brain’s own “body model” is also around a third shorter than the body actually is, according to the study at University College London.  Researchers believe the findings could explain why slim women look in the mirror and see themselves as fat. They may also help explain the cause of some eating disorders.

Dr Michael Longo, a neuroscientist is a leader in brain research, said: “These findings may well be relevant to psychiatric conditions involving body image such as anorexia, as there may be a general bias towards perceiving the body to be wider than it is.” He also says,“Some people look in the mirror and receive information which tells them they are not fat, but they still can’t use that to over-ride their distorted body model and make themselves believe it.”

The scientists had subjects place their hands under a board and relay where specific landmarks such as knuckles and fingertips were.  In doing so people were warped in their sense of size.  Scientists believe the distortion stems from the number of sensory signals being sent to the brain from different parts of the skin.  The brain’s warped “model” of the hand could be conveyed to the rest of the body,  therefore adding to the beginnings or bolstering feelings of negative body image.  For instance, if I am walking around feeling shorter and fatter than I really am these findings are saying that I am way off in my judgement.  Surprisingly, researchers found that subjects could pick their accurate hand size from other templates.  Therefore, researchers believe this shows that people have an accurate visual image of their own body but are still unable to use that information to over-ride the “brain model” which tells them they are larger.

The Dark Side of Sex…

Can't Stop?

Sexual addiction is best described as a progressive intimacy disorder characterized by compulsive sexual thoughts and acts.

Like all addictions, its negative impact on the addict and on family members increases as the disorder progresses. Over time, the addict usually has to intensify the addictive behavior to achieve the same results.  Contrary to popular belief, sex addicts are not all sex offenders, and vice-versa.  The National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity has defined sexual addiction as “engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior acted out despite increasing negative consequences to self and others.” In other words, a sex addict will continue to engage in certain sexual behaviors despite facing potential health risks, financial problems, shattered relationships or even arrest.

The same compulsive behavior that characterizes other addictions also is typical of sex addiction. But these other addictions, including drug, alcohol and gambling dependency, involve substances or activities with no necessary relationship to our survival. For example, we can live normal and happy lives without ever gambling, taking illicit drugs or drinking alcohol. Even the most genetically vulnerable person will function well without ever being exposed to, or provoked by, these addictive activities. Sexual activity is different. Like eating, having sex is necessary for human survival.

There are many co-occurring disorders that go hand in hand with sex addiction.  For example, Alcohol and drugs are used to cover the guilt and shame of the inability to stop the “sexual behaviors”  which in turn lead to the same demoralizing behavior which begins a vicious cycle. Drugs alter libido, enhancing it early in drug addiction and inhibiting it later. There is a pattern in cocaine addiction of selling sexual favors for cocaine. As the cost of drug addiction increases, the drug addict usually can’t afford the drug from ordinary job income, and must resort to (either/or) stealing, drug dealing or prostitution to support their habit. Many drugs cause blackouts or amnesia during the drug using experience, and if sex is coupled with that drug using experience then the details of the sexual experience may not be remembered.

Sex addiction is very real and there is help for this disease.  It is not hopeless.  More and more the public is coming forward with their issues and seeking a better life and a permanent solution.

Women and Alcoholism

Alcohol effects women differently

Most of what we know of alcoholism has been accumulated from scientific studies conducted with a high percentage of male subjects. Current studies involving more female subjects show that drinking differs between men and women (Telegraph UK), as well as between females and the difference in what level education they have completed.

There are several possibilities as to why better-educated women drink more:

• They tend to have children later, postponing the responsibilities of parenthood.
• They may have more active social lives or work in male-dominated workplaces with a drinking culture.

Studies in the general population display that fewer women than men drink. It is estimated that of the 15.1 million alcohol-abusing or alcohol-dependent individuals in the United States, approximately 4.6 million (nearly one-third) are women.  Interestingly, women who have never married or who are divorced or separated are more likely to drink heavily and experience alcohol-related problems than women who are married or widowed. Unmarried women living with a partner are more likely still to engage in heavy drinking and to develop drinking problems.

Moreover, studies of women alcoholics in treatment show that females often experience greater physiological impairment earlier in their drinking careers, despite having consumed less alcohol than men. These findings suggest that the development of consequences associated with heavy drinking may be increased or “telescoped” in women.  After alcohol is consumed, it diffuses uniformly into all body water, both inside and outside cells. Because of their smaller quantity of body water, women acquire higher concentrations of alcohol in their blood than men after drinking equivalent amounts of alcohol. Essentially, blood alcohol concentration in women may be likened to the result of dropping the same quantity of alcohol into a smaller pail of water.

Constant alcohol abuse has a greater physical toll on women than on men. Female alcoholics have death rates 50 to 100 percent higher than those of male alcoholics. Further, a greater percentage of female alcoholics die from suicides, alcohol-related accidents, circulatory disorders, and cirrhosis of the liver.  Women have a higher abstinence rate if treated in a medically oriented alcoholism facility, whereas the abstinence rate is higher for men treated in a peer group-oriented facility.