- Hey, everybody!
What day is it?
It's finally Friday!
And I am sweating like a crazy person
because it is really freakin' hot here,
in Los Angeles.
I wish the gods would come down and send me
air conditioning.
But it's not happening, so in the meanwhile,
I'm just gonna sweat it out!
Um, so if you're new to my channel,
welcome!
And don't forget to subscribe
because I put out videos five days a week,
and since it's Friday, and there's an F
in Friday, I'm on Facebook.
I try to keep it nice and simple,
so if you ask me a question, use the hashtag
KatieFAQ.
Um, then I've scanned through.
I've already answered many of your questions,
so you might want to hop on and see if I
already answered yours.
And thank you all so much for voting for me
for the Streamies.
I know we have two more days left to cast
our votes,
so make sure you get online at the Streamies,
and cast your vote!
I'm under Science and Education.
That is my -
It's a channel and then Science and Education
is the topic or the way they've lumped
them together, so please vote!
Now question number one:
"Hi Katie, I was sexually abused in my past,
and I currently have an eating disorder.
Is it possible for the two to be linked without
me consciously realizing it?
I know people use it as a coping tool to deal
with flashbacks, etc., but I've never thought of
my eating disorder as being related.
Just curious. Thanks."
And I wanted to answer this question because
I know many of us have had abuse in the past,
and also have eating disorders.
Now, obviously everyone's case is different.
I've had patients of mine who were sexually
abused and starting using their eating disorder
as a way to kind of make themselves, like,
unattractive.
Like, one of my clients had said that the person
who abused her, you know, loved her curves,
or something. So she restricted and tried to lose
weight so she no longer had those curves so that
she would never be abused again.
So, it can be used in a tool that way.
And I've found that with some of my clients that
that's common.
So if that's something you struggle with,
that's common.
Um, as far as this person is talking about,
is using it as a coping tool, it can also be used
just to deal with the fact that you've been
traumatized.
It doesn't have to be to cope with flashbacks,
but it could be something that you do for that.
But I find that our eating disorders are mostly
just used as a way to cope with something that
we don't know how to manage or deal with in any
other way, and sometimes when everything around us
is out of control.
Like maybe we've told a parent and they don't
believe we're being abused, or the abuse just
keeps happening, and we don't know how to protect
ourselves because we're a young child.
Often times, the only thing we can control
in those situations are ourselves.
So, some of my patients are really,
really cleanly and almost OCD-like in the way
that they do things around the house.
We control how we eat, and exercise and dress
and whatever.
That's all we can do, right?
So, instead of trying to control things we can't,
we control things we can, and that's kind of
where they come out of.
I hope that helps explain.
If you need more information, let me know.
Okay?
Question number 2:
"Hey Katie, in recovery, how can you tell
you healthy voice from your eating disorder
voice?
Sometimes I find myself refusing "bad" foods,
and I'm not sure if it's because I actually
don't want them or my eating voice is telling me
I can't have them.
Likewise, a binge will often start with what
I think is a healthy voice, reasoning that I want
the food and I shouldn't deny myself.
How can I tell whether the thought comes from a
healthy or an unhealthy place?
Thank you for everything you do.
You've really helped me so much."
So, I thought that this was great because
I talk a lot about talking back to negative
voices, right?
Using our healthy voice and, you know,
getting rid of that negative voice, whether it be
eating disorder voice, self-harm voice,
depression voice, anxiety voice, whatever it is.
That kind of negative energy in our brain.
I talk about talking back to it.
Now how do we decipher? How do we pull them apart?
And it can be really hard at the beginning.
Now, when it comes to eating, and this person's
specific question, is checking in with yourself.
I cannot say it enough times the Intuitive Eating
Workbook by Evelyn Rorsh, and -
oh, what's the other lady's name?
Is it Elyse?
Ah! My brain.
It's Friday, right?
It's right there on the tip of my brain,
but anyway!
The Intuitive Eating Workbook is amazing.
Pick it up.
And what they talk about in there, as well as
something I kind of add in with my patients,
is the thing that will never,
that you can't really -
it's trick proof!
Is checking in with your hunger in fullness,
using the rating scale with the Intuitive
Eating Workbook.
Now, okay, so that might be a little hard,
and you're like,
"Wow, Katie, that's not full-proof at all.
You're lying to me.
But the second thing you need to do,
simultaneously is then check in with your
emotion level.
Often, I find, that when our emotions are high,
we cannot trust that voice that we're hearing -
We can't trust it. It's unhealthy voice.
When our emotions get really riled up,
we know, from past experience,
many of you have told me like,
when we get really stressed out or really
anxious, or things are like, changing,
that's when our urges are the worst.
So, checking in with your emotion level, as well
as your hunger fullness, will help decipher.
And also, it helps some of my clients just to
think - and you can pick anybody,
like any healthy eater in your life.
Sometimes I'll just tell them if they don't know
someone in their life, I'll say, "Just think,
'What would Katie do? Would she think this is
okay? Would Katie think that's a normal amount
to eat?'"
And if you feel a binge coming on, you know,
maybe step away.
It just kind of helps you put it in perspective,
and just check in.
Almost like what I call "reality testing."
Find someone who you trust and you know,
and you can use them to check in.
Okay? I hope that helps.
If any of you have tips or tricks about this,
let us know below!
Okay, question number 3, my final question:
"Hey Katie, I hope you're having a great day.
I have a question for you.
As you know, I struggle with self-harm
and other mental health issues, and am now
recovered and in medical school.
Last night, my roommate, who is also
a med student, came home and started telling me
about a teenage patient she had in her
pediatric clinic, who had "nasty" scars
and cuts all over her arms from cutting herself,
and how it made her really uncomfortable
to look at, discuss and document in her chart.
I really wanted to open up about my own
experience, but for some reason, I just couldn't.
Instead, I discussed the issue in terms of
patients that I've seen and how I would handle it
in an attempt to get her to be less judgemental.
Do you think that in order to help end the stigma
it is necessary to be open about our own personal
experiences?
Or is it enough to be aware and try to help
others be more sensitive without disclosing?
Obviously it's inappropriate to share personal
experiences with my patients, but I'm wondering
about friends and colleagues.
Negative stigma and lack of understanding clearly
exist, so it's not simply sharing personal and
professional self-preservation or are we actually
doing harm and perpetuating the stigma by acting
ashamed or afraid of being judged?
I'm wondering what your thoughts are.
Thanks!"
I thought this was really great because
many of you will talk to me and message me about,
"Well, I maybe want to tell my friend,
but I'm afraid to tell my friend."
Or, "I've told my friend and she didn't
react the way I wanted to."
Or, we don't know, and it's really scary
to open ourselves up to people and
actually talk about what we're struggling with.
Now, in this case, from this person,
I think that you did the right thing.
Sometimes, if we're not that - I don't know
how close you are with your roommate,
but if you're not that close with someone,
there's no reason that you have to disclose.
By being, I guess, the way it is,
worrying about the stigma yourself,
and almost being kind of embarrassed or not sure,
and not wanting them to know because
you don't know what they'll think about you,
that's fair, right?
Yes, it's helpful for us to talk about our
struggles and to be more verbal and vocal about
what's going on and why it happens,
but I think what you did is perfect.
If we're not that close to that person,
and we don't want to share our personal
experience, I think talking about patients you've
seen - you can even make up a story
about you know, I had this patient,
and share from your own experience with it,
just to try to help them better understand.
Just talking about it, period, helps with
the stigma.
It's not - it's not that we all have to share
all of our nitty gritty secrets and we have
to be so open about it.
Although, I think the more we talk about it,
the better, but again, it needs to be done
in a safe environment 'cause I don't want
any of you to prepare yourself, and work to share
something so personal and so, just,
yeah, personal and private, and then have it blow
up in your face.
So, when people aren't that close to us,
it can be scary,
and I prefer people to not have a bad experience.
So, I think what you did is really great,
and if any of you have experience with this,
and you have your own opinion about it,
let me know below, okay?
Now, the drill topic today,
Thanks, Kaylyn.
Thanks for sending that to me on Facebook.
It was amazing.
So, it's a little thought that she had.
She says, "Hey Katie, it's a little long,
but I love analogies.
Think back to when you were small
and learning to ride a bike -"
I remember that.
That was very fun. My dad had taught me.
"You fell, right? But you didn't give up.
It felt good when you got back and started
riding it."
That's true.
"Now think about how good it would feel for you
to get back on your feet and start fighting the
daily battles you have.
You're gonna fall, but you don't have to give up.
And it felt good to ride a bike, and it's gonna
feel amazing when you win the fight
that you're in.
I thought this was great because when we
were small, the only worries that we had were
small things like learning how to ride a bike.
So what makes me feel good?
What makes me feel like I can keep battling
against my self-harm or eating disorder or
whatever it is?"
And I thought that was a really great thing to
think about.
Getting back up. Getting back in there.
I remember I was at a camp when I was younger,
and it was like, I think it was a Christian camp
or something,
and I remember one of the camp counselors
was like, "You know, I don't understand, in life,
when we fall down, we get right back up.
Like, we fall down and we skin our knee, and we
get back up. We don't lay there."
But emotionally, we can lay down,
once we fall, we lay forever.
So get back up.
And find out what makes you happy.
What will you be excited to win the fight,
and to do?
And I think that's a great analogy,
so thanks, Kaylyn.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
I will see you on Monday, and on Tuesday,
I'll be on Tumblr, so ask your questions there.
Okay? Bye!