- Hey everybody!
It's finally Friday.
So surprise, it's a video, hello.
So I am still, I'm starting to get
a little anxious about my test,
and I've been studying a lot and things are going well.
I have my first class tomorrow, nine to five, so.
♫ Working nine to five
♫ What a way to make a living
Anyway, so I have questions.
I have gone across all of my sites
and picked questions from each of them.
So keep asking your questions 'cause I will
periodically do these as I have some time on my hands.
So today I actually have four questions
and a journal topic.
So without further ado, the first question.
Hashtag Katie at Fake U, "Is it bad to keep
"self-harm tools around because they make
"you feel comfortable like a security blanket?
"I have no intention of using them,
"but I just feel better when they're around."
It's very normal.
Is it bad?
That's the question I guess.
It's not bad, it's very normal.
It's something that, to be honest,
even if we're not going to use them,
it makes us feel comfortable knowing they're there,
just like just in case.
And something I would challenge you to do
if you're working with a therapist is talk
to them about this and start having a conversation
around the fact that you do keep them
and why you think that is.
And then I would challenge you to leave them
with your therapist for a week.
Bring them in, give them to her,
and say hey can I get those back from you next week,
and see how that feels.
Because I do that a lot with my clients
and slowly we're able to let go of them.
And it's kind of a process so be patient with yourself.
Know that what you're feeling is completely normal.
It's not bad, it's not shameful.
It's just part of our recovery process, okay?
Question number two.
Hi Katie, this sounds a bit stupid,
but I'm wondering if you can help me with this.
I think I became depressed 10 years ago,
most certainly the last eight,
with very little break from it.
The last year I've been working on trying
to improve this through socializing, hobbies, etc.
It's been very challenging but helpful.
The problem is I still feel down, alone, lost,
and stupid most of the time.
Like I'm keeping my head just above water.
Which we've all kind of felt that right?
Like we're just barely hanging in there.
Something just doesn't feel right.
Like the world is empty sort of.
And the best way to explain is that I wake up
and the last thing I want to do is get up
and drag myself through the day.
But it's improved so much on wishing
I was dead almost constantly.
Well, that doesn't make since, but anyway,
things are still pretty bad.
So the main question that she's asking is I don't know,
my question is if we have been depressed
for such a long time how do we know what's normal.
My question is if we, I don't know if I've just lost
touch with my reality or expect too much
or something from life, but I don't have a therapist
and I can't get one, etc.
So what she's saying is she's been depressed
for so long, it's almost like we forget
what it's like to feel good
and to like feel normal or happy.
And that is really common.
Oftentimes I find, and this is just my experience,
there's no study to back this up,
well there might be but I haven't researched it.
I think if clients have been depressed
for more than two years, we often tend to forget
what it was like to not be depressed
because it's a long-ass time.
That's like you know 365 days in a row,
and we do it over and it's like ahh,
we don't even remember being like today was great, yeah.
So I would encourage you since you said
you don't have a therapist and you can't get one.
Is there any way you can talk to your physician?
And maybe see a psychiatrist?
Or join a group?
Or get on my website and get support through that?
Oftentimes we've been depressed for a very long time,
medication is a very good option as well as therapy.
If there's anyway you can find a therapist
'cause we all can get one, whether we're on a list
or we're going to a community clinic
or it might just mean we have to talk
to our parents about it.
I know that sucks but you deserve to feel better
and trust me, through medication and therapy,
the best outcomes, that's like what research shows,
the best outcomes come from medication and therapy.
It doesn't mean you'll have to be on medication
or that you have to be on it forever.
That's just what the studies show.
But even therapy alone is really really beneficial
and is a great first step.
And I would encourage you to look into that
because we forget how good we can feel.
But if you can like dream, dream into that happy land
and imagine what it would be like,
it's totally worth all the stress and the frustration
and maybe the worry associated
with starting to see a therapist.
'Cause I promise we're not that scary.
We're really not, we're just people, right?
People that want to help people
which are usually nicer people, right?
Okay, question number three.
Hashtag Katie at Fake U, I have this assignment
for my wellness class.
The class is about overall health of our body and mind.
It's a required course to take
for the college that I attend.
For the assignment we need to keep track
of everything we eat and drink.
We have to use this website and fill out all of our data.
The website also counts our calories.
I'm sort of freaking out because this is really
really triggering I already have the feeling
that I should restrict my eating
and it's making everything really bad,
or much worse.
I don't know what to do, any suggestions?
I hear this all the time.
I've actually dealt with many of my clients doing this
where they have like PE of some sort
whether it's high school or college
and they're required to write down what they eat
and monitor everything and then report back.
And it's horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible.
And there are a couple of things.
So first of all, if you're seeing a therapist,
have us write a letter.
I've done that, oh my gosh, so many times.
I actually have a form letter pretty much
and I just insert the different things
'cause what I really say is it's detrimental
to their health and recovery as a person,
and it's my request that you don't require them
to this portion of the assignment.
These are some other options I think
that might fulfill that requirement.
So I took some time and tried to figure out
what I thought would do and depending on what
your teacher will allow, sometimes they'll let
you do something totally different.
Like even if you share with your teacher
and journal as part of your class
on the recovery process and how you've realized
that your body needs energy and what energy means
and how it feels and stuff like that,
I think that honestly in my opinion,
that's more beneficial than us writing down
everything we eat.
I don't do that.
I don't believe in that.
I'm not a big fan.
So I would either A, have your therapist
take care of part of it for you,
or B, and I guess these are both kind of happen
at the same time, is talk to your teacher.
They're really understanding.
I know we're scared and we don't like
to share with too many people, but they'll get it
if we're honest.
They're not going to get it if we do poorly
and we don't tell them and we have trouble
and then we just start decompensating
and maybe our grades go down in general
over all of our courses.
So the sooner you can say something to them, the better,
and the more honest we can be the better.
But remember, you don't have to share all the details.
I would practice, I would write it down.
What are the things you want them to know?
I'm recovering from an eating disorder
so this is really triggering.
Are there any other ways that I can
you know maintain my grade in class
and keep my credits up.
Are there ways that we can replace this
with something else that might be more beneficial to me?
And then just leave it at that.
Sometimes you can even email if you're afraid
to talk to them.
But chances are they're probably going to want
to talk to you face to face.
Or get a letter from a doctor or therapist maybe too
just to make sure that everything's okay.
So those are my ideas.
I know many of you talked about that
so I hope that it helps.
And if any of you had a class and you're like,
oh my God I did this, let us know
so we can share with one another, right?
Okay, question number four.
Why is EDNOS statistically the most deadly
of eating disorders?
Now I actually, I assumed this,
but I don't know if I actually know the stats on it,
but I actually filmed a video about this
so stay tuned, make sure you subscribe to my channel
so you don't miss it.
EDNOS tends to be the most dangerous.
That's what I always think, it's the most dangerous,
because it's a shape shifter.
We don't always know how to track it.
Are they binging?
Are they just purging?
Are they binging and purging?
Are they restricting?
Are they exercising?
What are they doing because it changes all the time.
And often it goes undiagnosed and untreated
for much longer.
So that is why I believe it's the most deadly
or to me the most dangerous of the eating disorders
because it comes and goes, it changes a lot,
and it can hang around for a lot longer
than the other eating disorders.
So it can go unnoticed longer.
So if you yourself are worried and think,
well I don't quite fit into any criteria
so I don't think I have an eating disorder.
You probably do and you should definitely get help
because the sooner we get help,
the better the outcome, right?
So those are my thoughts on that.
Okay, journal topic.
Now this is from one of you.
So thank you all for sending in the journal topics
because it really helps me get more ideas
and other options and this one's really cool.
So this person says I thought it'd be a good
journal topic slash challenge,
and she goes on to talk about how reality TV has become
so much more popular than they ever anticipated
and people are so, even myself included right,
we're so addicted to being in people's drama
and gossip and what's going on with them
instead of living our own lives, right.
A lot of us will spend a lot of time watching TV,
being on the internet.
We can become like super, super fans slash stalkers
of sorts because we get so excited, right,
and we're so involved in their life
we feel like we're part of their life.
And it's a totally different thing
than what television used to be in the past, right?
It was never reality based.
And so the challenge is, this is her challenge to us.
And I'm going to do this myself, is try to avoid
the excitement or sadness or even gossip
that's so easy to become entwined in
and start pursuing something you've been thinking about
that will be more personally rewarding.
So what if, and maybe this is just
a nice thing to journal about,
what if you cut back on your reality TV
or your social media maybe 30 minutes today?
Cut back on it a little bit,
and then how do you feel about it?
And what are things that are important to you
that you haven't made the time for
because I am really guilty of that.
Like there are so many things, even the other day,
I was driving down the freeway
and it was like some Cirque de Soleil,
I think it's Totem it's called,
is at the Santa Monica Pier and I was like,
ah I've been really wanting to go see that
but I'm going to take my test in like ah, right?
But I should just buy some tickets.
Geez, it's here, it's like five minutes from my house.
It's crazy.
So what are some things that you've been putting off
that in those 30 minutes or hour or whatever
that we've cut down on that you can help
yourself be feel more fulfilled and more recharged, right?
Have a wonderful weekend.
I love you all.
Thanks for tuning in.
I will sporadically put out these videos.
So make sure you're still asking your questions on my site.
If any of you are out there and are like
hey Katie, I'd love to help and answer some questions,
feel free to respond to people's comments on YouTube
or Twitter or things that are more not so private,
they're public questions.
I welcome the help.
That would be amazing.
Other than that, I'll try to get through stuff as I can,
but like I said, I'm taking my test March eighth,
and I have to ace that son of a bitch
so I don't have to take it again.
So, I'll be on hiatus for a little bit,
but I'm still around.
I'm still reading all of your comments and questions.
I just don't have all the time to answer them.
Okay, I love you, have a great weekend.
I'll see you next week, bye.