- Hey everyone, it is Thursday
and I'm so excited it's almost Friday.
But that means I'm on Twitter answering
your questions if you've used the hashtag
#KatiFAQ or in my inbox, you've also said,
"Hey Kati, here's my question."
So I've written down four for today
as well as a journal topic, which is actually
a very cool art slash journal project
and I think it's really cool,
and one of my followers on Twitter had forwarded it to me.
So thank you so much.
So without further ado, into my first question.
First question says, "Kati, I was diagnosed
"with anxiety and panic disorder a few years ago.
"Are they both the same and can an eating disorder
"go hand-in-hand with it?"
First question: are they the same?
No they are not.
Now, I have my handy-dandy DMS down here
because, oh I just made my camera shake,
because I wanna read you the differences.
Now anxiety, or anxiety disorder,
is really just--
the best way I can describe it within the anxiety
disorder is generalized anxiety disorder,
and that just states that it's "characterized by at least
"six months of persistent and excessive anxiety and worry."
Okay?
So that's anxiety as a whole, right?
We worry about things and we,
it takes over our brain.
Then, if we have panic disorder, that means
that we actually have panic attacks.
And it says "Panic disorders characterized
by recurrent, unexpected panic attacks about
which there is persistent concern."
So you can see how one can feed the other.
Our anxiety and our persistent worry
could lead to a panic attack.
They are not the same, but they could definitely
make the other one worse, or cause the other one.
Okay?
And, the second question: can an ED
go hand-in-hand with it?
It definitely can.
A lot of times our eating disorder is used as
an outlet and a coping skill for things like that:
for worry, depression, panic disorder,
PTSD, abuse.
It can be an outlet for anything that we don't
have another coping skill for.
So, we're using our eating disorder to manage
the anxiety or the panic attacks
when we should be trying to reach out, talk to a therapist,
get some support and help for ourselves.
So, it makes a lot of sense and
that's definitely very common.
Question number two: "Is alcohol an antidepressant
and how can it be bad for you?"
Alcohol is an depressant, not an antidepressant.
I know that many of us would be like, "But Kati,
"when I'm drunk I'm so happy."
But, it really, if you notice, you know
how you pass out, people get so drunk they'll just pass out?
It's because alcohol is a downer.
It's gonna bring us down, it depresses us.
It actually makes us tired, it can slow our breathing,
you can actually die because alcohol
really a poison that we're putting in our bodies,
and I enjoy a martini just as much as anybody else
but, you have to remember that when you're drinking
the effects that you feel are actually
the effects of a poison you put into your body
that's hindering your cerebellum and many portions
of your brain, as well as your
frontal lobe that affects your speech.
Your cerebellum is in the back here and it affects
your mobility, which is why we kinda stumble around
and we have trouble with our balance.
So, it's definitely not something that's good for us
because it's a poison, and that's why a lot
of people have struggle with liver or kidney
function when they've been alcoholics for a long time
'cause those are the organs that clean out our body.
And a lot of times when you read Advil,
or any of the regular, everyday kind of medications we take,
it'll tell you "If you have kidney or liver functioning
"problems, talk to your doctor first,"
because it's gonna be processed, the way our body
breaks it down, it's processed through those organs
and if our organs are worn out, let's say we've
been an alcoholic for a long time,
it can be really hard for us to even digest
any kind of medication in general.
So please be very careful, if you think you
have a problem, look into your local AA groups
and talk to your doctor, okay?
Third question: "I've been diagnosed with EDNOS,
"but they say that I'm underweight.
"How does that work out?
"I'm so confused."
The diagnoses can be really confusing,
and EDNOS really means that you...
you don't fall
into the bulimia or the anorexia bucket exactly.
And my guess, and I don't know anymore than this
from the question that was asked, but my guess
is that you may not be binging and purging
as much to be a bulimic, like the number of times
that the DSM states that we have to be doing it.
And with anorexia, my guess is that you don't
just starve as a behavioral thing.
And you can be underweight, and you can be overweight,
and you can be any weight range or all
and still have an eating disorder.
The diagnosis just really depends on the behaviors.
So my guess would be that you kinda go in between things.
We might binge and purge, we might restrict,
we might purge through exercise, and we might,
but we do all these different things,
and so to describe the behavior, we're using
EDNOS, but you're on the underweight category.
Okay?
I hope that helps and clears it up.
I know it gets really confusing.
My old videos about anorexia, bulimia, and EDNOS
go into way more detail, so check those out, okay?
Now, number four: "Is is common for someone with BPD
"to go through episodes of extreme happiness
"or euphoria that lasts a couple of minutes?"
The answer is yes.
One of the main characteristics, I'm looking over here
'cause I took some notes, one of the main
characteristics of borderline personality disorder,
if you watch my video on it, and I'll do more,
many of you requested that.
But I'm reading something that I had notes from
the video that I did, and one our main struggles is
we have problems with regulating our emotions and thoughts.
So just the same that we can feel really bad
and shitty about things at one point in time,
we can feel really good about things
and our emotions are kinda all over the place.
And that's why many people often get
diagnosed with bipolar disorder, when in fact
it's borderline personality disorder.
So I hope that clears that up for you,
'cause that is very normal.
Okay, now, first of all, I checked my PO box today
and I got a little fancy-pants box from another Katie,
such a good name.
And I love it 'cause it was filled, oh my gosh you guys,
with these little purple paper things,
and I love purple, you guys know me.
I think I just dropped it all over myself.
Opps.
But, I got my bracelet on, can you see it?
Can you see it?
And look, it's a hope bracelet, it's a white hope bracelet,
like the ones I had on my website.
And, oh my goodness, okay a really adorable card,
but that's personal, so I'm not gonna read you that.
And then a coffee, is it flipped backward, I don't know,
but it's a coffee calendar and I have to read
you one of my favorite blurbs.
"Using coffee grounds for personal care,"
because I didn't know this.
"Scrub your hands with coffee grounds
"after handling stinky foods, like onions or fish.
"The grounds will absorb the odor."
Who knew there were so many uses for coffee,
maybe that's why I love it so much.
Also 'cause I'm from Seattle, I feel like
you're born with a bottle of Starbucks
in your mouth and not milk.
That's not healthy.
Okay, anyways, so my journal topic is,
if you follow me on Twitter, @KatiMorton,
I retweeted this and the person said to me,
"I think this is a good idea," or something,
so check that out, and I'm going to read to you,
and I'll post it in the description.
And make sure to like this and give it a thumbs up,
and don't forget to subscribe to my channel
'cause I put out videos five days a week.
That's a lot of videos.
But, it's a paper chain project.
It says, "For everyday you go without self-harming
"or purging, you add a colorful link to the paper chain."
It's like Christmas paper.
I love paper chains, I love paper chains.
"If you relaspe, just add a white link to the chain
"and carry on the chain without any disruption."
Right?
'Cause it's a process, it's not perfection
and we're gonna have little slip ups,
but we keep making our chain.
"Over time, the paper chain will grow in length
"and you can see your progress."
How cool?
Now there's other stuff that it says here, but it says,
"If you feel like hurting yourself, look
"at the paper chain and realize just
"how far you've come and realize that
"if you've resisted before, you can do it again."
So I think that is great.
So I would encourage all of you to start your paper chain,
and then when you have it, even if it's just four loops,
please take a picture and tweet it to me at @KatiMorton
and then I'm gonna retweet them
and I would like to maybe put them up
on my website because that's awesome.
So please do the paper chain project
and let me know how it goes.
I love you all.
I will see you when I'm on Facebook 'cause it is Friday.
So ask your questions on there and remember
to use the hashtag #KatiFAQ and at the top say,
"Hey Kati, my question is," blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
So I will see you all then, have a wonderful night.
Love you, bye.