National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

 20th to 26th February is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

The National Eating Disorders Association has made the theme of this year’s NEDA week “Everybody Knows Somebody”  because awareness of this issue is growing.  The aim of the week is to “Ultimately prevent eating disorders and body image issues while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment.”

A recent survey by B-eat, a national UK based charity that provides information, help and support to people affected by eating disorders, found that 92% of children felt they couldn’t tell anyone about their eating related issues.  They are launching a campaign  called ‘Break the Silence and Beat Eating Disorders’.

Eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder affect at least 1.1 million people in the UK according to Eating Disorders Statistics (UK), with young people in the age group 14-25 being most at risk of developing this type of illness. Here are some signs and symptoms to look out for that may suggest someone has, or is on the verge of developing an eating disorder.

·         Obsession with body weight and image

·         Picking at food

·         Only eating certain types of food

·         Using the bathroom immediately after eating

·         Making excuses not to eat at meal times

·         Fluctuations in weight (weight loss or weight gain)

·         Mood swings

·         Excessive use of exercise

Conventional medical treatment for eating disorders is usually centred on changing the person's behaviour with regards to food, without trying to understand what's going on in their head.   But everyone with an eating disorder has come to it by a different and personal route.  Therefore there is not a ‘one-size fits all’ approach to helping them overcome it.  It may take a multi-disciplinary approach that includes nutritionists, trainers and complementary medicine.

Eating disorders are responsible for more loss of life than any other type of psychological illness and can have a huge impact on long term health with osteoporosis and fertility problems being common place. 

If you are worried that you or someone you know may be suffering from an eating disorder, break the silence and talk to someone you can trust.

For further information see www.nationaleatingdisorders.org and www.b-eat.co.uk

National Tinnitus Awareness Week

This is National Tinnitus Awareness week (9th Feb to 15th Feb). Tinnitus is a common problem suffered by no less than 4.7 million people in the UK. Tinnitus is most often associated with a ringing sound in the ears, but it can take many different forms, which can easily be confused with external noise. 

Many people cannot pinpoint a reason or cause for the onset of this problem but many will agree that the noise is made worse by stress or anxiety; some believe that stress is the cause.

I developed tinnitus 5 years ago when a virus attacked my auditory nerve and knocked out most of the hearing in my left ear.  It started with a noise which was like dripping water and then became a hissing sound like a water cistern filling up.  At times it can almost be like whispering voices.

The British Tinnitus Association states ‘It is now well established that Tinnitus is generated in the brain and not in the ear. Moreover, we have learned from animal studies that tinnitus might be linked to increased spontaneous activity of nerve cells in the brain’. 

I am fortunate that my tinnitus has never seriously affected my mood or emotions but studies show that about 50% of tinnitus sufferers are psychologically affected by their condition. The emotional impact of tinnitus can range from simple annoyance and frustration, to anger, anxiety, sleep disturbance and impaired concentration, to more severe conditions like panic, depression and chronic insomnia.
  
Unfortunately there are few medical treatments are available for tinnitus suffers but psychological therapies have helped many people. Cognitive Hypnotherapy is one such therapy. Cognitive Hypnotherapy combines Hypnotherapy, CBT, WordWeaving and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) to provide a treatment programme that not only can help to identify the stressors, but also actively works to lessen the stressor and manage, lessen or even eliminate symptoms.

Sufferers can also be taught techniques which they can put into practice themselves.  One technique you can try for yourself is the 'control panel'.  Close you eyes and imagine a control panel inside your head.  You can decide whether it looks more like a car dashboard or hi-fi controls or something else.  Find the volume control and give it a scale of 1-10.  Notice the current volume level and then turn it down to an acceptable level.

Once learnt, this type of technique can easily be practiced at home or work and can be effective in combating, controlling or even eliminating the symptoms.

For more information about tinnitus see www.tinnitus.org.uk

What is good nutrition?

I work with clients on issues from nail biting to depression and I run training sessions on a range of wellbeing and NLP subjects.  I’ve found that the clients who benefit the most and the delegates who learn the most are the ones who engage with the therapy and the subject.  They are the people who ask lots of questions, experiment with the techniques that I teach them and give me lots of feedback.

So I love it when clients and learners come back to me with research and recommendations from things that they have read or seen.  Thanks to the Internet we can all have access to the latest research, the only limit is the amount of time we have to look.  

One of my weight loss clients is sending me some great information on nutrition and I thought I would share them with you.

“Sugar: The Bitter Truth.” Speaker: Robert H. Lustig MD UCSF  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

“Protein Power". Speaker: Michael Eades, MD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sKFSG41SU0

“10 Diet Myths”: The GKR Karate UK Conference Presentation. Speaker: Zoe Harcombe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg-iRMYbxOM&feature=related

Lots to think about there if you are struggling with your diet.