Using Humor to Find Happiness

Happiness

It’s easy to get stuck on the numbers on the scale when we want to lose weight, but numbers do not tell the whole story: It’s much more than weight we need to lose.

We need to lose self-recrimination. We need to lose self-shaming. We need to lose our attachment to weight as the single measure of self-worth.

But just how do we do that?

One way, say researchers from the University of Granada Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, is to use a little humor.

Individuals who frequently use self-deprecating humor – aimed at gaining the approval of others through self-mockery – say Jorge Torres Marín and his team, exhibit greater levels of psychological well-being (Marín et al., 2018).

Moreover, Marín notes that a greater tendency to employ self-deprecating humor is indicative of high scores in psychological well-being dimensions such as happiness and, to a lesser extent, sociability (Marín et al., 2018).

While the effects of self-deprecating humor on well-being may differ depending on where the research takes place, and be influenced by cultural norms, Marín suggests that new studies focus on analyzing potential cultural differences in the use of this kind of humor.

The psychology of humor, however, fits within a well-founded, accurate theoretical body of knowledge that allows for different behavioral tendencies related to the everyday use of humor to be explored – such as the affiliative use of humor, which is aimed at strengthening social relationships, or self-enhancing humor, which entails maintaining a humorous outlook in potentially stressful and adverse situations.

While these types of humor have consistently been linked to indicators of positive psychological well-being such as happiness, satisfaction with life, and hope, Marín and his team maintain that their data revealed the existence of a curvilinear relationship between prosocial humor and personality dimensions such as kindness and honesty (Marín et al., 2018).

Eliminating self-defeating behaviors isn’t easy, however, the process is made much easier when we can laugh a little – at ourselves.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Courses:

Finding Happiness: Positive Interventions in TherapyFinding Happiness: Positive Interventions in Therapy is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE) course that explores the concept of happiness, from common myths to the overriding factors that directly increase our feelings of contentment. We will start with a discussion on why you, the clinician, need to know about happiness and how this information can help in your work with clients. We will then uncover mistakes we make when trying to attain happiness and look carefully at the actions we take and the beliefs that do not just obfuscate our happiness efforts, but often leave us less happy. Next, we will explore the ways in which our mindset influences our feelings of happiness and the many ways we can fundamentally change our levels of well-being, not just immediately, but for many years to come. The final section of this course contains exercises you can use with clients to cultivate and sustain a lifelong habit of happiness. Course #40-45 | 2018 | 57 pages | 25 posttest questions

Beyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating BehaviorsBeyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors is a 5-hour online continuing education (CE) course that “walks” readers through the process of replacing their self-defeating weight issues with healthy, positive, and productive life-style behaviors. It moves beyond the “burn more calories than you consume” concept to encompass the emotional aspects of eating and of gaining and losing weight. Through 16 included exercises, you will learn how to identify your self-defeating behaviors (SDBs), analyze and understand them, and then replace them with life-giving actions that lead to permanent behavioral change. Course #50-10 | 2013 | 49 pages | 35 posttest questions

The Use of Humor in TherapyThe Use of Humor in Therapy is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE) course that reviews the risks and benefits of using humor in therapy and the relevant historical controversies of this proposal. Should therapists and counselors use humor as a therapeutic technique? If so, should they be formally trained in those procedures before their implementation? The paucity of rigorous empirical research on the effectiveness of this form of clinical intervention is exceeded only by the absence of any training for those practitioners interested in applying humor techniques. In this course a representative sample of its many advocates’ recommendations to incorporate humor in the practice of psychological therapies is reviewed. Therapeutic humor is defined, the role of therapists’ personal qualities is discussed, and possible reasons for the profession’s past resistance to promoting humor in therapy are described. Research perspectives for the evaluation of humor training are presented with illustrative examples of important empirical questions still needing to be answered. Closeout Course #21-02 | 2015 | 24 pages | 14 posttest questions

Course Directions

Our online courses provide instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Target Audience: PsychologistsCounselorsSocial WorkersMarriage & Family Therapist (MFTs)Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)Occupational Therapists (OTs)Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs)School Psychologists, and Teachers

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

Emotional Overeating

By Claire Dorotik-Nana, LMFT @pdresources.org

emotional overatingWe all overeat at times, but when it becomes a pattern and it happens in connection with characteristic emotions, it’s called emotional overeating. Emotional overeating is also different from simply eating more calories than you expend because it mimics an addiction. There is a trigger (usually an identifiable feeling, or set of feelings), a feeling of lack of control over one’s behavior (also seen as the inability to inhibit the impulse), and feelings of guilt and shame about the behavior.

Often the emotional overeater, like an addict, knows that the behavior is causing harm to his/her life, and yet is unable to stop. The emotional overeater’s life can also begin to narrow, much like the addict’s, as social connections are let go of, previously enjoyed hobbies and personal pursuits fall by the wayside, and the primary source of relief becomes the addictive behavior.

Yet the difference is that we can’t simply stop eating the way an addict can use abstinence as a treatment goal. Similarly, emotional overeating is not a behavior that responds to simply being told to stop, because the emotions that underlie the behavior remain.

In fact, being told to stop typically increases the feelings of shame that an emotional overeater already struggles with – often making the behavior even worse. This reality is evidenced by the astounding number of people who struggle with emotional overeating as well as the collective conclusion by the majority of experts in the field that the role of emotions in obesity and weight loss treatment approaches is consistently being overlooked.

What is needed is a different approach. Those who treat obesity, weight loss, and emotional overeating need to look beyond the behavior to understand the emotions that drive it. They need to see emotional overeating not as a lack of willpower, an indication of a character flaw, or an inadequacy, but rather a cry for help. They need to understand the psychological and social obstacles that accompany emotional overeating as well as the patterns that drive it. And then, they need to help their clients unravel their identity from that of a person who is not good enough, and whose behavior is shameful, and begin to build a sense of self that supports healthy eating patterns, distinguishes physical hunger from emotional hunger, and finds ways to meet unmet emotional needs in fulfilling ways.

Click here to learn more.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Courses:

Emotional Overeating: Practical Management Techniques is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE) course that disusses the causes of emotional eating and provides cognitive and behavioral exercises that can help to eliminate the addictive pattern. Statistics report that Americans are an increasingly overweight population. Among the factors contributing to our struggle to stop tipping the scales is the component of “emotional eating” – or the use of food to attempt to fill emotional needs. Professionals in both the physical and emotional health fields encounter patients with emotional eating problems on a regular basis. Even clients who do not bring this as their presenting problem often have it on their list of unhealthy behaviors that contribute to or are intertwined with their priority concerns. While not an easy task, it is possible to learn methods for dismantling emotional eating habits. The goals of this course are to present information about the causes of emotional eating, and provide a body of cognitive and behavioral exercises that can help to eliminate the addictive pattern. Course #40-26 | 2011 | 44 pages | 30 posttest questions

Nutrition and Addiction: Advanced Clinical Concepts is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE) course that examines addiction from a nutritional perspective. Drug addiction is an alarming problem in America, and one that is not receiving the treatment it needs. Compounding the problem is that addiction often leads to nutritional deficiencies, which predisposes the addict to a host of related health complications. Treatment recovery programs that also offer nutritional education have been found to significantly improve three-month sobriety success rates. The first section of this course will take a look at the etiology of addiction, related neurochemical factors and physiological components. The second section will focus on the nutrient deficiencies associated with addiction, along with the resultant effects on mood, cognition and behavior. The last section – the clinician’s toolbox – will give you, the clinician, targeted nutritional interventions and exercises that you can use with your clients to not just improve their recovery rates, but their overall mental health and wellbeing. Course #21-14 | 2017 | 30 pages | 15 posttest questions

Why Diets Fail: The Myth of Willpower is a 1-hour audio continuing education (CE) course that explains why diets fail and provides strategies for what does work. Clinicians continue to recommend diets to their patients, even though diets don’t lead to long-term weight loss. In this course, Dr. Mann will describe the evidence on why diets don’t work in the long term, give the biological reasons why diets fail, explain why willpower is not the problem, and then give strategies for healthy eating that do not require dieting or willpower. Dr. Mann is uniquely qualified to provide the real truth about dieting, eating, obesity, and self-control. She is a widely cited expert whose research has been funded by the NIH, USDA, and NASA, and is published in dozens of scholarly journals. She does not run a diet clinic or test diets and she has never taken a penny from commercial diet companies, or sat on their boards of directors, or endorsed one of their products. Because of this, her livelihood, research funding, and reputation are not dependent on her reporting that diets work or that obesity is unhealthy. This sets her apart from nearly all diet and obesity researchers and allows her to speak the truth about these topics, which she does with abandon. This audio course was recorded at the Annual Symposium of the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in July 2016. Course #11-07 | 2017 | 10 posttest questions

Behavioral Strategies for Weight Loss is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE) course that exposes the many thought errors that confound the problem of weight loss and demonstrates how when we use behavioral strategies – known as commitment devices – we change the game of weight loss. While obesity is arguably the largest health problem our nation faces today, it is not a problem that is exclusive to those who suffer weight gain. For therapists and counselors who work with those who wish to lose weight, there is ample information about diet and exercise; however, one very large problem remains. How do therapists get their clients to use this information? Packed with exercises therapists can use with their clients to increase self-control, resist impulses, improve decision making and harness accountability, this course will not just provide therapists with the tools they need to help their clients change the way they think about weight loss, but ultimately, the outcome they arrive at. Course #21-13 | 2016 | 31 pages | 15 posttest questions

Beyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors is a 5-hour online continuing education (CE) course that “walks” readers through the process of replacing their self-defeating weight issues with healthy, positive, and productive life-style behaviors. It moves beyond the “burn more calories than you consume” concept to encompass the emotional aspects of eating and of gaining and losing weight. Through 16 included exercises, you will learn how to identify your self-defeating behaviors (SDBs), analyze and understand them, and then replace them with life-giving actions that lead to permanent behavioral change. Course #50-10 | 2013 | 49 pages | 35 posttest questions

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

March Madness CE Sale!

March Madness Continuing Education Sale @pdresources.org

March Madness is here and we’re celebrating with 30 CE Courses Under $30! How do you pick?

March Madness CE Sale

The following courses are included in the sale, all priced at $29 (savings of $10-$40 per course):

  1. Clinical Supervision for Healthcare Professionals is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that will outline best practices in psychotherapy supervision and review the structure of the supervisory relationship.
  2. Autism: The New Spectrum of Diagnostics, Treatment & Nutrition is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that reviews diagnostic changes in autism as well as treatment options and nutrition interventions – both theoretical and applied.
  3. Active Listening: Techniques that Work for Children and Parents is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that offers a valuable compilation of practical and ready-to-use strategies and techniques for achieving more effective communication through active listening.
  4. Gender Identity and Transgenderism is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that reviews issues in the formation of gender identity and the possible resultant condition of transgenderism, formerly transsexuality.
  5. E-Therapy: Ethics & Best Practices is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that examines the advantages, risks, technical issues, legalities and ethics of providing therapy online.
  6. Improving Social Skills in Children & Adolescents is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that discusses the social skills children and adolescents need to develop to be successful in school and beyond.
  7. Really Bizarre Sexual Behaviors is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that reviews a variety of infrequent and atypical sexual practices.
  8. When Your Young Client is Defiant is a 3-hour online CEU course that teaches clinicians effective and practical strategies to manage challenging and defiant behavior in their young clients.
  9. Animal-Assisted Therapy and the Healing Power of Pets is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that discusses the challenges and rewards of human-animal interactions.
  10. Medical Marijuana is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that presents a summary of the current literature on the various medical, legal, educational, occupational, and ethical aspects of marijuana.
  11. Codependency: Causes, Consequences and Cures is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that offers strategies for therapists to use in working with codependent clients.
  12. Improving Cultural Competence in Substance Abuse Treatment is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that proposes strategies to engage clients of diverse racial and ethnic groups in treatment.
  13. Ethics & Risk Management: Expert Tips VII is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that addresses a variety of ethics and risk management topics in psychotherapy practice.
  14. Improving Communication with Your Young Clients is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that teaches clinicians effective and practical communication and conversational skills to use with young clients and their families.
  15. HIV/AIDS: Therapy and Adherence is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that discusses adherence issues in populations at high risk for HIV infection and provides strategies for healthcare professionals to encourage people with HIV to seek and maintain medical treatment.
  16. Visuals for Autism: Beyond the Basic Symbols is a 2-hour online video continuing education (CE/CEU) course that demonstrates when, how, and why to use visuals with students with autism.
  17. Helping Your Young Client Persevere in the Face of Learning Differences is a 3-hour online video CE course that provides new strategies and techniques for helping students develop a love of learning
  18. Unusual Psychosexual Syndromes, Part 1: Koro, Autoerotic Asphyxia, and Necrophilia is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that presents three of the most unusual human sexual behavior disorders.
  19. Building Resilience in your Young Client is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that offers a wide variety of resilience interventions that can be used in therapy, school, and home settings.
  20. Beyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors is a 5-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that “walks” readers through the process of replacing their self-defeating weight issues with healthy, positive, and productive life-style behaviors.
  21. Clergy Stress and Depression is a 4-hour online CEU course that provides clinicians with an understanding of the complex factors that cause stress and depression in clergy, along with recommendations for prevention and treatment.
  22. Prescription Drug Abuse is a 3-hour online CEU course that examines the effects of the rise in prescription drug abuse, as well as treatment options for abusers.
  23. Anti-Social Youth & Conduct Disorders is a 3-hour online CEU course that offers tailored tools that you need to manage and help anti-social and conduct disordered youth and children.
  24. School Refusal Behavior: Children Who Can’t or Won’t Go to School is a 4-hour online CEU course that breaks down the distinction between truancy and school refusal and examines a number of psychological disorders that may be causing – or comorbid with – school refusal.
  25. Emotional Overeating: Practical Management Techniques is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that disusses the causes of emotional eating and provides cognitive and behavioral exercises that can help to eliminate the addictive pattern.
  26. Couples No-Fault Counseling is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that teaches how to help couples to give up their BAD (blame, argue & defend) communication style and replace it with active listening.
  27. The Grieving Self is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that looks at stories of the bereaved to determine the major issues to address to reconnect those who grieve to a stable sense of self.
  28. Mindfulness: The Healing Power of Compassionate Presence is a 6-hour online continuing education (CE) course that will give you the mindfulness skills necessary to work directly, effectively and courageously, with your own and your client’s life struggles.
  29. Nutrition in Mental Health is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that discusses how good nutrition impacts a person’s mental health and well being.
  30. Anxiety: Practical Management Techniques is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE) course that offers a collection of ready-to-use anxiety management tools.


Sale prices are valid Tuesday, March 14, 2017 through Monday, April 3, 2017. Offers valid on future orders only.

Click here to view sale courses available per profession.

 

Legalize Medical Marijuana to Reduce Obesity?

By Christopher Ingraham

medical marijuanaWant to take a bite out of the American obesity epidemic? Legalize medical marijuana.

That’s the counterintuitive finding of a new study in the journal Health Economics. Researchers from San Diego State University and Cornell University found that at the state level, passing a medical marijuana law (MML) “is associated with a 2 percent to 6 percent decline in the probability of obesity.” Over the longer term, this effect could be even larger. Tally it all up and according to the study’s authors, “we estimate a back-of-the-envelope per-person reduction in MML-induced obesity related medical costs of $58 to $115 per year.”

Taken at face value this doesn’t exactly make sense: Marijuana is a well-known appetite stimulant. Smoke a joint, and before you know it you’re reaching for the Funyuns. Or, as the study’s authors put it in reseacher-ese: “randomized control trials provide evidence that marijuana use leads to increased appetite and caloric intake.”

But the researchers wanted to know how increased medical marijuana availability could affect a variety of health outcomes at the societal level. So they analyzed over 20 years of data from the federal Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS), including over 5 million individual survey responses. And during the time period they studied (1990-2012), a number of states implemented medical marijuana laws, while many others didn’t. Voila: natural experiment.

They found that passage of medical marijuana laws was associated with declines in obesity and overall BMI, controlling for social and economic factors, policy differences and food prices. As for the “why,” the researchers found that a number of factors may be at play.

For older adults, they found that medical marijuana laws “are associated with an increase in physical wellness and frequent exercise.” The possible reason? People are often prescribed medical marijuana for chronic pain, one of the conditions it’s most affective at treating. Older patients are more likely to experience chronic pain. So if medical marijuana reduces pain, it may be allowing those patients to be more active — and hence, burn more calories.

But for younger adults, age 18 to 24, the study found a different dynamic at play. “Our findings show that the enactment of MMLs is associated with a 3.1 percent reduction in the probability of alcohol consumption and a 4.8 percent reduction in the probability of binge drinking” among this younger group, the researchers found. They posit that medical marijuana availability may lead some younger adults to “substitute away from highly caloric alcoholic beverages toward a lower-calorie marijuana ‘high,’ resulting in lower body weight and likelihood of obesity.”

This so-called substitution effect is often cited in arguments for legalizing marijuana: If you legalize weed, some people will opt for pot over alcohol. Alcohol consumption will fall as a result. And since researchers agree that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol, the net effect of such a change for individuals and society would be positive.

But actual evidence for this effect has been mixed, so far. In Colorado, for instance, alcohol sales have continued to rise in the first year of marijuana legalization. Some research has shown that marijuana availability decreases alcohol consumption, others that it increases it.

Some researchers caution against reading too much into the results of this one study. Rosalie Pacula, director of the BING Center for Health Economics at the RAND Corp., says that the nationally representative BRFSS data is not necessarily the best for sussing out state-level effects. Beyond that, in a number of the states in this study, medical marijuana laws are still very new, so the data on the impact of those laws are relatively sparse.

“These data aren’t going to provide us with the definitive answer because of the issues with the data and time period being evaluated,” Pacula said in an email. “Thus, I believe that these findings should be interpreted very cautiously – as they could plausibly be reversed in the future, when other analyses are done using data sets that contain either (a) state representative populations over time, or (b) longer time periods for later policies.”

In the end, after all, we’re looking at just one study. As always with these things, it’s far from the last word on the matter.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/07/want-to-reduce-obesity-legalize-medical-marijuana-researchers-say/

Related Online CEU Courses:

Medical Marijuana is a 3-hour online CEU course that presents a summary of the current literature on the various medical, legal, educational, occupational, and ethical aspects of marijuana.

Clinician’s Guide to Understanding, Evaluating & Treating Obesity – This course is designed to help clinicians enhance their working knowledge of the etiology and treatment of obesity. Case studies will elucidate different aspects of treatment.

Beyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors is a 5-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that “walks” readers through the process of replacing their self-defeating weight issues with healthy, positive, and productive life-style behaviors.

Emotional Overeating: Practical Management Techniques is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that disusses the causes of emotional eating and provides cognitive and behavioral exercises that can help to eliminate the addictive pattern.

Professional Development Resources is approved to offer continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; and by the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners.

Medical Issues From Eating Disorders

By Melissa Davis @ Bulimia.com

Medical Issues From Anorexia, Bulimia and Other Eating DisordersEating disorders are complex mental health disorders that occur in many different forms, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and eating disorders not otherwise specified. While each type of eating disorder has its own set of associated symptoms, all types of eating disorders have the potential to cause long-term damage to the body’s organs. Complications from the disorders, as well as co-existing mental health disorders, are wide ranging and sometimes fatal. Appropriate and prompt eating disorder treatments lead patients toward recovery, reducing the risk of medical complications and death.

Medical Issues That Arise From Anorexia

Individuals with anorexia nervosa severely restrict their food intake or engage in extreme exercise regimens in an effort to prevent weight gain or cause weight loss. According to the American Psychiatric Association, medical professionals diagnose anorexia when a patient weighs at least 15 percent less than the normal weight for the patient’s height and age. Aside from drastic weight loss, eating too little causes major nutritional deficits, denying the body many macronutrients and micronutrients it needs to function properly.

Due to severe calorie restrictions, the body does not receive adequate energy through food, and its processes slow down in order to conserve energy. According to New York Presbyterian Hospital, approximately 95 percent of patients that doctors admit to hospitals for anorexia have low heart rates. Low blood pressure and irregular heart rhythms also occur, and the risk of heart failure increases as the disease progresses. Due to changes in the endocrine system, women with anorexia often stop menstruating, and the body has a difficult time regulating its temperature.

Medical issues stemming from anorexia are not limited to the cardiovascular and endocrine systems. Bone density often decreases due to a lack of calcium and vitamin D, causing premature osteoporosis and increasing the risk of bone fractures. New York Presbyterian Hospital also highlights hematological issues, including anemia, which occurs in one-third of patients, and a low white blood cell count, which affects 50 percent of patients. Because white blood cells play a key role in immunity, a low white blood cell count increases the risk of opportunistic infections. The kidneys also suffer damage due to prolonged dehydration, and kidney failure is a possibility.

Ultimately, people suffering from anorexia risk starvation or suicide. The National Eating Disorder Association states that the mortality rate for anorexia is higher than that of any other mental illness.

Bulimia Also Causes Medical Issues

Unlike patients with anorexia, individuals with bulimia do eat, sometimes consuming thousands of calories in a single binging session. In an effort to maintain control and prevent weight gain, they then purge the food by vomiting or abusing laxatives, emetics or diuretics. This binge-and-purge cycle may happen several times per week or, in severe cases, several times per day. While individuals with bulimia are less likely to be underweight and are sometimes overweight, bulimia does cause major medical issues when left untreated. Many of the medical issues that stem from bulimia occur due to frequent vomiting. When individuals with bulimia vomit, over time, the stomach acid erodes the enamel of the teeth, leading to decay. Some individuals experience ulcers or gastroesophageal reflux disease. The esophagus becomes raw and inflamed, and forceful vomiting has the potential to rupture the esophagus. In rare cases, over-stretching the stomach causes gastric rupture, a condition in which the contents of the stomach spill into the abdominal cavity, constituting a medical emergency.

Some medical complications related to bulimia arise from the abuse of medications. Diuretic or “water pill” abuse damages the kidneys by contributing to dehydration. Laxative abuse causes gastrointestinal issues, such as irregularity and constipation. According to an article in the Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 1 to 2 percent of individuals with bulimia abuse syrup of ipecac, an over-the-counter medication that people use to induce vomiting. According to the article, this drug has toxic effects on the heart, weakening the muscle and potentially damaging the left ventricle.

Both vomiting and laxative abuse lead to electrolyte imbalances which affect the heart rate and the function of other major organs, including the kidneys. Like individuals with anorexia, people with untreated bulimia are at risk of heart failure, kidney failure and death.

Complications That Arise From Binge Eating Disorder

Like individuals with bulimia, those with binge eating disorder consume large amounts of food in a single sitting, but they do not vomit or otherwise purge the food. Because individuals with this disorder consume large amounts of fat and carbohydrates, they are often morbidly obese. The medical issues that arise due to binge eating disorder are similar to those of clinical obesity. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, individuals with binge eating disorder have an increased risk of cardiovascular problems, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease. They are also at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and gallbladder disease.

Medical Issues Related to Co-Existing Psychiatric Disorders

Each of the aforementioned eating disorders often coexists with other psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Medical issues stemming from these mental health disorders range from mild, such as sleeping problems, to severe, such as suicidal behaviors.

Substance abuse and its related complications are also prevalent among those with eating disorders. The National Eating Disorder Association states that individuals with eating disorders are four times more likely to have substance abuse disorders than members of the general population. Substance abuse contributes to risky behaviors and exposes users to infectious pathogens. Compounding the problems that eating disorders cause, drugs and alcohol also damage the heart, liver and other organs. This enhances the risk of serious complications and organ failure.

The key to preventing serious medical complications related to eating disorders is prompt, appropriate treatment in an eating disorder treatment center, hospital or other qualified facility. If you are, or someone you know is, displaying symptoms of disordered eating, call us at 1-888-920-1501 to talk to a staff member about your treatment options. With the right kind of help, you or your loved one can start on the path toward recovery.

Source: http://www.bulimia.com/topics/medical-issues/

Related Online CEU Courses:

Nutrition for Eating Disorders is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that describes the goals of nutrition therapy for the treatment of eating disorders.

Emotional Overeating: Practical Management Techniques is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that disusses the causes of emotional eating and provides cognitive and behavioral exercises that can help to eliminate the addictive pattern.

Beyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors is a 5-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that “walks” readers through the process of replacing their self-defeating weight issues with healthy, positive, and productive life-style behaviors.

Clinician’s Guide to Understanding, Evaluating & Treating Obesity – This course is designed to help clinicians enhance their working knowledge of the etiology and treatment of obesity. Case studies will elucidate different aspects of treatment.

Depression is a 1-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that provides an overview to the various forms of depression, including signs and symptoms, co-existing conditions, causes, gender and age differences, and diagnosis and treatment options.

Anxiety: Practical Management Techniques is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that offers a collection of ready-to-use anxiety management tools that can be used in nearly all clinical settings and client diagnoses

Professional Development Resources is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Professional Development Resources maintains responsibility for all programs and content. Professional Development Resources is also approved by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the California Board of Behavioral Sciences; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; and by theTexas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners.

Beyond Calories & Exercise – New Online CE Course

By Robert E. Hardy, EdD

Beyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating BehaviorsBeyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors is a new 5-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that “walks” readers through the process of replacing their self-defeating weight issues with healthy, positive, and productive life-style behaviors. It moves beyond the “burn more calories than you consume” concept to encompass the emotional aspects of eating and of gaining and losing weight. Through 16 included exercises, you will learn how to identify your self-defeating behaviors (SDBs), analyze and understand them, and then replace them with life-giving actions that lead to permanent behavioral change. Course #50-10 | 2013 | 49 pages | 35 posttest questions

Professional Development Resources is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists; the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC ACEP #5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB Provider #1046, ACE Program); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA Provider #3159); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR Provider #PR001); the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (#PCE1625); the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy (#BAP346), Psychology & School Psychology (#50-1635), Dietetics & Nutrition (#50-1635), and Occupational Therapy Practice (#34); the Illinois DPR for Social Work (#159-00531); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board (#RCST100501); the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs (#193); and the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists (#114) and State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678).

This online course provides instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. You can print the test (download test from My Courses tab of your account after purchasing) and mark your answers on while reading the course document. Then submit online when ready to receive credit.

Robert E. Hardy, EdD, received his doctorate degree from Western Michigan University where he was a Mott Foundation Scholar. Currently, he is a Minnesota-licensed psychologist. In 1991, he co-authored Self-Defeating Behaviors (Harper/Collins). The book remains in publication, and is considered the classic work on why/how individual’s repeat negative behaviors. In 1996, he co-authored The Self-Defeating Organization (Addison-Wesley). This book applied his models to eliminate self-defeating behaviors to teams, groups, and organizations. Dr. Hardy became a frequent speaker on self-defeating behaviors – and during this time his weight was over 300 pounds. Lecturing on his topic, and weighing that much became a “marketing nightmare.” Finally, he applied his behavioral change models to his own weight issues. His current weight is 165 pounds and he has maintained this weight for over ten years. This experience led him to author You Don’t Know How to Change (Amazon and Kindle, 2011). This book presents his educational model of change: individuals first learn the models, then they learn to apply the models, and the desired outcome is permanent behavioral change.