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About Hilary Thomson

I am a journalist and writer based in Kemptville, Ontario. I was diagnosed with anorexia when I was 16 and the past 15 years has been a whirlwind of hospital admissions and treatment attempts. I have been in steady recovery now for three years and while I don’t consider myself fully recovered; I am definitely on my way.

5 simple ways to practice self care

July 24 is National Self Care Day and here at NIED we couldn’t let it go by without talking about this important part of recovery. Self care can be challenging for anyone with mental illness, but we know that it is particularly hard for those with Eating Disorders.

Many people see self care as doing things like putting on a face mask or getting a pedicure. While these things definitely fall into the category of self care, there are lots of other ways that you can take care of yourself without breaking out a gooey face mask or the nail polish. Here are 5 ways to practice self care that are accessible to anyone with an Eating Disorder.

Have a shower or bath

This may sound simple but those who struggle with depression (like many with Eating Disorders do) it can be a real challenge to keep up with their personal hygiene. Simply stepping into the shower can take a huge amount of effort for someone who is finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning. Taking a shower or bath when you are feeling down may not fix everything, but you would be surprised how much better you feel with freshly washed hair. If you are struggling with bathing because you are avoiding your body, consider taking a bath with bubbles. That way you can still bathe without being focused on how your body looks.

Take your medication

This is another one that may sound simple but can be incredibly hard to do when you are in the depths of an Eating Disorder. It is not uncommon for people with Eating Disorders to stop taking medication that has been prescribed to them when they are feeling low. If this is your pattern there is nothing to be ashamed of. However, not taking your medication can have uncomfortable side effects that can seriously affect your mental and physical health. People who go on and off their meds regularly often experience huge highs and lows which is not good for anyone’s wellbeing. Committing to taking your medication as prescribed is an act of self care and it definitely can be achieved if you put your mind to it.

Accept help

Accepting help in itself is an act of self care for those with Eating Disorders. People with Eating Disorders often tend to push people away and refuse treatment because they don’t believe they are sick enough or deserve the care of others. If a friend, family member or treatment professional is offering their support, take it no matter how hard it is. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and accept help from those around you is the most caring act you can do for yourself, especially if you are just starting out on your recovery journey. Eating Disorders thrive in secrecy and the more you can accept help from those around you the better it is. Recovery still won’t be easy, but having support is one of the keys to recovery and it is the ultimate act of self care to let people in.

Practice self compassion

This is a tip you will want to apply to all aspects of your recovery and life. People with Eating Disorders are often perfectionists and can be very rigid in the goals they set for themselves. There is no such thing as a perfect way to recover and realizing that is an act of self care. Be compassionate with yourself and don’t beat yourself up if you feel like you messed up. Recovery is hard and holding yourself to an impossible standard will only make it more challenging. Allow yourself to breathe, rest and take breaks. Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint and showing yourself care and compassion along the way will only bolster your recovery in the long run.

Find what works for you

When it comes to the more typical acts of self care, find what works for you. You don’t have to throw yourself a spa day if that is not what makes you feel good. There are so many options to choose from when it comes to self care – it is really about finding what feels good to you (outside of your Eating Disorder). Simple things like watching a TV show that you like or reading a good book are great options. Spending time with a good friend or playing with your dog in the backyard are also possibilities. A lot of times people with Eating Disorders have fallen out of touch with the things that bring them joy because they have been wrapped up in the Eating Disorder for so long. Take some time to play around with it. That exploration can be self care in itself.

5 simple ways to practice self care2020-08-10T19:07:29-04:00

What you need to know about Eating Disorders as a family physician

Eating Disorders can be very difficult to diagnose and often go unnoticed for years by friends, family and healthcare professionals.

Many family doctors, who are the first point of contact for people with Eating Disorders, have no idea what to look for because they get very little training in Eating Disorders throughout their medical education. Program Director at Body Brave (www.bodybrave.com), a support centre for those with Eating Disorders, Dr. Karen Trollope-Kumar says this is an issue because most family physicians don’t feel comfortable diagnosing or treating Eating Disorders, allowing them to fly under the radar.

Trollope-Kumar encourages all physicians to take the typical signs and symptoms of an Eating Disorder seriously. This includes:

  • Sudden change in weight (either up or down)
  • Changes in mood (like heightened anxiety or depression)
  • Changes in eating patterns like going on a restrictive diet (paleo, keto, vegan)

Even if these symptoms seem benign at first, ask more questions. Someone who says they are going vegan to protect the environment may still have an underlying motivation to manipulate their body size or shape in an unhealthy way.

Trollope-Kumar says another issue is that family physicians often don’t know where to turn, even if they expect that their patient has an Eating Disorder. Many areas across the country do not have specialized care for people with Eating Disorders, and even those that do (usually in larger city centres) have waiting lists that are months long.

Many family physicians will find themselves supporting a patient who is waiting months for a higher level of care. In this situation Trollope-Kumar says communication is key. Be supportive, non-judgemental and understand that Eating Disorders are complex illnesses, not a fad or lifestyle choice.

It is also important to understand how to properly monitor patients while they are waiting for treatment. The National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) (www.nedic.ca) has some great resources on their website outlining what to check and monitor in an Eating Disorder patient. NEDIC is also a great place for any physician who wants to learn more about diagnosing, treating and caring for a person with an Eating Disorder.

Trollope-Kumar says in an ideal world doctors would get more information on Eating Disorders during their medical training. However last year Body Brave and NIED co-hosted the first-ever virtual annual e-conference on Eating Disorders called BodyPeace and together with other organizations across Canada will be launching be launching Eating Disorders University (edU) – another first for Canada. As part of its new education strategy NIED (ww.nied.ca) is focusing on providing skills-based educational programs and resources through this new learning and engagement platform. Check this space for more information as it becomes available.

As a primary physician what would you like to learn about Eating Disorders? If you are a patient, what do you wish your doctor knew?

What you need to know about Eating Disorders as a family physician2020-07-20T13:44:40-04:00

“Lead by example” – How to support someone with an Eating Disorder

It is not easy to support someone with an Eating Disorder.

Kirk Mason was the partner of Michelle Stewart, the former head of communications for the B.C. Ministry of Health, who suffered from a devastating Eating Disorder for 32 years before it eventually claimed her life in 2014.

Mason met Stewart when she was in her mid 30s and had already been living with an Eating Disorder for 17 years. It wasn’t until they had been living together for four months that Michelle sat him down one day and told him about her history. “She said I completely understand if you don’t want to be with me, if you want to walk away from this,” Mason remembers.

But Mason didn’t want to walk away. He started educating himself about Eating Disorders and how to support Stewart as best he could. He even started going to a support group in Victoria for caregivers of people with Eating Disorders. He says it was shocking for many people in the group, who were parents of teens with Eating Disorders, to hear the story about a grown woman who was still struggling with her Eating Disorder after so many years.

Mason supported Stewart through many emergency room visits and a short stay in an inpatient treatment program but nothing seemed to be able to shake the illness that was deeply ingrained in her life. Mason says Stewart was very good at making it seem like everything was going well.  “Everyone thought she was quite normal,” Mason remembers. He says her position at the Ministry of Health was sometimes difficult for her because she had to address files of people with Eating Disorders while keeping her own secret alive. “Cases of people with anorexia and bulimia would be put right on her desk,” Mason says. “There were some really tough times for her.”

Mason says he sometimes wishes he had been more upfront with Stewart about her Eating Disorder. He says he always avoided her triggers and they never got into arguments about her illness. “I became complacent,” he says. “I wish I had been more communicative with her, more involved.”

That being said Mason stayed by her side, a constant support through her diagnosis with end stage renal disease and eventual death. He says it was important to him to remain committed to Stewart and show her kindness, compassion and understanding both in her illness and end of life. “It’s something I never thought I would experience but I am glad I did because it opened my eyes,” Mason says.

Stewart’s older sister Karen Flello also played a key role in supporting her throughout her long battle with her Eating Disorder. Flello remembers Stewart first exhibiting signs of an Eating Disorder at 16 in the 1980s when very few healthcare professionals knew how to treat the illness. “We were given a lot of bad advice,” she remembers. “It completely ignored the root causes and biological connections.”

There is not doubt that supporting her sister through over three decades of an Eating Disorder was hard for Flello. All she ever wanted was for her to see how smart, loved and worthy she was. Flello said she had to realize that she was not to blame for not being able to heal her sister’s Eating Disorder. All she could do was focus her energy on being there for her when her illness would let her accept help. “It’s no different than if the person has a physical illness that you can’t cure,” she says.

Flello says if she could give any advice to people supporting a loved one through an Eating Disorder it would be to educate yourself, talk as openly about it as possible and encourage them to seek treatment early. She also says it is extremely important to set boundaries and make sure you are creating your own practice of mindful self compassion. “Whenever things got bad I went to counselling,” she says. “I needed to know how to cope.”

Mason agrees that educating yourself as a caregiver is key to being able to adequately support someone with an Eating Disorder. The desire to be thin is just scratching the surface when it comes to these complex illnesses. Mason says every part of Stewart knew that what she was doing was dangerous and that it would most likely eventually claim her life. “For her it was all about control,” he says.

Mason also encourages caregivers to seek support for themselves. Whether that be through a support group, individual counselling or family and friends. This is something that Stewart herself talked about in her blog, where she documented the end of her life. “Remember and acknowledge your own need for a helping hand and don’t be afraid to reach out,” she wrote in a post on December 5, 2013. “You will lead by the example of your own willingness to acknowledge there is no prize for suffering alone.”

“Lead by example” – How to support someone with an Eating Disorder2020-07-13T15:19:52-04:00

The lack of mental health services across Canada is real

In an article published in the Globe and Mail earlier this year, journalist Erin Anderssen explored the lack of psychiatrists across the country, particularly in small and remote areas. According to the Globe’s analysis half of all Canadians live in parts of the country where the number of psychiatrists fall below the ratio recommended by the Canadian Psychiatric Association and 2.3 million Canadians live in areas with no permanent psychiatrist at all.

The article did a great job outlining the areas in Canada that are most underserved by the psychiatric community. While the gap lies mostly in small, remote and northern communities it does note that there are exceptions to this rule. For example, Brampton, one of the fastest growing and youngest communities in Canada, is extremely lacking in services. The city has about one psychiatrist for every 24,000 people, which is one of the worst ratios in the country.

As someone who has been struggling with an Eating Disorder for over a decade, I have seen this gap in the mental healthcare system first-hand. I have been put on many types of medication over the years meant to try and help me with my anxiety and Eating Disorder. Usually medication changes would come when I was in residential treatment or hospitalized in an inpatient setting. In those situations, I would have access to a psychiatrist who would give me a prescription based on their assessment of my needs.

However, once I was out of an inpatient setting it always fell to my family doctor to manage my medication, something that was clearly out of her wheelhouse. When I decided that my current prescription wasn’t working for me anymore, I did the responsible thing and asked for her help to either ween off the medication or find something that would work better. I could tell that she didn’t feel like she had the expertise to make recommendations, yet she also had nowhere to refer me to where I could get specialized help.

I live in Kemptville, just outside Ottawa and go into the city every week to get specialized treatment for my Eating Disorder. However, even with the roughly 20-30 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in Ottawa, on the higher end of the spectrum, my doctor still wasn’t able to refer me to someone who could help. I ended up doing some research myself and basically winning the lottery in finding a psychiatrist in Brockville who agreed to see me. Even so I waited about three months for an appointment.

Unfortunately, it is not just outpatient services that are lacking in Ontario, specifically in the world of Eating Disorder treatment. Two of the most well-respected treatment centres for Eating Disorders in Canada at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) and Toronto General Hospital (TGH) are currently sharing a psychiatrist. Dr. Geneviève Proulx splits her time between the two programs, which makes having access to her difficult for even the most acute patients. TGH used to have five Eating Disorder specific psychiatrists on staff, all of whom left the program when it underwent restructuring last year. Both TOH and TGH have had to cut valuable therapy groups in their programs because of a lack of qualified staff.

We need more specialized care in this country for those suffering from mental illness. We live in a society that is slowly accepting the fact that mental health is just as important as physical health and the services available need to catch up.  The system is broken and we need to train and recruit young, forward-thinking doctors into the field of psychiatry. Whether it be ensuring that psychiatrists are paid the same as their counterparts or shaking up the way they see patients, it is important for the health of our country that we take this issue seriously. The stigma around mental health is melting away and the field of psychiatry needs to catch up and change with the times. It is important for the future health and well-being of the country.

Check out NIED’s letter advocating for change here. You can also do your part by writing to your provincial Health Ombudsman about the need for more psychiatrists in your area.

The lack of mental health services across Canada is real2020-07-13T15:18:19-04:00

I am so glad you are here!

Firstly, let me introduce myself. My name is Hilary Thomson and I am a journalist and writer based in Kemptville, Ontario. I was diagnosed with anorexia when I was 16 and the past 15 years has been a whirlwind of hospital admissions and treatment attempts. I have been in steady recovery now for three years and while I don’t consider myself fully recovered; I am definitely on my way.

So, what am I doing here? Having struggled with my mental and physical health for so long I am passionate about raising awareness for Eating Disorders and helping others on their recovery journey. I have known about NIED ever since they launched in 2012 and always felt that one day I wanted to get involved. I started out on NIED’s education committee, helping to organize symposiums, but I soon got the opportunity to get involved with their communications team. My training is in journalism, so it felt like a perfect fit.

I am so excited to have this platform to further NIED’s mission to provide access to educational, informational, and recovery-oriented resources related to the treatment and prevention of eating disorders in Canada. The goal of this blog is to provide engaging and well-researched content geared towards people with Eating Disorders, their caregivers and healthcare professionals. It will include everything from useful recovery tips to interviews with people with Eating Disorders from diverse backgrounds, knowledgeable Eating Disorder treatment professionals and advocates. The goal is to represent the reality of Eating Disorders and treatment in Canada and provide a platform for insightful perspectives and conversations.

NIED is thrilled to be launching this blog on World Eating Disorders Action Day, an initiative that unites activists across the globe to expand global awareness of Eating Disorders. There are roughly 1 million people struggling with Eating Disorders in Canada alone right now, many of whom are suffering silently and without proper support or treatment. Eating Disorders thrive in isolation and the more people speak out about their experience the more likely we are to see change. On this day of action we are asking you to consider telling your story. If you are not sure how we have prepared a document which outlines how to tell your story responsibly, without putting you or anyone else at risk. You can download the pdf here.

We would love to see this blog morph and grow into something that is driven by our community. We want this to be a welcoming and informative space for anyone looking for support in their own recovery or help in supporting a loved one or patient/client. We are extremely interested in hearing what you would like to see. Is there a topic you want us to cover? A person you would like to see interviewed? Do you want a platform to help tell your own story? We would love to help.

Contact us here and let us know what you think. What do you think is missing from the Eating Disorder recovery space?

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I am so glad you are here!2020-07-20T13:58:50-04:00
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