Tag: mental illness stigma

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and in recognition of this we invited Kimberly O’Brien, Ph.D., LICSW to have a conversation about teens and suicide. Dr. O’Brien is a clinical social worker whose research focuses on the development and testing of brief interventions for suicidal teens with and without substance use and their families. An often-stigmatized topic, Dr. O’Brien helps break down walls around having conversations with young people about suicide. There are so many contributing factors which can lead young people to have thoughts of killing themselves – depression, anxiety, eating disorders, sexual identity, trauma, gender identity – and being able to have an open and honest conversation with a trusted individual is an important and vital part of making people feel heard and supported.

CW: suicidal ideation, suicide among teens and lgbtqia community, eating disorder behaviors, trauma histories, mention of substance use, mention of family interventions and dynamics

Catherine and Francis were excited to speak with diet culture rebel and eating disorder campaigner, Zoe Burnett. Zoe is an Amazon best selling author of “inside my ed” and an international public and TEDx speaker. She brings all of that experience — as well as her lived experience recovery from an eating disorder — to this interview. Filled with energy, knowledge, and passion, Zoe recalls her own journey experiencing an eating disorder, being diagnosed with atypical anorexia, having the support of her husband, bashes the BMI, and gives her insights on how government policies contribute to development of poor body image and eating disorders. Zoe’s goal is to try to inspire, with empathy, to embrace the notion of body acceptance, whilst exposing the harms of diet culture, encouraging us to count the memories, not the calories. And she did just that!

CW: eating disorder behaviors, recalling of suicidal ideation and physical abuse, trauma

Catherine and Francis were thrilled to speak with Maris Degener, Manager of Peer Mentorship with Equip, a virtual eating disorder treatment for individual six to 24 years old. After recovering from anorexia nervosa as a teenager, Maris became passionate about harnessing her lived experience to support others experiencing eating disorders. Maris shared her story in the documentary “I Am Maris,” to spread the message that full recovery is possible and destigmatize talking openly about mental health experiences.

In this conversation, Maris walks the co-hosts what it was like to receive Family Based Treatment as a teenager for her eating disorder, including the sometimes-difficult experiences with her parents, whom ultimately, she credits for being an important piece of her recovery. Maris shares how yoga became a vital component to her ongoing recovery efforts and provides listeners with other skills she found helpful.

Maris talks about her work with Equip, and how mentorship — both for the individual and for the family — is an important part of the recovery process often left out of the equation.

We thank Maris for her continued work with and advocacy for those experiencing eating disorders, and are incredibly grateful for her time, energy, and vulnerability.

CW: eating disorder behaviors, familial relationships, eating disorder treatment

Catherine and Francis welcome Dr. Gemma Sharp, Senior Research Fellow at Monash University and clinical phycologist, to the podcast. Her research focuses on understanding the causes of and developing novel treatments for body image issues and related disorders. In this conversation, Dr. Sharp shares what drove her to this important work and what about body image issues keeps her coming back to do more research, including around genital body image concerns across the gender spectrum, a fascinating topic that deepens the understanding of what influences self-perspectives. She also introduces us to KIT, an online chatbox which is designed to educate and provide information about body image issues for those seeking help. Dr. Sharp’s expertise in this field of study is much needed and feels validating, especially for those who have experienced negative body image throughout their lives. We are so grateful for her time and energy, and we hope you enjoy!

CW: eating disorder behaviors, pandemic related anxiety, body image conversation, genital body image concerns