Thigh Gaps Weigh on Those With Eating Disorders
My patients usually cite their thighs as a source of their body-image struggles, even when they are dangerously underweight. Listening to their extreme hatred for their thighs can be painful.
Mental Health
Latest in Mental Health
School BMI Screenings Can Foster Fat Shaming
Eating disorders are grounded in shame and shame is the glue that makes them stick. Shame doesn’t work. We should focus on health, not obesity or weight loss. So let’s join the push against school BMI screenings and look for other ways to fight childhood obesity.
Prison Baby Revisits Jails to Support Incarcerated
Deborah Jiang Stein was born in prison and now she’s back in a new role. “The women feel safe telling their stories in this circle. A corner of their filters drops–they know I won’t judge,” she writes in this excerpt from her memoir “Prison Baby.”
Eating Disorders More Deadly Than You May Know
“I had no idea.” That’s the theme of this year’s National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. It applies to our national inattention to the deadly toll of this disease and what we don’t realize about research and treatment. Take our quiz, it’s at the end.
Masculinity Question Still Missing From the Massacres
When “boys” keep killing their mothers, children, strangers–committing suicide by mass murder–isn’t it time we took the crisis in masculinity seriously? There are plenty of ways we can help troubled boys and men. The numbers are getting numbing, so let’s do something fast.
Women Who Are Judged Mentally Ill Might Just Be Mad
Feminists have been raising red flags over the discrepancy between men’s and women’s mental health since the 1970s, say Daniel Freeman and Jason Freeman in this excerpt from “The Stressed Sex.” One blames it on misdiagnosis and mistreatment.
I Yearn for Housing Without White Walls
She has enough money to live, thanks to the government, says Behlor Santi in this excerpt from her upcoming memoir about living in New York with a diagnosis of mental illness. But what she really longs for is a home she can decorate and call her own.
Psychiatric Disorders Strongly Split Between Genders
Certain mental illnesses are more common in women than men, says Dr. Donald W. Black in this excerpt from his book “Bad Boys, Bad Men.” In particular, women are less likely to be sociopaths, but they do exist.
Sloppy Mental-Health Talk Will Intensify Stigma
The current gun-control debate could worsen the mental health stigma that already stops many women of color from seeking help, says Atima Omara-Alwala. It’s necessary to get the facts right on mental illness and those who commit violent acts.
Mental-Health Reforms Urged for Low-Income Moms
When low-income women with children suffer depression they see fewer psychiatrists, take fewer meds and are more worried about the risk of losing custody if they admit they need help.
