If you follow me on social media, you know that I love trees. Think Austin, Texas, treehugger. Last year, my neighbors helped me to save a tree on my property that was at risk of being cut down by the city. The tree, affectionately named Moose by the neighborhood, is…Read More
I worried about grades as a teenager. I mean, I really worried. Today, I know this was not typical anxiety about school. Looking back, I struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder and perfectionism. Among other things, I was obsessive-compulsive about never wasting time. Not. One. Second. Further, I was laser-focused on getting…Read More
When I was struggling, confused, and pretty hopeless regarding my own trauma, I remember reading Dr. Peter Levine’s Waking the Tiger. Finally, my strange set of symptoms and behaviors made sense. I wasn’t going crazy. I was actually having a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. Sadly, research suggests that it takes twelve…Read More
I was born afraid. So, it became no surprise to me now that, by the time I entered college, my high anxiety, sensitivity, and perfectionism had fueled anorexia nervosa. Restricting food decreased anxiety. And, if I ate enough in a binge, I didn’t have to deal with difficult emotions. Controlling…Read More
“You don’t look like you have an eating disorder,” a well-respected (supposed) expert once said to me. He was the first doctor I sought help from — at 22 — when I realized I really did have a problem with food. Since the age of 4, I had battled eating-disordered thoughts.…Read More