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Food Advertising And Eating Disorders
The Importance Of An Eating Disorder Website
Barriers to Insurance Coverage
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No one can gainsay the fact that music can have a profound effect on the emotions. Whether producing music or listening to it, interactions with music can be used to treat emotional conditions such as eating disorders. Music therapists use music to establish an atmosphere of trust and intimacy that is needed to help victims of this life-threatening cluster of diseases. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are the two best known forms, but there are other related conditions as well. Music therapy can treat all of these conditions.
One of the powerful techniques used by music therapists is to discuss songs with lyrics that foster the societal pressures often associated with eating disorders. The pressure to be thin, to look good, and to focus on the superficial can be released by analyzing the explicit and hidden messages in popular music. As patients become attuned to the constant attention popular culture puts on looks rather than content, patients can desensitize to the fetish of beauty and gain perspective on their own motivations. One technique frequently used is for the therapist to record a set of healing songs for the patient's personal music systems. Patients are instructed to listen to the recording set several times a day, especially before meals. For this reason, patients must use reliable devices; the need for an IPod repair will interfere with the smooth course of treatment. Luckily, there are speedy Internet-based repair companies such as Rhousemedia. A patient can print off a free mailing label and send her IPod to Rhousemedia for speedy diagnosis. Once the patient notifies Rhousemedia to proceed with the repair, the work is done quickly, usually the same day, and the device is immediately shipped back to the patient so that her therapy can resume. Another method used by music therapists to treat patients with eating disorders is to encourage singing and/or humming. This teaches patients to associate the mouth and throat with pleasurable experiences. A patient is less willing to damage her esophagus through induced vomiting if she regards her upper alimentary canal as her friend, something that studies show singing encourages. There are many different techniques used to treat eating disorders - patients should evaluate whether music therapy can help them overcome this debilitating problem. |
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Drew & Anna |
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The
outrage at Anna's death and the outpouring of community support has led
Anna's family to establish The Anna Westin Foundation, a nonprofit
organization formed to help others suffering directly or indirectly from
eating disorders, and to provide education and information designed to
prevent the development of anorexia and bulimia. |
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_____________________________________________________________________ The Anna Westin Foundation - PO Box 268 - Chaska, MN 55318
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