TOPIC: Are these neurological problems or can
they be healed by the power of will-power?
READER'S POST:
"I think it is a mixture of both....I think that
the neurological guides us to be a certain way
and then with things like SID, OCD, the thoughts
intensify in our brains and make us fearful of
many foods.
In my opinion, taking the stance that we have no
control over this because it is neurological
doesn't help us. Personally I am not going to
wait for a doctor to come up with a cure. Over
the last year I have been doing a lot better
once I learned about the SID and OCD connection.
Once I heard that my body is possibly looking at
food as a danger, when in fact the food is not a
danger; that is something I can work on. It has
really helped change the way I think. This is
not to say that I would be willing to try any
foods (like seafood for example), just that I
have opened my mind to different foods.
People in the group seem to be offended if
anyone refers to the idea that we have some
control over this food disorder. It is easy to
say it is all something out of my control,
therefore I won't try to improve. Since we
"don't" know the exact reason for our disorder
and may never, I would like to encourage people
to feel free to speak their opinion regardless
whether everyone agrees or not. I think the
steps that people need to help themselves
depends upon the person. If you find something
that works for you....go for it! For me, it is
taking small steps to try and help get over my
fear....just like anyone else trying to get over
a fear.
For those of you who celebrate it, maybe this
year at Thanksgiving, try one bite of something
you have never tried........? Small steps.....
Abbie's response: Just because
a problem is neurologically based does not mean
to imply that it is unfixable. Increasingly,
holistic approaches to healing food related
problems have been shown to have ameliorative
effects on body awareness and on neurologically
based sensory changes. Challenging ones self to
take risks with food, or with new behaviors in
other life spheres can be a wonderful way to
create new behavioral inroads (and new neuro-pathways.)
Small steps ultimately lead to large changes.
TOPIC: Treating PE through hospital
programs that focus on anxiety reduction
READER'S POST:
"Yes, I have taken Jesse, my 13 year old to an
OT and yes I finally found one to agree with me
that this is a sensory integration disorder.
We had Jesse doing tongue exercises to
strengthen his tongue muscle in order to be able
to better "sense" his food so that his nervous
system doesn't go into "protect" mode (read gag)
because it cannot discern enough information
from the food. The problem was, as is with all
therapies, is that it was once a week, along
drive and too difficult to integrate into
everyday life. The other therapies were just
exposure therapies of odors and looks and
nibbles of foods. Again, only once a week.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is also exposure
therapy. To some extent, that is what Jesse will
be getting on an intensive basis when he goes to
Rogers Hospital in the summer. He needs to be
physically desensitized and these constant and
consistent exposures should do that in a
progressive manner. Same as an OT only 24/7
I too was extremely skeptical about John'
miraculous seemingly
overnight recovery. Since Jesse has been a picky
eater since I introduced solid foods, I have no
doubt in my mind that this is a physical
problem. So, then why am I sending Jesse, to
Rodgers?
There is no doubt in my mind that years of bad
experiences with food
creates a psychological component to the
ailment. I know that there must be many more
foods out there that Jesse should be able to
like and some to at least tolerate to be
sociable. I don't totally love every food I ever
am required to eat on any occasion and Jesse
shouldn't expect to love all foods he eats
either. He does. If it isn't delicious to him
immediately it is not going to be eaten. He
needs to free up his mind set and decrease the
anxiety to at least increase the likelihood that
he can find new foods to eat. That is all I am
expecting of Rogers.
In order to accomplish such a thing one needs
intensive Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy. Going to a psychiatrist once
a week for years, in my mind, makes it almost
impossible to succeed. Even if one endeavors to
put the CBT into use in their daily lives it is
really very difficult to achieve on one's own.
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, one is a picky
eater and 1 hour a week from that for therapy,
well, I have my doubts. So what John did (in
entering a hospital program) is pay an enormous
amount of money to surround himself with this
therapy or therapeutic environment for 24 hours
a day 7 days a week for 30 days. That seems to
me a legitimate way to make inroads into a
problem.
I have seen and read about countless studies
where the mere will to change has brought about
changes in a human being that can be scanned and
viewed as a physical change in the brain. John
certainly had the will. I do not expect Jesse to
have as resounding a success as John. My hope is
that he will be less reluctant to taste new
things and accept that not everything has to be
delicious to be eaten. Not all of that gag
reflex is physical. Some of it is psychological.
Whatever I can chip away, I will be content
with.
With Best Regards,
Susan Sorger
Entourage Arts
Abbie's Response: There is something
to say for behavioral exposure and flooding as a
way to create and reinforce new neuronal
pathways in the brain. New neural pathways are
created in response to new behaviors, and new
behaviors are reinforced through the creation of
these pathways.
TOPIC: Alerting others to the problem can
alleviate the effects of PE problems in some
contexts
READER'S POST:
May I suggest something I found out recently? I
am 42 and just found out that my parents
buffered many of those food situations for me
when I was younger. They would tell other
parents ahead of time of my eating habits and
sometimes take food that I would eat, but most
importantly they told them not to make a big
deal of it. Looking back now I am thankful for
their effort because, as a kid, it's bad enough
when others continue to make a big deal of your
eating but if your parents do, it could really
make you feel self conscious.
Abbie's Repsonse: This individual
describes highly sensitive parents. Keep in mind
that parents need to discern the difference
between down-playing the condition with others
versus pretending that the problem does not
exist. They need to know which occasions lend
themselves to effective action, and which demand
"softer pedaling" in the interest of saving the
child's feelings.
TOPIC: Are causes of PE yet to be
discovered?
READER'S POST:
What makes you believe your son might have a
disorder that has already been diagnosed in
society? This is exactly what doctors and psych
people want you to believe. They want to tell
you he will grow out of it, it is a control
issue, it is a weight issue, or that he has OCD
or a sensory problem. They always want to
diagnose someone with something that has already
been studied and accepted by society.
Maybe our problem is something that is not a
result of something that has already been
diagnosed today. Maybe it is something that has
not been identified and accepted by society. I
think we should all start looking at the
possibility that it could be something that is
not a result of something that is already out
there. Many people have tried all the different
things that doctors say it could be and tried
treatments for them. Most did not benefit from
these treatments or they slowly learned to like
one or two more things over a very long period
of time.
Some people do benefit from treatment of
something that is already out there and it helps
them with their eating, but many do not. In my
case it is about taste. I am not afraid of any
foods. Food looks like food to me. I do not have
control issues at 41, I do not have a weight
problem, I do not have OCD, etc. I'm as normal
as any average person. But, for example, I can
find a small piece of green lettuce loaded with
lots and lots of flavor. Most people would think
lettuce is tasteless. If I taste something with
a lot of flavor in it, it is overwhelming for me
and makes me gag. This makes it very difficult
for me to try anything that is not very bland to
most people's taste.
Just my thoughts ...
Abbie's Responses: We live in the "era
of the brain," where sophisticated brain scans
and functional imaging show that holistic
treatments bring about real changes in brain
function. It is interesting to note that hrough
genetic research, scientists have identified a
gene (dubbed TAS2R38) that controls a receptor
for bitter flavors; those individuals with
certain variations of that gene are particularly
sensitive tasters. One of my adult eating
disordered clients reports "a metallic taste in
her mouth" from eating most vegetables, a
reflection of the chemical and genetic bases of
these problems." (Natenshon, 2009, P 135) (From:
Doing What Works: An Integrative System for the
Treatment of Eating Disorders from Diagnosis to
Recovery, NASW Press, 2009)
Do not stop looking to the brain for solutions,
with its marvelous capacity to change and grow
through neuro-plasticity. There is every reason
to believe that more and more solutions will be
found for problems that are neurologically base,
and sometimes environmentally triggered and fed.
The following are emails from a behavioral
therapist treating a child with picky eating,
along with my responses
Dear Abbie,
I am an outpatient therapist working with a 9
year-old boy who is an extremely picky eater. He
has been this way since infancy. He only likes a
few foods and will go days without eating before
he will eat something he doesn't like. He does
not like touching certain foods and does not
like the texture of certain foods in his mouth.
He gags as soon as certain foods are near his
mouth and needs to wash his hands after touching
certain foods. The doctor has found no physical
problems which may cause difficulty eating or
swallowing. We have been playing with food,
having him hold foods in his mouth, alternating
foods that he likes with those he does not, and
other similar activities. Do you have any ideas
or suggestions for helping him and his parents?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Shelly
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shelly,
It sounds to me as though you are doing all the
right kinds of things and I am interested to
know if your efforts have been productive. Are
you seeing changes? How is the child responding?
Can you suggest that this child also work with
an occupational therapist, speech therapist and
/or Feldenkrais around issues with his mouth?
Are you able to make appropriate referrals for
the child to accompany the work you are doing
with the child and the family?
Have they tried "food chaining" a technique that
is described in the feature articles on my site?
Abbie Natenshon
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Abbie
We have reached a point where he can put foods
in his mouth and hold them there for a few
seconds. He is understandably resistant to these
changes; however, he is able to gauge when the
goal is doable or too much-so he has some input
in his goals for the week. His input seems to
help in garnering more cooperation from him.
This week his goal is to put 3 different foods
in his mouth and chew; he can then spit them out
if he needs to. He and dad were also to pick out
five vegetables to play with on a large piece of
plastic on the floor-touching them, smelling
them, smashing them, etc. I don't know how this
week has been for him yet.
I will check out the "food chaining" you
mentioned.
Shelly