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Eating Disorders, Climate Change and Vulnerability to Illness
- Details
- Category: Symptoms
Eating Disorders and climate change can have a powerful impact on your health.If you have an eating disorder active or not, please pay attention to trends in illnesses. Eating disorders weaken your organs and your immune system. Plus, mental obsessions that are symptoms of an eating disorder can block your awareness of the personal danger you may face because of illnesses like the flu or various illnesses more prevalent because of climate change.
*Picture is Wisdom. We need wisdom now.
People whose health is compromised for any reason are more likely to be susceptible to disease and can have more severe symptoms than a healthy and robust person.
A body ravaged by an eating disorder may be an ideal place for viruses or bacteria to take root and thrive.
A mind ravaged by an eating disorder may be incapable of understanding the necessity for stepped up personal health care.
For example, the flu is dangerous, even lethal to people with existing illnesses and your eating disorder is an illness. Please look at these two articles and connect the dots.
Flu Outbreak In 2013 Earliest, One Of The Worst In A Decade
Medical consequences of eating disorders
Remember your basic healthy care to help you be sturdy and resilient in the face of health challenges. Do your best to subdue eating disorder thinking and behaviors so you can either prevent yourself from
getting ill or, if you become ill, have a mild experience and a speedy recovery.
- Eat nourishing food throughout the day at regular intervals.
- Drink eight glasses of water a day to keep yourself hydrated.
- Sleep eight to nine hours at night.
- Nap in the day if you are tired.
- Rest, i.e. take it easy.
- Do your best to reduce stress. Laugh. Watch relaxing videos. Enjoy nature if weather permits. Create gentle fun experiences for you and your family. Pet your dog or cat.
- Find a way to think and feel nice things about yourself.
- And most of all, keep your awareness up.
If you have an eating disorder you are vulnerable. Take your self care seriously.
See what the Center for Disease Control has to say about flu prevention.
Are you taking particular care of yourself?
What can you do to help yourself be more sturdy in the face of new global health challenges?
Information Resources
Climate Change Bites
Climate Change and Infectious Disease
Climate Effects on Health
How Climate Change Could Spread Diseases Like Zika
*Wisdom, mural by Robert Lewis Reid. Second Floor, North Corridor. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. Caption underneath reads "KNOWLEDGE COMES BVT WISDOM LINGERS". 1896
Comments
Now that I've realized this, I'm not as resentful about still having a bad cough for the last 3 weeks!!!
No flu for me!
Coming out of the eating disorder shell and more into the world requires that we take care of ourselves in many more ways than needed when in isolation. This holds emotionally and physically.
Still, three weeks seems a long time for a bad cough. I hope you've had input from your medical professional!
What an excellent point to raise. Washing your hands often at the gym makes abundant sense.
Now that I'm thinking about it I'm reminded of the antiseptic cloths many grocery stores offer to patrons for washing their hands and the handles of the grocery carts. It might be a good idea to
wipe down the hand contact part of any exercise equipment you use.
This may or may not be practical, but it's something to think about.
I do wash my hands after dance class but I think I will start bringing some wipes to wipe off the bar before I use it.
Wiping off the dance bar is a good suggestion. It reminds me, as I set off on a longish car trip, that I should use wipes on my steering wheel, gear shift and door handles too.
And while I'm thinking about it and writing this, the keypads on our electronics could use a wipe:
computers, ipads, iphones and telephones - especially mouthpieces.
If I'm doing the elliptical, if I remember, I wipe down the handles before I use it. I usually don't think about it, so I wipe them down when I'm down and sanatize my hands right away. I also try to be conscious to not touch my face. As for free weights, I can't really walk around with those wet cloths when I'm teaching my aerobics class and we're doing weights, so the first thing I do is wash/sanatize my hands.
Hopefully all of us will stay healthy. Besides the fact that it would suck to be sick, that would really kill my workouts. I usually go to the gym when I'm sick, unless I'm really, really sick, or throwing up with the stomach flu.