Picture Blurrfect

Picture Blurrfect tackles yet another eating disorder myth: that these diseases occur only in young people. Dr. Lisa Kilpela of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio joins the show to share how she studies eating disorder pathologies and body image in older women, what she and her team have found thus far, and how this research can inform future treatment strategies. Join Naomi for a quick detour at the beginning of the episode on her recent trip to her North Carolina which confirmed how much she hates calorie counts on restaurant menus!

Papers Discussed in the Episode:
1) Kilpela et al., 2015 - Body Image in Adult Women: Moving Beyond the Younger Years
2) Wilfred et al., 2021 - Bing Eating Among Older Women: Prevalence Rates and Health Correlates Across Three Independent Sample
3) Kilpela et al., 2019 - Self-objectification and Eating Disorder Pathology in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Adult Women: Cross-sectional and Short-Term Longitudinal Associations

Kilpela Lab Website: click here

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Dr. Laura Berner of Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai joins Picture Blurrfect to share her research that investigates the neurobiological mechanisms underlying bulimia nervosa. Tune in to learn about which parts of the brain are most involved when individuals feel a "loss of control" and how this research can inform future pharmacological and therapeutic interventions.

Paper referenced in the episode:
1) Berner et al., 2022 - Altered prefrontal activation during the inhibition of eating responses in women with bulimia nervosa.

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Dr. Carolyn Becker of Trinity University joins Picture Blurrfect to discuss her research on how  food insecurity -- people living without reliable access to food -- influences the development of eating disorders. As food insecurity worsens, the level of eating disorder pathology increases. Dr. Becker's work challenges what we think we know about eating disorders and can not only help inform future research but also economic policies that impact food insecurity across the globe.

To read more about Dr. Becker's work on this topic:
1) Food insecurity and eating disorder pathology - Becker et al., 2017
2) Eating disorder pathology among individuals living with food insecurity: a replication study - Becker et al., 2019
3) An exploratory examination of internalized weight stigma in a sample living with food insecurity - Becker et al., 2021
4) STAT Article (June 2020): "Among people facing food insecurity, researchers find a hidden health issue: eating disorders" - Link

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Naomi chats with Dr. Bryn Austin of Harvard Chan School of Public Health about the importance of advocacy for eating disorders at the state and federal level. Dr. Austin is the Founding Director of the Strategic Training Initiative for the Preventing of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) where she and her colleagues help train the next generation in eating disorder prevention. In this episode, Dr. Austin shares how the CDC recently removed questions pertaining to disordered eating habits on the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, a survey the agency issues every other year and whose data is essential for researchers working in public health. The sudden elimination of the questions was a call-to-action for the eating disorder community.
Note: Take a listen after the interview for an exciting update on this issue!

Dr. Austin is also an active member of the Eating Disorders Coalition, an advocacy group that works to advance the recognition of eating disorders as a public health priority by building relationships on Capitol Hill.

Links/Resources mentioned in the episode:
1) STAT Article, "A decade without data: Eating disorder researchers say a gap in CDC survey has left them flying blind" [link]
2) Harvard STRIPED [link]
3) STRIPED Advocacy Playbook [link]
4) The Eating Disorders Coalition (EDC) [website]
5) Register for EDC's Virtual National Advocacy Day - May 17, 2022! Registration here and more information here

Questions, comments, or suggestions? E-mail the host: [email protected] 

Grad Student Spotlight! Maddy Palermo (@maddy_palermo), PhD Candidate at University of South Florida, chats with Naomi about her research on over-exercising and disordered eating particularly within first year college students. What exactly is exercise identity and weight bias? More importantly, as more data are collected on these complex topics, Maddy shares how this research can benefit clinicians in the treatment of eating disorders and disordered eating.

The paper Naomi and Maddy discuss:
Palermo et al., 2020, Examining the impact of weight bias on the association between exercises identity and maladaptive exercise behaviors - Link 

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While hospitalization and death rates for those diagnosed with COVID-19 has dominated the news headlines over the last two years, Naomi pulls back the curtain with Dr. Kelly Allison of the University of Pennsylvania to discuss how the global pandemic has also negatively impacted those with eating disorders. The data, unfortunately, is alarming. But what the data tells us can help clinicians, therapists, and the scientific community build a sustainable framework moving forward. More importantly, it allows us to stop for a second and life each other up during these challenging times.

Read the STAT article authored  by Dr. Allison from November 2020 here.

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Eating disorders share numerous characteristics with anxiety disorders, but exactly how can this be measured and used to inform treatments in the clinical setting? Naomi chats with Dr. Erin Reilly of University of California San Francisco on her research exploring the relationship between anxiety and eating disorders/disordered eating. Dr. Reilly also shares a recent paper her lab published on how anhedonia (or loss of pleasure) changes during eating disorder treatment, and other ongoing research projects.

Paper Mentioned in the Episode:
Changes in anhedonia over the course of eating disorder treatment - Dolan et al., 2022

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Naomi chats with Dr. Waller of the University of Sheffield about the various types of behavioral interventions used to treat eating disorders. From cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to exposure therapy to family based therapy, each of these methods plays a critical role in eating disorder recovery. More importantly, Dr. Waller reflects on the challenges that clinicians face during therapy and strategies for overcoming them to ensure therapy is rewarding for both clinicians and clients.

Books and Journal Articles Mentioned in the Episode:

1) Waller et al., 2020: Cognitive-behavioral therapy in the time of coronavirus: Clinician tips for working with eating disorders via telehealth when face-to-face meetings are not possible: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eat.23289

2) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders: A Comprehensive Treatment Guide (Amazon Link)

3)  Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Non-Underweight Patients: CBT-T for Eating Disorders (Amazon Link)

4) Beating Your Eating Disorder: A Cognitive-Behavioral Self-Help Guide for Adult Sufferers and their Carers (Amazon Link)

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Welcome to Season 2! Naomi welcomes listeners back to a brand new season, offering encouragement to listeners who may be feeling triggered from all the weight-loss New Years resolutions. Later, Naomi chats with Dr. Burton Murray of Massachusetts General Hospital about the relationship between eating disorders and gastrointestinal problems, including gut-brain interaction disorders. 

To read more about the studies referenced in the episode:
1) Burton Murray et al., 2020 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31923640/
2) Burton Murray et al., 2021 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33244769/

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In the season finale, Naomi talks with Dr. Drew Anderson of University of Albany about his work with eating disorders patients and how we can better discuss, research, and develop treatment strategies. Topics that Drew and Naomi chat about include compulsive exercise among eating disorder patients, body-checking and mirror exposure therapy, and ways we can discuss both obesity and eating disorders in our culture. 

While Picture Blurrfect is coming to an end for the year, we will be back and better than ever in January with Season 2! Naomi encourages all listeners to reach out to her ([email protected]) if you're struggling through the holiday season. Remember you are not alone and your feelings and experiences are valid. 

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