Friday, February 28, 2014

Eating Disorder Memoirs: Helpful or Harmful?

What do you think?

The Academy for Eating Disorders is hosting a Twitter Chat on 3/13 (5pm EST) entitled, "Eating Disorders: Helpful or Harmful?" According to the blurb:
Eating disorder memoirs have received significant attention as of late. Some diagnosed with eating disorders find writing and sharing their story helpful in the process of their recovery. But are these stories beneficial to their target audience? If you have an eating disorder, does reading eating disorder memoirs provide guidance on recovery and pocket support? Or, can reading these stories trigger increased eating-disorder behavior? AED takes a careful look at the pros and cons of eating disorder memoirs with the help of guests Carrie Arnold and Dr. Jennifer Thomas, in a lively chat you won't want to miss.
On behalf of the Academy's Social Media Committee (@aedweb), I'll be asking our guests some thought-provoking questions, and the discussion promises to be an engaging one.

If you'd like to join, just follow these instructions provided by AED:
It's easy to join in the chat! - Try it!1. Go to www.tweetchat.com2. Enter the name of the chat: #AEDchat
3. Next, read the posts and/or sign in to add your tweets.
Note: If you're tweeting, Tweetchat will add the chat hashtag (#AEDchat) each time for you.
Don't have Twitter account yet? You can create one here. You'll then be ready to follow the AED Twitter chat using hashtag #aedchat.
Would love to see you all there!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Some are helpful, others are not. I feel I or others could benefit from NEDA endorsing certain memoirs so we can figure out if something is triggering. I know many ED memoirs also cover extreme cases and not those of us in the "EDNOS" category. Without books out there for us in the middle, memoirs can dismiss our problems as not being bad enough.
anedfortherestofus.blogspot.com

Meliss said...

I was in college 30 years ago when eating disorders weren't as well publicized. I was in the horrible throes of bulimia, compulsive eating and anorexia. life was HELL

i cherished every single piece of literature that showed me i was not alone. i've never gotten rid of any of those books, because they meant so much to me.

drstaceyny said...

Thanks for your feedback, JW and M! JW, we'll be asking our guests if they recommend certain memoirs that are more recovery oriented. Also, we just added another guest - memoir-writer Stephanie Covington Armstrong - should be a great chat!