Monday, April 16, 2012

Naso-gastric feeding tube for weight loss? A recipe for an eating disorder.

Some of you may have read about the weight-loss diet one Florida physician is prescribing for women who want to lose weight in time for their wedding, using naso-gastric feeding tubes to monitor and regulate their nutritional intake . You can read about it here:

http://gma.yahoo.com/k-e-diet-brides-using-feeding-tubes-rapidly-080053646--abc-news-health.html

This is shocking because it is medically dangerous. For a physician to pander in this way to the desire of women obsessed with wanting to lose weight is unscrupulous, unethical, and medically dangerous. Unfortunately too many people are so obsessed that they will do anything for fast and easy weight loss. They will have weight loss surgery because it is being touted as they only reliable means of weight loss for those who are morbidly obese. What they are not informed about are the disasters resulting from weight loss surgery, which include drinking problems in those who never had a drinking problem before, self-induced vomiting in those who never did this before, and even anorexia, depression and suicide attempts. All of these are documented in the scientific literature.I had written about this years ago at www.gastricbypass.netfirms.com/wlspsyche.htm

Naso-gastric feeding tubes are used in hospital settings for patients who cannot or will not eat, to prevent them from wasting away and dying of starvation, a very real and necessary use for naso-gastric feeding tubes. To prescribe a naso-gastric feeding tube for someone who is desperate enough to use it to lose weight is a recipe for an eating disorder.. Eating disorders are potentially life-threatening. Physicians take an oath to "above all, do no harm." This doctor is doing harm.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

New book being released

I have not been tending to my blog very well because in addition to my practice, preparations for having my new book published have taken over my life, due to circumstnces beyond my control. Getting my first book published was a piece of cake compared to this, which was blood , sweat, and tears. But it will be published on or around June 1. The title is Hungry for Ecstasy: Trauma, The Brain, and the Influence of the Sixties.

Writing this book was quite an adventure, taking me to places I never would have imagined. It was written not only for mental health professionals but for the intelligent reader interested in knowing more about how the mind works and about what is happening today under the radar in our culture.

Here's what it says on Amazon.com about it:

Hungry for Ecstasy: Trauma, The Brain, and the Influence of the Sixties by Sharon Klayman Farber explores the hunger for ecstatic experience that can lead people down the road to self-destruction. In an attempt to help mental health professionals and concerned individuals understand and identify the phenomenon and ultimately intervene with patients, friends, and loved ones, Farber discusses the different paths taken on the road to ecstatic states. Hungry for Ecstasy explores not only the neuroscientific processes involved but also the influence of the sixties in driving people to seek these states. Finally, Farber draws from her own personal and professional experience to advise others how to intervene on behalf of the person whose behavior puts his or her life at risk.