Pregnant w/an ED | Negative Mom | Trip Anxiety & Alone Time | Hospital Hopping

1. Hey Kati, so I have just found out I'm pregnant with my second child. I'm so excited but worried about how my ED will affect the baby. My question is how can control my ED so that I can still eat enough for the baby to grow healthy and strong? Do you have any tip or tricks? I'm trying the talking back to my ED voice at the moment but still struggling. 

2. Although she doesn’t know it, my mom can be a very negative person sometimes. She gets frustrated and yells at me quite frequently. Like, sometimes she would get mad at me if I just drop something. I’m dependent on her since I am physically disabled. And there’s not much available for assisted living. So, I feel like I’m stuck. It can also make me feel like a burden. I can only leave the house for so long before I need her help with something again, like toileting. Although she loves me and can be nice, it can get so bad sometimes that I could say she’s emotionally abusive. My friends and family say I need to talk to her and I know I do, but I literally can’t. Every time I start to talk about something she doesn’t want to talk about, she says stop talking and if I try to continue, she yells. If I try to talk to her about it with someone, she denies everything. It’s been like this for years, I’ve learned to ignore it and not let it bother me, but since I’m off antidepressants now, it’s starting to affect me more. It’s not only the yelling that upsets me; it’s also so hard to be around the negativity, especially when I’m trying to be a positive and strong person. Do you have any advice on what I can do? No one knows how to help me anymore. Also, sometimes I do find myself dissociating when she’s yelling. I’ve heard you talk about it a lot, but I’m wondering if it’s a bad defense mechanism? Or if it’s okay to use it to cope? 

3. Hi Kati, I am so excited, I am going to a trip to Europe in a few weeks, with a couple of friends from college. We will be gone for about 2 full weeks. One thing I am nervous about though is, being around people so much and not having the ability to get the alone time I need. I am a person who very much needs my alone time to recharge. We are going to be staying in the same rooms and will be with each other all day every day. Do have any tips or things I can do while on my trip to recharge, or just be at my best so I can enjoy  and get the most out of this trip? 

4. I was going hospital hopping. I lied about hallucinations and voices in the emergency room to get in to the psych ward. In six months, I went to the hospital  seven times in four different states. Now I'm getting my college degree in psychology soon. I'm looking for a job running groups in the psych ward. I'm paranoid that insurance companies are after me even though all of my hospital bills were covered. None of my hospital records say anything about lying. The unnecessary meds were messing with my head for sure. My family and therapist don't seem to think that something is wrong. I know I don't have Munchhausen because I don't like the attention. I think I'm malingering. Should this be taken more seriously? What if I can't stop going to the hospital?