Beyond ADHD A Physicians Perspective: Dr. Rebecca Berens (Women’s Health and Breastfeeding Medicine Founder of Vida Family Medicine)

Dr. Rebecca Berens: Whether you're a physician or a patient taking those eating symptoms that you're feeling seriously, not feeling stigmatized, talking about. Because it's so life-changing to not have an eating disorder anymore. And when you're going through it, you feel like it's never going to end. But if you are feeling any of those symptoms, discomfort around food restriction, bingeing purging, any of that, please just talk to someone about it. And get the right kind of help because it is life changing.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Hi, welcome to Beyond ADHD, A Physician's Perspective podcast. I am your host, Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh. I'm a Family Medicine doc, with ADHD, practicing in a rural setting in Texas. I am a mother to two very energetic toddlers who are three and four years of age.

And in the past year, I have undergone radical transformation after discovering ADHD coaching, and life-coaching. For the past decade, my typical day consisted of having 300 charts backlog, a graveyard of unfinished projects, and a lack of time awareness. I didn't realize that I was not filling my own cup. I was running on fumes. The last year I figured out the secret; learn to stay in your lane. So now my mission is to help others develop systems that tap into their zone of genius. So they too can reclaim their personal lives back like I have.

Hello physicians. I want to invite you to go to my website, ADHD-lifecoach.com and register for the masterclass that is going to be happening on May 28th at 11 central time. It's going to be a really good masterclass that is going to teach you how to leave work at work. We are going to be talking how to chart with ease. When you come to this master class, you are going to be able to walk away with practical tips that will help you to develop an empowering mindset for efficient charty.

And you will also learn how to implement boundaries that will improve your patient care and free up your time. Of course, you're gonna recognize which distractions might be getting in the way of you closing those charts. So sign up, go to my website, ADHD dash life, coach.com. And also this is the perfect time for you to realize that, you know, June 20th is right around the corner.

That's when my, uh, 12 week physician. Coaching class is going to start it constantly. 20 CME credits. Make sure you get on my waiting list and you can do that also by sending me an email on my website, you can contact me. You can get all the details. All right. Take care.

I'm excited today. I am speaking with Dr. Rebecca Behrens, she's a family medicine and she's also a breastfeeding lactation consultant. So exciting. She grew up in Houston and she has stayed in the area. Lucky her right? And the nice traffic I'm being the seizures because obviously I stayed at myself, you know, during med school and residency in Houston.

So I am so happy to be speaking with Dr. Berens today. Her family medicine residency was actually at Georgetown University and she's worked for several years in F Q H C in south Philadelphia. And. Came back to Houston and has shortly opened her private practice. And she treats individuals and families of all ages, but it specializes in women's health and breastfeeding medicine.

And the really cool thing about Dr. Berens is that she does. It's a holistic approach to her patient's care. And she takes patients and otomy very, very serious. she works together with, with her patients to help them meet their health goals. She herself suffered from an eating disorder while she was in college and in medical school and her recovery has greatly shaped her practice.

Since she works with many of them who are recovering from, or have recovered from this eating disorders. And so she's the example of what is possible. So this is her mission and she's pursuing a lot of other endeavors. Okay. I think I butchered that last part. Tell me, what are you currently a member of?

Dr. Rebecca Berens: It's I'm sorry. It's the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals. And that CEDS is, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Awesome. Thank you so much.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: Sorry, I should've printed that out for you. I apologize.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: So today, like I said, we have a very special guest and you guys really have to lean in because this is something that unfortunately is not talked about enough.

And when we think ADHD, all we're thinking about is somebody who is not focusing. Right. But we're not thinking about why they're not focusing or what they're using to try to get themselves, to focus right? This is why this is important because the body's going to get what it needs. And sometimes, unfortunately it's going to be through wine or it's going to be through food, or sometimes we're starting out to like unconsciously get, start running or start meditating. Right. And so that we're hoping the latter is what's happening, but sometimes we'd not even aware that we're using wine or some substance abuse for other things. So, today we're going to have a very special talk. So Dr. Rebecca, you tell us a little bit about why this is your mission in which I kind of already alluded to it. And anything that you've noticed in terms of maybe ADHD coming into part with this.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: Yeah, absolutely. So, so as you said in my bio, I did, I suffered from an eating disorder in college and medical school. I had anorexia and as I was going through my recovery it's as many eating disorders do, it shifted from restrictive, purely restrictive anorexia to, purging and bingeing. And this is the very question of how eating disorders happen when you're going through recovery, if you're not getting adequate support. So, you know, going through that experience, I really did not have a lot of support from professionals during my recovery, until much later. and so, it's just something that I've always had in the back of my mind whenever I'm treating a patient, I like to ask about it because I know it's common and I know it's not often brought up and I want to make sure that any patient that I'm seeing is going to get better support than what I got when I was going through it.

I never actually intended to treat eating disorders because I was concerned about being triggered or, you know, having difficulty with that. But I'm at a place now where I feel very comfortable with it and I feel very passionate. About treating these patients. And so I think what I've noticed in my current practice, I have many patients who have ADHD who are seeking care for me because in my private practice setting, I have a membership model.

I have a lot more time to spend with them. So I'm really able to better care of the patients who have ADHD, who are often turf to psych by primary care doctors, because we just don't have time. And so in talking to several of those patients with ADHD, I noticed some symptoms of binge eating disorder, or of other, you know, other types of eating disorders.

And I wondered, I wonder if this is related to ADHD in any way, because I, it was literally three people in a row that I saw that all had very similar stories. And so I started to do a little bit of digging and I found out there is actually a link between ADHD and some eating disorders. So, something that I've just sort of realizing I'm trying to better treat my patients.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Do you think it's because they're using the food as a way to increase the dopamine, to get them to do certain things? Or what do you think is that correlations?

Dr. Rebecca Berens: So I'm in the research that I've done in the patients that I've seen, who have these, I think it's a couple of things.

You know, eating disorders are rarely about food. They're usually emotion. They're usually about trying to take control over something that you can control because other things in your life seem out of your control, which I know for many people with ADHD, There is, a feeling of being out of control because you don't have the ability to do the things that you need to do.

Your brain is blocking you from doing the things you need to do, and you know, there's a lot of, as you all know, everyone who's listening and you certainly, it's a big problem. And so that's usually. The predisposing factor to an eating disorder, it's usually ends up being triggered by someone being told to lose weight or trying to get healthier, and then trying to take more control of their eating.

And then it becomes an emotional control as well as this weight obsession. And so that's usually how it starts. And then there are some factors that predispose someone to, because a lot of people diet in the U S it's very common. It's something that we talk about all the time in our culture problematic, but it's a thing.

And plenty of people who diet don't have eating disorders, but there are certain people who are going to have personality traits or neurochemistry. That's going to predispose them to then develop a full-blown eating disorder when they start engaging in a dieting behavior. And one of those traits is Alexithymia.

Which is, a trait that basically it's a personality trait and it basically means difficulty understanding or explaining the emotion that one is feeling. And so if you're not able to, to understand, explain, you know, talk about what you're feeling, you're going to try to control. Unexplained feeling in some other way.

And that may present itself in an eating disorder. And it's a sustaining factor in eating disorders. And that trait is actually associated with impulsivity. So I suspect that has part of the connection is coming from that trait. The other thing that I think is, is a predisposing factor for someone with ADHD is if you do have any level of impulsivity, you may have a binge episode kind of impulsively.

Because you're feeling bad or something's going on in your life, or you did meet anything all day because you were distracted and then you're super, super hungry. And then you binge and, you know, any of those things could happen. And then you may feel like, oh, I feel so full. And then you may try to impulsively do something to correct that.

So it's such as a purging behavior. And so the eating disorders that are most correlated with ADHD are bulemia and binge eating disorder. Not surprisingly because. It is a more impulsive behavior than a restriction, which requires overtime constant focus on restriction. This is more of an impulsive in the moment behavior that then becomes a habit that then becomes sustained by all the other factors that contribute to the eating disorder.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Wow. That's so insightful. I had never put that together, but like, now that you've mentioned it, you know, I do see sometimes in myself and sometimes in my clients that it was not until I discovered coaching that I started to get in tune with like my feelings and that awareness, because I had no idea, like I had no idea why I would all of a sudden be okay.

And then like two minutes later, I was listening to my shit, like, you know, and I don't mean that in a way, but it's like, I would be so overstimulated or so much stuff was asking for my attention that I would just be like, yeah, Leave me alone. Right? Like, and all of a sudden there everybody's looking at me like what happened?

And I'm like, well, why did you pull me out of the room? Like, why do I need to sign that right this second? Why is the phone ringing and why is the patient asking me 5 question you and again, I can say, then you forgot you haven't eaten. Right? And so like, you mix it in with all these things and those that are in your, this irrational person to everybody else, but it makes sense, like you just described.

You were not even aware of the motions that got you to that place or the steps that got you to there. Like now of course I can look back and be like, well, of course you didn't set that boundary there. You didn't set that boundary there. You didn't tell them not to double book. You didn't tell him not to like open the door and list.

There's fire, you know, like there was so many things that I didn't have any awareness. And even now when I'm coaching somebody or even when I'm being coached, they're like, well, where is it in your body? And I'm like, well, why are we talking about my body? And they're like, well, what emotion are you feeling now?

Are you angry? Are you sad? Are you? And I'm like, why does it matter? They're like, well, just lean into it. You know? And so it's funny because yeah, I had no awareness and sometimes my whole day. Revolved around, like, what do I feel like eating today? Like the whole day, like it was consumed with feely, like what I wanted to be sometimes.

And so it's so interesting. So, I don't know that I ever suffered from Bulimia, I think I enjoyed every single pound that I ate. But you know, I think it was providing that emotional support or comfort in the moment. And I can see that how the times that I was so stressful because I was running in high school.

I didn't gain that much weight. But then when I got to college, you know, all of a sudden I went up in weight and then I started running and then I lost weight. And then I got to med school. I went up in weight and then I started running. Then I lost weight. And so it was this period. Have you seen the food, like you said, maybe as a way to not feel my emotions because I didn't even know that I did regulate them or anything or have awareness of it.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: Yeah. And I mean, it's a super common, it's a super common phenomenon and, you know, there's, there's diagnostic criteria of when it is this emotionally eating disorder, but you know, it, if you are someone who is predisposed, neurologically, And based on your socioeconomic situation, your family dynamics, you know, all of these things are gonna play into, to the development of an eating disorder.

But if you have some of these predisposing factors that ADHD will predispose you to, it does increase your risk of progressing into an eating disorder. And so, it's something that, you know, since I've noticed this link between in some of my patients, I am, super mindful. Now every time I do see a patient with ADHD or really anyone because it's so common to ask about eating habits, ask about, you know, doing some screening for meeting sources. There are verified, validated screening tools for eating disorders that I think should be more widely used, and what you discussed specifically about that transition from high school to college college, to med school, you know, these periods of time, especially high school to college where you're finishing up puberty and your life is changing and your stress level is changing and your control over your life is changing. Your independence level is changing. That is the classic time when an eating disorder starts, because it's so much for you to cope with. And if you don't have the tools at hand, and if you're, you know, genetically biochemically and neurologically predisposed, it's very easy for an eating disorder to develop very quickly and progress very quickly.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: So would you give us any tips? I know there's some of us who are physicians who are hearing, how can we ask this question? And I know you said their screening questionnaires, and maybe you can tell us later on which ones and we can put it on the link.

How could I be sensitive enough to ask so that it doesn't like, you know, trigger them or not the trigger then, so that I'm, I am being mindful, you know? How could we ask

something like that?

Dr. Rebecca Berens: Yeah. So the two validated screening tools are the scoff S C O F F, and the SDE. those are the two validated screening and I personally think we should use those, like at an annual wellness exam for real. I mean, it's obviously eating disorders are more common in women. Overall binge eating disorder is actually roughly equivalent between women and men. But anyone, any woman really from mid to late adolescents until forever.

Really? I think it's a good screening tool to have. It's a very quick, it's just a few questions. And it can be an opening point for a conversation. And so I think adding that screening tool would be very valuable and especially in a patient who's predisposed, like if they have ADHD or if they live in a larger body, if they have a family member with an eating disorder or another mood disorder, these are all people who are going to be at higher risk.

I think just adding that screening tool into a preventative exam or an ADHD followup, or, you know, any of those kinds of things or mood disorder follow up. Just asking the questions because there's a lot of stigma about it and people are not necessarily going to bring it up. But I think even more importantly than that is the language that you're using around weight with a patient, because there's a lot of stigma that comes from doctors to patients that is very triggering.

And obviously, you know, as doctors, we're on health promotion and we want to make sure we're helping our patients reach their best level of health, but making the end point. Is rarely helpful because it's not always, it's not always directly correlated with the person's metabolic health and someone who genetically lives in a larger body.

It may not be realistic for them to get to a, you know, quote unquote normal BMI that may not even be healthy for them. Focusing on the behaviors that are healthy, you know, eating fiber, getting enough exercise, getting enough sleep, getting enough nutrients, focusing on these health behaviors rather than on the number on the scale, I think is a really helpful way.

And it also just helps these patients feel less stigmatized. A lot of the patients that I see are patients who maybe haven't seen a doctor in years, because they're so traumatized from when they did see a doctor, patients who live in larger bodies and have an eating disorder who went to a doctor.

And all that doctor told them was like, you just need to eat less and move more and lose some weight. And you, I've had patients with all kinds of conditions that are 100% not related to their weight. Like I have a patient who has ulcerative colitis. I refer them to a GI doctor. That was the first thing the GI doctor said.

I was like, this patient has an elevated fecal calprotectin and all the signs of IBD and the GI doctor talked about the weight before talking about getting a colonoscopy, which is the reason I referred them. And so, you know, I think part of this is driven by these insurance metrics, these hospital metrics, focusing on BMI and counseling.

But if we, as physicians want to try to address this problem, we need to be focusing on our relationship with the patient, focusing on the patient and their health and not on some arbitrary number.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. And I think again, in the last two years, I think my mind has expanded so much now that I've been coached on it and seeing how we're, how sometimes we make other people's words mean something more than they are and how traumatizing it can be that you hold on to them for a lifetime.

And it was something. Somebody said like in two minutes and in sometimes if it is your, your doctor, I mean, for me, obviously my doctor, when I was, you know, then I graduate from medical school, said, Hey, you know, you're, you're about to be actually residency with residency. They're like you, you're about to be a full attending.

You need to get. Psychiatrist, like stop coming to the student health clinic. Right. And so I thought, okay, it's Houston, right? Like I could find any doc and they should understand ADHD professionals. So I go, and then the physician tells me you're a physician. You should know better. You outgrow ADHD. And like that two minute interaction caused me to ignore myself and my ADHD for 10 years.

Right. And so, again, it was. Something that somebody says in passing that could really like get cemented into you. Again, now I understand now I have tools that I can say, well, that doctor said words. Like that's a fact, he said that, but what did I make it mean? Now, if I would go back, I would say, well, you just met me.

You just had a two minute interaction. If you're not comfortable with treating adults with ADHD, please refer me to a professional. This is their specialty. Like now I could have said that, or maybe I wouldn't have even said that I would have just walked out and being like, okay, well that one, off the list next, right?

Because there are so many docs. Right. But at that moment, because I was in my head about the shame. And like you said, I wouldn't have asked and I didn't ask for help again. And so. We forget that it is important, the language that we're using, like you said, what it would mean. And me, I have this conversation with them all the time.

When, when I do see that they're overweight, you know, I say, Hey, you know, let's do some labs, like, have you been trying to lose weight or, or are you happy or what's going on? And we joke around. I said, if you're happy with your weight, then why are we having this conversation? But if you're not happy with your weight and want to do something about it, let's go for it.

And I say, you know, we're going for five to 10%, because then that can really decrease how much, you know, one, if you lose 10 pounds that can decrease one ton of pressure on your knees. And like, I want you to walk up the stairs if you want to. Right. Like, and so when we get to the why, like you said, the behaviors is what is gonna all of a sudden be,

I'm a person who exercises, even if it's five minutes a day, you are the person who exercises, not the person who doesn't marathon, but you're the person who exercises. Right. And so this is why then they have buy-in to do whatever they do. Right. Because they know the why behind it. And I'm not there to be like, well, you know, you have to lose a hundred pounds.

Otherwise it's not worth me talking to you. Right. Like that that's unrealistic. However, I will tell you, oh my God. Rybelsus has been amazing, even though they're not meant to be for weight loss, like. Because I understand the mechanisms. I sometimes, you know, use it for other things if that's what the patient wants and if they're willing to, and, and there is a correlation, even though you say that, you know, eating disorders don't happen because of food sometimes, and it's an emotional component, there is a correlation.

People sometimes do use the food for the dopamine and they end up with diabetes, ADHD and people with diabetes. And then all of a sudden I start treating them for the ADHD and guess what? Their diabetes reverses, because they were only using the food for that fuel that they needed. Right. And they didn't realize that they were being impulsive to try to help themselves to complete say tasks. Right. And so there is a lot of correlation that that can happen with that.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: Yeah. And I mean, you know, the, the FDA approved medication for binge eating disorder is Vyvanse. And I think there's a lot of underlying neurochemistry things that are am, and so I think, you know, it's, it's not necessarily appropriate for every eating disorder certainly. There are a lot of patients with binge eating disorder who I think it is, you know, if their ADHD is better managed, they are able to cope better in so many other areas. And, and they're able to do that. And, you know, I think, I mean the most important thing with all of our patients in any situation is always to look at them as an individual and not make any assumptions.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Exactly.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: Don't make assumptions that because someone has a BMI of a certain number that they were lazy or they don't exercise, or they don't eat well. You know, there are people who are genetically in very different sizes of bodies. And we don't ever give people a hard time about their height. We also should not give them a hard time about their weight and.

You know, we don't expect people to lose or gain height by doing anything.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: So I wish it could be taller.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: You know, it's we, we ha we have to, yeah. There's heels. Exactly. We have to look at people as individuals and not make assumptions about them. And I know this happens to patients with ADHD because I have so many patients with ADHD.

Who've told me I was treated like I was a drug addict. You know, because they went to seeking care for their ADHD. Right. That's inappropriate. And you know, we, we want to make sure that we're being mindful and, judicious with use of substances, but we can not make assumptions about people. We have to treat them as an individual and that's, that's the underlying most important thing.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And, you know, you bring up a really good point that, sometimes we don't, again, the body's going to get what I need. Right. And sometimes we don't realize that they've been using smoking or marijuana or sometimes cocaine or other things, because again, they don't have it. And so it actually having undiagnosed or untreated ADHD, right.

Substance abuse is a risk factor for that. Right. And so that's so important to know because you can't just say. That person has cocaine or has marijuana in their system. And therefore I cannot treat them for their ADHD because if you and I had that conversation and I'm telling you, you're probably using that because of X, Y, and Z.

And. Decide that you're going to take the chance on them. And you're going to be checking the urine, like, you know, whatever contract you decide it with them. You'd be surprised how many people like come off of that things because now they are being treated so well. And now then are able to keep a job.

They're able to get married. They're able, like so much stuff can happen if you are open-minded and just treat them where they're at and not make all these assumptions. And, and, you know, they usually say one strike and you're out, you know? And so we have a conversation. I mean, sometimes I give two strikes and then I'm like, dude, like, we're all human, but you and I have this thing and I ain't trying to lose my license and because I want to help all the other people.

So like we, we have this like talk to talk. Right. And I think, like you said, not judging. Understanding where they're at. And, and one thing that I want to say here, which I think maybe you already know, or maybe you don't, but you know, in Europe, emotional dysregulation is one of the things that they use to, to diagnose ADHD, here in the U S it's not used for that.

Because they're like, well, how can we say you're too emotional or whatever. Right. But like, I just described how, you know, dysregulation has happened if I just blew up and everybody's looking at you, like what just happened? And then five minutes later, you're back to your PG self because you just needed to like, like reset.

So it was safe. Right. And so again, understanding that emotions really can get us to go one place or another. And then the difference on how the rest of the day goes or doesn't go, right, can really be so mindful. And in the more than maybe you can teach ourselves or teach our patients how to, like you said, be able to name that emotion mainly that would be a tool for them to like self-regulate so that they can do whatever tasks they have on file throughout the day.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: Yeah. And I mean, that's certainly something that, that is a big part of eating disorder treatment, you know, in going through therapy or even in, um, with dieticians, like talking about that emotional connection and what it is that you're feeling when you're making a decision, because it plays such a huge role.

And, and like you said, the body's going to get what it is. That is so true in an eating disorder like that perpetuates eating disorders because when you are restricted calorically, your brain will focus on food all the time, because it wants you to eat? Unfortunately that's a negative feedback loop because then it, the person's, you know, mind over matter is like, well, I'm going to restrict food further and it just creates this spiral, but it's, I mean, it's so true.

The body's going to get what it needs and we have to be able to draw out what is the underlying issue here and how can we feed that issue and fix that issue, or at least learn to manage it.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And like, I always explain this to my patients too, with diabetes. I'm like, look, I know you want to go eat sugar. And I know you're like wanting to like punish yourself for that because you know that your sugar is high, but. Your body doesn't know that your blood sugar is high. Like your organs are not getting it. Your A1C is above nine. It's not going through. So of course it's asking you get some food out here. Right? And so when you explain it to them at that level, Then they understand, and they're not punishing themselves or not restricting themselves or doing X, Y, and Z. Right. And so now it's not their behavior. It's not their brain telling them to do whatever it's again, understanding that there. So these other mechanisms.

The body's trying to save you, not trying to sabotage you, but it almost feels like it is sabotaging you. And like you said, things that we do is unfortunately become habits. Right? And sometimes they become, you don't realize, so the body's going to use. Good or bad habits and theirs, because they're still going to support you somehow.

And so it's in being mindful and being able to get to a provider like yourself, who's holistic and can see you. And like you said, you have more time. It's not just like, okay, your time's up. Great. See you next time. Right. Where you have a little bit more time to then be able to spend with them and tease out where it is that they might be sabotaging unaware. Right. Because it's not like we purposely wake up and we're like, how can I make my life harder today? Like nobody does that. Right. So, yeah. So this has been such an amazing conversation. Like tell me where can people who are in Houston have the privilege to come work with you. Tell us all the things.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: My practice is located near the Heights in Houston. My practice is called Vida family medicine, and my website is Vidafamilydpc.com. I'm on Instagram and tick talk @Rebecca Behrens MD. And I actually treat patients from all over Texas. I have quite a few patients who don't live in the Houston area and they come see me a couple times a year, and we do a lot of things virtually.

So even outside of Houston, I can still take care of you here in Texas.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: That's amazing. That's so good. Now, what are your like big goals in the next two or three years? Or if you want to share a dream with us? There's no, there's no police here. You can, you can dream with us. Tell us.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: So, you know, I, when I first opened my practice, I had a mindset of I'm going to get to X number of patients and take care of them and do primary care and it's going to be great. And I'm really starting to feel pulled towards these patients who really struggled with the healthcare system. Particularly people who have recovered from, or are recovering from an eating disorder.

like I said, I never set out to treat eating disorders. It was not something that I thought was in my life path, but. Patients appeared in front of me who had it. Whether they were attracted to see me for some way. Like they knew that I would understand, or I was able to draw it out of them because I have, I don't know.

But, I'm feeling a pull towards that. So I'm not really sure what my practice directions are going to go, but I'm, my goal has always been to try to provide access to health care to people who are underserved in the space. And these patients certainly are because it is very hard to find a doctor who understands all that complexity, or if not understands has the time who address it.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. That's, that's such a amazing, niche that doing. And I think I relate to so much that you're saying like, again, and right now in my practice, it is family medicine. I treat a lot of people with ADHD, with diabetes, with anxiety and depression. I obviously I have ADHD. I don't have all the other stuff. But because agan. I, feel like I can relate to everything and I can see the correlations. It's like, they're drawn to me. Right. And I think that now I'm able to, and probably you too, you're able to relate to them so well, because that wound has healed. It's no longer open. And so you're able to speak from a healed wound and you're able to see.

Past, and you're able to, like, before they even tell you, like, I can complete that sentence for you because you have had that, or you have been coached through that or gone through therapy for that, or, or you've done X, Y, and Z. And so I think it it's just that people can come to the people they feel comfortable with.

And like you said, you just know which question to ask, because that's the question you wish somebody would have asked you right? Yeah. So it's such, such an amazing thing. So what are you going to do for fun in the next year or three years? You tell us all the things come on.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: So my fun is, I like to sew, i sew clothes for myself. I don't sew for other people, people always ask if I'm going to make like clothes for my kids and I'm just like, it takes way too long. And then to grow out of them, I don't know about that, but I like to sew, and I really am hoping that I'll be able to make some more time for that and go, my practice has only been open for about two years.

So it's been a busy two years and it's been a COVID two years. So there hasn't been a lot of time, but I'm hoping to make some more time for that. And, Yeah. Just, you know, enjoying time with my husband and my kids and that's my fun.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Awesome. So you heard it guys, you need to make sure you follow her, tell us again, the website or your handle so that way they can reach out to you.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: Yeah, my Instagram and Tik TOK are both @RebeccaBehrensMD and my website is Vida VIDAfamilyDPC.com

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: awesome. So this is the last part, and I always joke around, you know, we have ADHD over here that people who are listening and sometimes we tune out. So if you just started listening, like right this second, like what is one little nugget that you would be like, yes, this sums it up , or this is what I want you to walk away with.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: I think what I want people to walk away with is: whether you're a physician or a patient taking those eating symptoms that you're feeling seriously, not feeling stigmatized, talking about them because it's so life-changing to not have an eating disorder anymore. And when you're going through it, you feel like it's never going to end.

But if you are feeling any of those symptoms about like discomfort around food restriction, bingeing purging, Please just talk to someone about it and get the right kind of help because it is life changing.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Thank you. You heard it get the right type of help. It's life-changing and she taking patients, all of Texas. So please reach out and definitely remember the holistic approach. And remember that, you know, you need to be your own advocate. Nobody can read your mind. And unfortunately, even when we do advocate for ourselves, the other person on the receiving end might not know how to help us. So it's okay to go get a second or third or fourth opinion because in doing that, you keep advocating for yourself and then the right person is going to hear you and it's going to see you.

And it, it is going to be life changing. So don't give up, don't wait, 10 years. Like I did, you know, be an advocate. Then you can turn around and tell your story and help those around you.

Well, thank you so much, Dr. Rebecca Berens. This was such a delightful conversation and I am so happy that we had it.

Dr. Rebecca Berens: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: As someone who understands that time is our most valuable asset. I am so honored that you have shared your time with me. Please click the subscribe button and join my Facebook group: Beyond ADHD, A Physician's Perspective so that you never missed an opportunity to create time at will. Do share this podcast with your friends they too can can learn to live life and stay in their own lane.

Link to my website to register: 

Transformation Physician Group Coaching

About Dr. Rebecca Berens

Dr. Berens is a family physician and IBCLC. She grew up in the Houston area and attended Baylor College of Medicine. Her family medicine residency was at Georgetown University/Providence Hospital. After working for several years at an FQHC in South Philadelphia, she returned to Houston and shortly after opened her private practice. She treats individuals and families of all ages but specializes in women's health and breastfeeding medicine. She takes a holistic approach to her patients' care and takes patient autonomy very seriously- she works together with her patients to help them meet their health goals. She suffered from an eating disorder while in college and medical school, and her recovery has greatly informed her practice. She takes a Health at Every Size (TM) approach with her patients and works with many patients who are recovering from or have recovered from eating disorders. She is currently a member of IAEDP and is pursuing CEDS certification.

Website: vidafamilydpc.com

Email: info@vidafamilydpc.com

Instagram: vidafamilymedicine

Facebook: vidafamilymedicine