The Spike Report might just as well be doing an addiction-and-psychopathology special edition today, given these three items:

A physician and reformed righteous eater has coined the term Orthorexia Nervosa ‘as a label for those who push itnerest in normal healthy food to dangerous extremes.’ From a strict psychodiagnostic perspective, I’m not sure the term is necessary, since other psychopathological labels already exist to capture this obsessive compulsive condition well. But I’m glad someone is getting the word out!

And while we’re on the topic of addiction, oh man, I couldn’t believe this blink.

‘Mainline Lady, a new Dutch glossy magazine for female drug addicts, is

perhaps the ultimate in heroin chic.

Stuffed with tips on fashion, sex, beauty and health, the stockintrade of women’s journals the

world over, the new magazine bears a passing resemblance to its more staid sisters.

But Mainline Lady, financed by the Dutch Health Ministry, is no mainstream publication.

Its fashion model is Shauna, a tattooed recovering addict. The sex section recounts recollections of

a junkie prostitute. The beauty rubric counsels on countering druginduced dry skin, and “Dear

Doctor” deals with HIV hazards for syringe users.

Wijnie, a 38-year-old cocaine and heroin addict from Amsterdam, gets a hair and face

makeover. An HIV-positive former convict talks about her experiences in prison.

The magazine is the brainchild of the Mainline foundation, a 10-year-old, non-governmental

organisation that works to improve the health and quality of life of drug users. “Female users are

not just skinny hags. They have lots of interests, and that’s what we wanted to reflect in the

magazine,” says editor-in-chief, Jasperine Schupp.’ The Age

Finally, Spike pointed me toward this.

“Boomers’ Newest Fad: Self-Loathing.

At the Big Five-Oh, the Woodstock Generation Changes Its

Tune.” International Herald Tribune