Monday, March 25, 2024

What Are Treatments For Eating Disorders

Don't Miss

Reach Out For Support

Eating Disorder Treatment

Once youve decided to make a change, opening up about the problem is an important step on the road to recovery. It can feel scary or embarrassing to seek help for an eating disorder, so its important to choose someone who will be supportive and truly listen without judging you or rejecting you. This could be a close friend or family member or a youth leader, teacher, or school counselor you trust. Or you may be more comfortable confiding in a therapist or doctor.

Choose the right time and place. There are no hard and fast rules for telling someone about your eating disorder. But be mindful about choosing the right time and placeideally somewhere private where you wont be rushed or interrupted.

Starting the conversation. This can be the hardest part. One way to start is by simply saying, Ive got something important to tell you. Its difficult for me to talk about this, so it would mean a lot if youd be patient and hear me out. From there, you may want to talk about when your eating disorder started, the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors involved, and how the disorder has impacted you.

Be patient. Your friend or family member will have their own emotional reaction to learning about your eating disorder. They may feel shocked, helpless, confused, sad, or even angry. They may not know how to respond or help you. Give them time to digest what youre telling them. Its also important to educate them about your specific eating disorder.

Need to talk to someone?

Orthorexia Is A Cluster Of Food

  • Eating only foods regarded as healthy.
  • Relying only on “natural” products to treat an illness.
  • Finding more pleasure in eating “correctly” rather than enjoying the tastes and textures of a variety of foods.
  • Although orthorexia is not a recognized diagnosis, it does – like other forms of disordered eating – lead to an obsessive focus on food. People with orthorexia experience emotional satisfaction when they stick to their goals, but intense despair when they fail to do so. Weight is commonly used as a measure of their success. Their behaviours and beliefs can lead to social isolation and ill health. If weight loss compromises health and body dissatisfaction plays a part, orthorexia may become anorexia nervosa.
  • What Is The Treatment For Anorexia

    Emergency care for anorexia may be needed in some extreme cases where dehydration, malnutrition, kidney failure, or an irregular heartbeat may pose imminent risk to life.

    Emergency or not, treatment of anorexia is challenging because most people with the disorder deny they have a problem — or are so terrified of becoming overweight that they may oppose efforts to help them gain a normal weight. Like all eating disorders, anorexia requires a comprehensive treatment plan that is adjusted to meet the needs of each patient.

    Goals of treatment include restoring the person to a healthy weight, treating emotional issues such as low self-esteem, correcting distorted thinking patterns, and developing long-term behavioral changes. Treatment most often involves a combination of the following treatment methods:

    Read Also: Serotonin And Eating Disorders

    How Are Eating Disorders Managed Or Treated

    Treatments for eating disorders vary depending on the type and your specific needs. Even if you dont have a diagnosed eating disorder, an expert can help you address and manage food-related issues. Treatments include:

    • Psychotherapy: A mental health professional can determine the best psychotherapy for your situation. Many people with eating disorders improve with cognitive behavioral therapy . This form of therapy helps you understand and change distorted thinking patterns that drive behaviors and emotions.
    • Maudsley approach: This form of family therapy helps parents of teenagers with anorexia. Parents actively guide a childs eating while they learn healthier habits.
    • Medications: Some people with eating disorders have other conditions, like anxiety or depression. Taking antidepressants or other medications can improve these conditions. As a result, your thoughts about yourself and food improve.
    • Nutrition counseling: A registered dietitian with training in eating disorders can help improve eating habits and develop nutritious meal plans. This specialist can also offer tips for grocery shopping, meal planning and preparation.

    The best treatment approach is often a combination of all of these professionals working together to obtain a comprehensive treatment to address the physical, mental and behavioral aspects.

    Talking Treatments For Eating Problems

    Treatment For Eating Disorders

    Like some other mental health problems, you might be offered talking treatments for eating problems.

    The following treatments are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence . It produces guidelines on best practice in healthcare.

    Read more about the NICE recommendations for treating eating problems.

    Cognitive behavioural therapy for eating disorders

    This form of is specifically adapted to treat eating disorders. It may be offered for anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder.

    • For anorexia, you should be offered up to 40 sessions. You should have twice weekly sessions in the first two or three weeks.
    • For bulimia, you should be offered at least 20 sessions. You may be offered twice weekly sessions at first.
    • For binge eating disorder, you should be offered group CBT sessions at first. If you’d prefer individual therapy or find the sessions unhelpful, tell your therapist or doctor.

    “Cognitive behavioural therapy really helped me to change the distorted thoughts flying around my head and move on from my eating disorder.”

    Family therapy

    Family therapy means working through issues with your family and the support of a therapist. It’s commonly offered to people with anorexia, especially younger people.

    You might explore situations that could relate to underlying issues of your eating problem. It can help your family understand your eating problem and how to support you.

    See our pages on talking treatments for more information.

    Accessing talking treatments

    Don’t Miss: What Is Feretrophobia

    How Can I Prevent An Eating Disorder

    If eating disorders run in your family, being aware of the warning signs is a good first step to catching the problem early. Prompt treatment can break unhealthy eating patterns before they become harder to overcome. You can also reduce the risks of an eating disorder by getting treatment for problems like depression, anxiety and OCD.

    Be a positive role model for your family, eating health food and avoiding talking about food as good or bad. Do not diet, talk about dieting or make negative comments about your body.

    Mistrust Between Everyone Involved

    Patients who are not motivated dont trust treatment providers, insurance providers may not trust that treatment teams are being honest about patient progress, and treatment teams may question whether insurance companies truly want whats best for the patient or are more concerned about the bottom line. All of this makes communication difficult, tense and sometimes antagonistic.

    So, how do those attempting to advocate to insurance to cover treatment for eating disorders effectively work with insurance carriers? I spoke with Chelsey Sorensen, a utilization review specialist with Castlewood Treatment Centers in St. Louis, Missouri. She provides a great deal of information on getting better coverage for treatment for eating disorders.

    ED Hope: What information do insurance companies take into account when considering coverage for eating disorders?

    Chelsey: When obtaining initial authorization for eating disorders, insurance is, of course, looking for medical instability as a result of eating disorder behaviors. However, clients labs and vitals do not always reflect the abnormalities which necessitate RTC treatment.

    ED Hope: So what do you do then?

    With 24hr supervision and care, it is somewhat easy to interrupt the binge/ purge cycle as bathrooms and cabinets are all locked. So, insurance can be quick to reflect they have not binged and purged in a week, they must be ready for a lower level of care.

    ED Hope: How do you respond to companies pushing for a lower level of care?

    Also Check: Pheritriphobia

    Medications Used To Treat Eating Disorders

    Recovery from an eating disorder is challenging. If you or a loved one has an eating disorder, you may be wondering: Can medication help? The answer is complicated. Unlike most other mental health disorders that can be treated successfully by medication, eating disorders have not been found to be as responsive to medicine. However, some medications may be helpful for treating eating disorders and other co-occurring illnesses.

    For eating disorders, food is the primary medicine, along with therapy to help distorted thoughts surrounding food, weight, eating, and body image. In some cases, psychiatric medication can make therapy more successful. Many people with eating disorders also struggle with anxiety and depression and medication may help with those symptoms.

    A thorough diagnostic evaluation with a psychiatrist is always recommended before beginning any regimen of psychiatric medication. Among other things, it can be important to determine whether anxiety and mood symptoms came before the eating disorder or could be symptoms of malnutrition.

    Integrating Research And Practiceopportunities And Challenges

    Treatment for Eating Disorders

    Opportunities

    The recommendations and strategies aimed at bringing about core attitudinal shifts in views about what constitutes valid evidence are among the most important steps in the AED Guidelines. The Guidelines support a broadened definition of evidence outlined in the American Psychological Association’s Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice . This includes multiple types of evidence that contribute to effective clinical practice and multiple sources . The expanded definition creates opportunities for clinicians to contribute to the knowledge base and for research to address questions that cannot be answered via RCTs. This lays the groundwork for vital clinicianresearcher collaborations to facilitate efforts to develop clinically-relevant, applicable research and to determine the effectiveness of EST.

    Furthermore, this shift to a broader definition of reliable evidence opens the door to clinically-driven qualitative research that can contribute valuable information and data about: what treatments clinicians are using in their practices their effectiveness relative to EST how treatment decisions are made and why and how these decisions influence the quality of the treatment. At the time of writing, we have very little information about what aspects or components of ED treatment actually result in positive change in the patient’s quality of life or symptomatology.

    Challenges

    Don’t Miss: What Is Phobia Mean

    Maudsley Anorexia Nervosa Treatment For Adults

    MANTRA involves talking to a therapist in order to understand what’s causing your eating disorder. It focuses on what’s important to you and helps you to change your behaviour when you’re ready.

    You can involve your family or carers if you think it would be helpful.

    You should be offered 20 sessions. The first 10 should be weekly, with the next 10 scheduled to suit you.

    What Are Eating Disorders

    Eating disorders are serious, biologically influenced medical illnesses marked by severe disturbances to ones eating behaviors. Although many people may be concerned about their health, weight, or appearance from time to time, some people become fixated or obsessed with weight loss, body weight or shape, and controlling their food intake. These may be signs of an eating disorder.

    Eating disorders are not a choice. These disorders can affect a persons physical and mental health. In some cases, they can be life-threatening. With treatment, however, people can recover completely from eating disorders.

    Also Check: Side Effects Of Prestiq

    Can Eating Disorders Be Cured

    Treating an eating disorder is a lot like treating addiction and other mental and behavioral health issues. Once youve slipped into a lifestyle you cant control, youll always be at risk of a relapse. Former patients with eating disorders can easily revert back into their old lifestyle because their condition involves a very routine human behavior.

    Thats why its important to resist becoming complacent in recovery, even when your disorder has been in remission for a long time. If you or a loved one has struggled with your eating habits in the past, dont forget it or feel like you can slip back into old habits just this once. Just like people in recovery from substance abuse, you may only be one day away from where you started.

    Many people choose to rely on a support group to remind them where theyve been and the strategies theyve developed in their sobriety . The good news is that since eating disorders are so common, there are plenty of options for local and regional group meetings to meet people in similar places to where youve been and where you are now.

    Its also important that you understand the signs of an eating disorder, even if youve never dealt with it in your own life or that of a loved one. As we mentioned previously, people hide eating disorders out of shame. Anyone in your life could be struggling with their mental health its important to understand how to provide support.

    Intensive Outpatient Eating Disorders Treatment

    Eating Disorder Treatment

    This level of treatment is designed for men and women who do need more support than outpatient treatment but still have some flexibility to remain in school or work.

    Programs at this level usually meet at individualized times for the participant, ranging from 2-5 days a week. Treatment options typically include individualized therapy, personalized nutrition consultation, topic-focused groups, and/or family support groups.

    You May Like: Topographic Depression Definition

    What Causes An Eating Disorder

    Eating disorders are believed to result from a combination of biological vulnerability, environmental, and social factors. A useful way of thinking about what causes an eating disorder is to distinguish predisposing, precipitating and perpetuating factors that contribute to its onset and maintenance.

    The High Cost Of Treatment

    Outpatient treatment usually involves sessions with a registered dietitian and a therapist or psychologist on a weekly basis, as well as regular appointments with a medical doctor and/or psychiatrist. This can easily add up to between $500-1,000 a month. Each level of care beyond that, which include intensive outpatient, partial hospitalization only increases the cost.

    Also Check: Pristiq For Panic Disorder

    Treatment Of Eating Disorders

    4.1General Aspects

    Details on the treatment of eating disorder are given in the practice guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association which can be obtained through the internet . Antidepressants such as serotonin re-uptake inhibitors can be beneficial in the therapy of BN and BED. Their efficacy in AN has not clearly been established.

    4.2Psychological Therapies

    There exists a wealth of data on the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy in BN . CBT has also been shown in some studies to be effective in BED. Although there are several controlled studies on the therapy of AN, research in the past two decades has focused on BN and BED and further controlled studies on the treatment of AN are needed. Table 2 shows major areas of intervention for anorexic and bulimic eating disorders. Most controlled trials on psychological therapy have focused on dealing with dysfunctional, irrational thoughts and beliefs using cognitive behavior therapy or have focused on directly modifying the eating behavior. However, it has also been shown that other forms of therapies such as nutritional management or interpersonal therapy which are completely different can be effective treatments for BN.

    Table 2. Goals and interventions in the therapy of AN and BN

    Areas of deficit

    David M. Garner, Linda E. Myerholtz, in, 1998

    Tip : Develop A Balanced Relationship With Food

    Researchers Testing New Treatment To Combat Binge Eating Disorders

    Even though food itself is not the problem, developing a healthier relationship with it is essential to your recovery. Most people with eating disorders struggle with issues of control when it comes to foodoften fluctuating between strict rules and chaos. The goal is to find a balance.

    Let go of rigid eating rules. Strict rules about food and eating fuel eating disorders, so its important to replace them with healthier ones. For example, if you have a rule forbidding all desserts, change it into a less rigid guideline such as, I wont eat dessert every day. You wont gain weight by enjoying an occasional ice cream or cookie.

    Dont diet. The more you restrict food, the more likely it is that youll become preoccupied, and even obsessed, with it. So instead of focusing on what you shouldnt eat, focus on nutritious foods that will energize you and make your body strong. Think of food as fuel for your body. Your body knows when the tank is low, so listen to it. Eat when youre truly hungry, then stop when youre full.

    Stick to a regular eating schedule. You may be used to skipping meals or fasting for long stretches. But when you starve yourself, food becomes all you think about. To avoid this preoccupation, try to eat every three hours. Plan ahead for meals and snacks, and dont skip!

    Don’t Miss: Anxiety Disorder Webmd

    Stereotypes Contribute To The Risk

    The typical person with an eating disorder doesn’t fit society’s image of the thin, affluent, white, cisgender woman. Statistically, she is an outlier.

    Unfortunately, the same biases that affect the average person also affect mental health professionals. It’s widely acknowledged that the archetypal patient described here is the eating disorder treatment industry’s intended market, for whom treatment is tailored. Consequently, those who don’t benefit from a program tailored to women with anorexia or bulimia â including trans people â aren’t diagnosed or treated effectively.

    Anorexia nervosa is the least common eating disorder diagnosis, according to the NIMH. The most common is called Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder or OSFED, formerly called Eating Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified or EDNOS. OSFED includes some of the symptoms and behaviors of anorexia or bulimia but doesn’t fully fit either diagnosis.

    Contrary to the stereotype, eating disorders are more common among higher-weight individuals, according to May 2015 research in the âJournal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatryâ and May 2017 research in âEuropean Eating Disorders Reviewâ. One in three people with a diagnosed eating disorder are men.

    Related Reading

    Inpatient / Hospital Treatment Eating Disorder Treatment

    This level of treatment offers a continuum of care 24 hours a day in a hospital setting. The primary focus of this level of care if medical stabilization and interruption of weight loss, with typical stays less than 3 weeks.

    Once the individual is considered to be medically stable, they are usually discharged to a residential treatment center for ongoing care. Find the right eating disorder treatments center in our directory.

    You May Like: Pristiq Uses

    More articles

    Popular Articles