|
|
Home  Articles Eating Disorders - Bulimia, Anorexia Treatment for Eating Disorders
|
Treatment for Eating Disorders |
|
|
|
Tuesday, 24 April 2007 |
Therapy for eating disorders should include a multi-disciplinary team of specialists who understand the cognitive, behavioral, emotional, medical and nutritional needs of the patient. The therapist typically coordinates a treatment team that consists of a dietician specializing in eating disorders, a physician who provides medical monitoring and a psychiatrist who prescribes any necessary medications for mood-related disorders. Other physician specialists may be involved if the eating disorder has resulted in medical complications.
Effective treatment will help the patient:
Determine why the eating disorder started
Understand the reasons why the eating disorder exists
Develop coping skills for the feelings or problems the eating disorder copes with
Reach their normal weight range with well-balanced caloric intake
Learn to eat without having to control food, weight or exercise
Stop restricting, bingeing or purging
Develop healthy self-esteem
Accept their normal weight through improved body image
Tolerate uncomfortable emotions
Be more flexible in their thinking and behavior
Face their fears of weight gain and/or being out of control
Resolve underlying issues that contributed to the eating disorder
Treatment for eating disorders is typically a long-term process that can take years. Not only does treatment need to focus on the eating disorder behaviors, most patients have other diagnostic issues, such as depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder or post traumatic stress disorder, that also require treatment. Research shows that, on average, eating disorder patients have at least three other diagnoses in addition to the eating disorder.
A common misconception is that if a patient’s depression, trauma issues, family problems, etc., are resolved the eating disorder will go away on its own. When anorexia or bulimia is diagnosed, it needs to be treated with appropriate psychological interventions. Because they are conditions in and of themselves, regardless of what other problems they are being used to cope with, they need specialized treatment.
|
|
