Why is anorexia important




















Treatment of these disorders works to change these thoughts and behaviors, but these changes do not happen immediately — it takes time. They are serious and life-threatening problems. Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder and the mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death for females years old.

Source: www. Recovery is possible. Effective treatment is tailored to the individual that is suffering with the eating disorder. It is often recommended that care be provided by a multidisciplinary team, which may consist of a therapist e.

Medical treatment is another important component of any successful eating disorder treatment program. Many teenagers struggling with eating disorders will have medical concerns as a result of their disorder. For example, an adolescent with anorexia nervosa may be severely underweight and malnourished. She may also have organ damage and other problems resulting from ongoing lack of proper nutrition. The goal of medical treatment during eating disorder recovery is to identify these medical issues and address each one so that the individual can recover both physically and mentally.

Following treatment, many treatment programs offer aftercare services to clients to support them as they return to life outside of the treatment center. These services are designed to provide support to clients as they return to society, so they can reduce their chances of a relapse. Educational services included in teenage eating disorder treatment programs serve a number of purposes. Some of these services are designed to provide the adolescents themselves with knowledge and skills they can use to recover from their disorder, while others are designed to provide knowledge and skills to family and friends of adolescents in treatment.

Each of these program components fulfills a different need for clients. When used in the right combination, all of these services will maximize the likelihood of a complete, successful recovery. Education is an integral part of teenage eating disorder treatment for many different reasons. Some of the ways in which education can be used in eating disorder treatment centers are detailed below. One of the most challenging aspects of treating teenagers with eating disorders involves meeting their academic needs.

Many adolescents enrolling in eating disorder treatment programs are missing school in order to get the help they need. However, missing school can lead to additional anxiety and stress for the adolescent, as she must then try to catch up with her peers when she returns to class. Some eating disorder treatment centers offer academic assistance to their clients in order to help them prepare to return to school without as many struggles. At Clementine, for example, all adolescents engage in a personalized education plan while they are enrolled in treatment.

This program begins as soon as the adolescent is admitted and continues throughout treatment. Each day, adolescents in the program work on academic content for two and half hours.

Clementine coordinates all academic programs with parents and schools to ensure that the adolescent can return to school successfully. Referrals to tutors specializing in specific academic areas are also available to adolescents enrolled in eating disorder treatment at Clementine. In addition to using education to make sure adolescents are able to keep up with school work, eating disorder treatment centers are also using education to help clients understand their conditions more thoroughly so that they can cope more effectively when they leave treatment.

Some of the goals of eating disorder education during treatment include:. Through psychotherapy, self-analysis and eating disorder counseling, adolescents are able to learn about the different factors that may have caused them to develop anorexia, bulimia or some other related disorder.

Medical evaluation and treatment of any co-occurring psychiatric or medical conditions is an important component of the treatment plan. The nutritional plan should focus on helping individuals counter anxiety about eating and practice consuming a wide and balanced range of foods of different calorie densities across regularly spaced meals. Addressing body dissatisfaction is also important but this often takes longer to correct than weight and eating behavior.

In the case of severe anorexia nervosa when outpatient treatment is not effective, admission to an inpatient or residential behavioral specialty program may be indicated. Most specialty programs are effective in restoring weight and normalizing eating behavior, although the risk of relapse in the first year following program discharge remains significant.

Bulimia Nervosa. Binge eating is defined as eating a large amount of food in a short period of time associated with a sense of loss of control over what, or how much one is eating.

Binge behavior is usually secretive and associated with feelings of shame or embarrassment. Binges may be very large and food is often consumed rapidly, beyond fullness to the point of nausea and discomfort. These can include fasting, vomiting, laxative misuse or compulsive exercise. As in anorexia nervosa, persons with bulimia nervosa are excessively preoccupied with thoughts of food, weight or shape which negatively affect, and disproportionately impact, their self-worth. Individuals with bulimia nervosa can be slightly underweight, normal weight, overweight or even obese.

Family members or friends may not know that a person has bulimia nervosa because they do not appear underweight and because their behaviors are hidden and may go unnoticed by those close to them. Possible signs that someone may have bulimia nervosa include:.

Bulimia can lead to rare but potentially fatal complications including esophageal tears, gastric rupture, and dangerous cardiac arrhythmias. Medical monitoring in cases of severe bulimia nervosa is important to identify and treat any possible complications.

Outpatient cognitive behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa is the treatment with the strongest evidence. It helps patients normalize their eating behavior and manage thoughts and feelings that perpetuate the disorder. Antidepressants can also be helpful in decreasing urges to binge and vomit.

Binge Eating Disorder. As with bulimia nervosa, people with binge eating disorder have episodes of binge eating in which they consume large quantities of food in a brief period, experience a sense of loss of control over their eating and are distressed by the binge behavior. Unlike people with bulimia nervosa however, they do not regularly use compensatory behaviors to get rid of the food by inducing vomiting, fasting, exercising or laxative misuse.

The binge eating is chronic and can lead to serious health complications, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. The diagnosis of binge eating disorder requires frequent binges at least once a week for three months , associated with a sense of lack of control and with three or more of the following features:. As with bulimia nervosa, the most effective treatment for binge eating disorder is cognitive behavioral psychotherapy for binge eating.

Results from a new study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders indicate that all eating disorders carry an increased risk of death. Fortunately, eating disorders are treatable. As with most illnesses, the earlier an eating disorder is detected and treated, the better chance exists for successful recovery.

Mental health screenings offer a confidential way for individuals to learn if they have signs or symptoms of an eating disorder and how to connect with local resources for more information and help.

The public can take a free, educational screening to learn if their symptoms are consistent with an eating disorder. While the screenings are not diagnostic, they can help someone who may be struggling with an eating disorder start a conversation with someone they trust, and seek the help they need. Eating disorders are serious conditions that require attention from a medical professional.



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