Eating disorder treatment depends on persons particular disorder and symptoms. Typically, it’s a combination of psychological therapy, nutrition education and sometimes medication. If a person’s life is at risk, then he/she may need hospitalization.
Eating disorders may cause health problems which can lead to serious or life-threatening damage if they go untreated for too long. So, treatment also focuses on identification and elimination of such problems.
Eating disorder treatment not only helps a person to achieve a healthy weight and prevent any medical problems but also helps to fix person’s mental health.
Treatment team may consist of:
A psychologist or a psychiatrist
Looks at the disordered eating behaviors themselves and examines the pathology behind them.
A registered dietitian
Creates a meal plan and provides education on nutrition.
Medical specialists
Treat health problems resulting from an eating disorder.
Healthy eating
One of the main tasks is to help a person return healthy eating habits.
Psychological therapy
Probably this can be considered as the most important component of eating disorder treatment. It helps a person improve his mental health, fix his relationship with food, and eliminate triggers of harmful behavior.
There are different types of therapy, some of them include:
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
Helps people learn how to identify and change destructive or disturbing thought patterns that have a negative influence on behavior and emotions.
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
People learn to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with their inner emotions and, instead, accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that should not prevent them from moving forward in their lives.
Family based treatment (FBT)
Family members help a person restore healthy eating patterns and achieve a healthy weight.
Interpersonal therapy (IPT)
Focuses on your interpersonal relationships and social interactions. The idea is that eating disorder symptoms can be reduced by improving the communication patterns and how people relate to others.
Psychodynamic psychotherapy
The goal is to help a person become aware when unconscious feelings are influencing their behavior, so they can consciously make healthier choices.
Medications
Medications can’t cure an eating disorder. However, certain medications may help control urges to binge or purge or to manage excessive preoccupations with food and diet. Drugs such as antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications may help with symptoms of depression or anxiety, which are frequently associated with eating disorders.
Also, it might be necessary to take medications for physical health problems caused by eating disorder.
Medical care
As it was stated earlier eating disorders can cause serious health problems related to inadequate nutrition, overeating, bingeing and other factors. The type of health problems caused by eating disorders depends on the type and severity of the eating disorder. In many cases, problems caused by an eating disorder require ongoing treatment and monitoring.
Hospitalization
Hospitalization may be necessary if a person has serious physical or mental health problems or if he/she has anorexia and is unable to eat or gain weight. Severe or life-threatening physical health problems that occur with anorexia can be a medical emergency.
It is important to realize that the person himself should be committed to recovery. Otherwise, the whole treatment is useless and there is a high chance of a relapse happening.
Recovery is like a rollercoaster. It has its ups and downs, but it is crucial to be patient. This is a long journey which takes a lot of time but at the end the result is going to be worth it.
Getting treatment for an eating disorder guide:
Seeking professional help
Addressing health problems
Setting up a treatment plan
Improving relationship with yourself
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