What Are Eating Disorders?
Approximately 12 million Americans have an eating disorder. No matter how the eating disorder begins, it significantly disrupts the lives of the sufferers as well as the lives of their family and friends. Recovery from eating disorders is possible with adequate care and treatment. Individuals faced with these illnesses are encouraged to seek help from specialized eating disorder centers.
The most common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Often these conditions do not occur in isolation; in fact, they can occur in conjunction with other psychiatric problems, such as mood disorders (for example, depression), anxiety disorders (for example, obsessive-compulsive disorder) or impulse control disorders (for example, compulsive buying disorder). When multiple disorders take place at the same time, they are known as co-occurring disorders.
Anorexia Nervosa (AN)
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that involves a person drastically limiting the amount of food he or she eats. It results in starvation and often inability to maintain a healthy body weight. Individuals with this disorder may have an intense fear of gaining weight, even if they are underweight. Symptoms of anorexia can include eating noticeably less food or exercising excessively, distorted body image, preoccupation with food, flat mood, or lack of emotion. Physical symptoms of anorexia can include blotchy or yellow skin, confusion or slow thinking, extreme sensitivity to weather, irregular heart rhythms, end to menstruation, poor memory, significant weight loss and wasting of muscle mass. In severe cases, anorexia treatment is most effective when the patient is hospitalized and treated in a specialized eating disorders clinic.
Bulimia nervosa (BN)
A person is diagnosed with bulimia nervosa if he or she regularly overeats (binges on food) and feels a loss of control during the binge episodes. The patient will then use a variety of methods – such as vomiting, laxatives abuse or compulsive exercise – to purge the food in order to counteract the effects of the overeating and to prevent weight gain. For many bulimia patients, their body weight remains normal to the casual observer, but they still might consider themselves overweight. An individual suffering with bulimia nervosa may also weigh themselves frequently, have a distorted, excessively negative body image, be constantly preoccupied with body shape and weight, and possibly develop tooth decay from excessive vomiting. Much like anorexia, bulimia treatment in severe cases may require hospitalization.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
Patients diagnosed with binge eating disorder will eat unusually large amounts of food and feel out of control during those overeating episodes (binges). Unlike individuals with bulimia nervosa, individuals who binge eat will not purge following their binges, leading to consistent weight gain. Symptoms of binge eating can include a person eating more quickly during a binge or eating until they are uncomfortably full. Binge eaters may also eat when they are not hungry or eat alone because they are embarrassed of the amounts of food they eat. Often patients are disgusted with themselves and feel depressed or guilty after they overeat. In rare cases, patients with binge eating disorder might require hospitalization especially when their BED is co-morbid with other psychiatric disorders.
Treatment
The best eating disorder treatment centers in the United States utilize a multi-faceted approach to treating people suffering from anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder. Effective treatment begins with an in-depth diagnostic assessment that helps the clinician, the patient and the family to create together a treatment plan that may include a combination of medication management, individual and group therapies, and nutritional and exercise support. After the assessment, the treatment plan is continuously reassessed and adjusted as the patient progresses through their treatment. The goal of the eating disorders treatment program is to empower the patient to control their illness, to establish healthier eating habits and to better regulate their mood and anxiety symptoms. With continuous professional support, patients learn alternatives to their self-destructive behaviors and develop an individualized plan to prevent relapses.
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