Posts Tagged ‘Treatment’

Treatment For Eating Disorders in Adolescents

One of the first things to do in seeking treatment for eating disorders for adolescents is to admit to yourself that it’s possible that your adolescent could be suffering from an eating disorder. You might think you’re a pretty open-minded person, but it can be very hard, even for a free-thinking individual, to accept that your teenager has an eating disorder.

This is because parents will often jump to the conclusion that their child’s eating disorder is all their fault, and while it is possible that they contributed (either through well-meaning advice on a child’s weight, neglect, or even abuse), there are other reasons that a child could develop an eating disorder that are out of your control.

The reason all of this is important is because you need to know how you contributed to the disorder if you want to help your child recover. A parent’s involvement in recovery is instrumental in helping a child who has been suffering from an eating disorder. Once you suspect that your child has been exhibiting symptoms of an eating disorder––anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating, as examples––you should immediately seek professional help for your adolescent.

The treatment for eating disorders in adolescents tends to vary by location. If you live in a large city, there are probably large clinics and hospitalization programs to facilitate a positive change for your adolescent. In some cases, you’ll want the child to live in a residential treatment facility where their progress can be monitored 24/7, but this can be disruptive to a child’s social life, family life, and academic life, so this should probably be a last resort option. Otherwise, a child can simply seek treatment around regular activities.

In a smaller town, there are fewer options because licensed therapists who can help your adolescent will literally be fewer and farther between. If you get a therapist to help at your home, make sure that you are not sacrificing the kind of care that the child really needs just to keep him or her from having to go away to a residential treatment facility. The treatment for eating disorders in adolescent has to be tailor-made to each adolescent, so what is necessary for one might be overkill for another. This is why you need professional advice to help you decide what is necessary for your own adolescent child.

While there is no universal recommendation for treatment in adolescents, typically an adolescent will start in an outpatient treatment option with regular medical and mental health visits. If necessary, the adolescent will then proceed to more intensive treatment, but the key is that you not force them into something without gradually determining how they respond to less invasive help. Ultimately, treatment for eating disorders in adolescents should be as noninvasive as possible.

Also, don’t forget how important your role is as a parent in the treatment process. If you have any part in the cause, you have to have a part in the solution. Hopefully you are better acquainted with treatment for eating disorders in adolescents, and you should seek professional help right away if your adolescent is exhibiting any eating disorder symptoms.

Eating disorders and treatment

Eating disorders can express themselves in many, sometimes apparently opposite, ways. This is because eating disorders, like other addictions and compulsive behaviours, are caused by underlying emotional problems, rather than by the food itself.

That is why it is not surprising that some people develop disorders such as anorexia while others struggle with binge eating. Either disorder needs to be treated for the direct harm that misusing food can cause; but effective, lasting treatment requires recognition of the root causes of the behaviours and treatments designed to help overcome these problems.

Anorexia

Most addictive behaviours involve habitual overindulgence in a particular activity. Anorexia nervosa manifests itself in obsessive avoidance of food. Anorexics have an obsession with avoiding weight gain, owing to an unhealthy self-image.  Such extreme self-deprivation is itself dangerous, but anorexia is also symptomatic of a very unhealthy state of mind.

Families of people suffering from anorexia are often alarmed by the obvious damage done to the sufferer’s body. Proper treatment will address physical concerns as an urgent priority while paying no less attention to the mental anxieties that cause the damaging behaviour.

Binge eating

Some people suffer from an addiction to unhealthy eating behaviours, like compulsive overeating disorder. Binge eating often, although not always, leads to unhealthy weight gain.

Food addiction and other compulsive eating disorders are characteristic of an emotional need or some other underlying psychological difficulty. This can in turn be exacerbated by the feeling of shame felt after overeating.

Food addicts sometimes need education about healthy eating plans and balanced nutrition. But ultimately empowering addicts to control their eating behaviour will need treatment.

Treatment for eating disorders

Eating disorders, whether anorexia, overeating disorder or other common eating disorders like bulimia, need to be treated by professionals.The first challenge is often to persuade the sufferer that he or she has a problem. Anorexics, for example, may believe they are simply taking the necessary steps to combat perceived deficiencies in their body image. It is precisely this kind of obsessive thinking that needs to be treated in order to help anorexics in the long term.

People suffering from food disorders will benefit from one-on-one counselling and group therapy. A qualified therapist can help the patient to work through obsessions and compulsions and to directly address the psychological problems underlying these behaviours.

As with other addictions, a 12 Step recovery programme may be incorporated into the treatment regimen. This can be especially helpful with the self-esteem issues that are at the core of many eating disorders.

Healthy living

A diet plan may also be an important part of recovery and a useful way of maintaining balanced eating behaviours. A good diet is also a necessary part of physical recovery for the undernourishment or malnutrition that sometimes accompanies eating disorders.

Physical exercise and a balanced, healthy lifestyle can also contribute to recovery and help sufferers find the confidence and self-esteem to return to their normal lives as productive members of society.

Eating disorders indicate serious psychological problems and can have grave physical health consequences. They may require extended, intensive treatment, and for this reason a period of inpatient treatment is sometimes recommended.

 

Binge Eating Disorder – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Binge eating involves more than just eating a lot. With binge eating, a person feels out of control and powerless to stop eating while he or she is doing it. That’s why binge eating is also called compulsive overeating.

People with a binge eating problem may overeat when they feel stressed, upset, hurt, or angry. Many find it comforting and soothing to eat, but after a binge they are likely to feel guilty and sad about the out-of-control eating. Binge eating is often a mixed-up way of dealing with or avoiding difficult emotions.

Food is important for growth and development, but we do not always eat to satisfy our hunger. Most of us overeat from time to time, and we may feel bloated or excessively full as a result. Occasional over-indulgence does not constitute an eating disorder, and binge eating has only recently been recognized as an eating disorder in its own right.

Causes of Binge Eating Disorder

• Depression. As many as half of all people with binge eating disorder are depressed or have been depressed in the past.

• Dieting. Some people binge after skipping meals, not eating enough food each day, or avoiding certain kinds of food.

• Coping skills. Studies suggest that people with binge eating may have trouble handling some of their emotions. Many people who are binge eaters say that being angry, sad, bored, worried, or stressed can cause them to binge eat.

Complications

People with binge eating disorder can get sick due to a lack of proper nutrition. Binging episodes usually include foods that are high in sugar and/or salt, but low in healthier nutrients.

People with binge eating disorder are usually very upset by their binge eating and may become very depressed.

People who are obese and also have binge eating disorder are at risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol levels, gallbladder disease, heart disease, and certain types of cancer.

On the other hand, people with binge-eating disorder often have numerous behavioral and emotional signs and symptoms. These include:

• Eating until the point of discomfort or pain

• Eating much more food during a binge episode than during a normal meal or snack

• Eating faster during binge episodes

• Feeling that their eating behavior is out of control

• Frequent dieting without weight loss

• Recurrent episodes of binge eating

• Frequently eating alone

Treatment

Cognitive behavior therapy – Focuses on the thoughts that envelop food and eating. One of the main goals is for you to become more self-aware of your relationship to food. Your therapist may ask you to keep a food diary or a journal of your thought processes about food.

Psychotherapy can involve a significant time and financial commitment. You are worth it! Particularly if you are struggling with other issues (sexual abuse, depression, substance use, relationship problems) psychotherapy can be very helpful in addressing not only your disordered eating, but also your overall emotional health and happiness.

Behavior therapy – Uses rewards and repercussions to change the behaviors of bingeing, compulsive overeating, and emotional eating. The behavior therapist teaches you to recognize triggers for bingeing and to interrupt emotional eating episodes by substituting relaxation and other coping strategies.