Not Really About Food - Treatment Approaches

Eating disorders may present as an avoidance of food, as in anorexia nervosa, compulsive eating or bulimia and purging; but regardless of the manifestation of the disorder, all are destructive and all represent a greater underlying condition, very much like an addiction. Food is being used, or avoided, as a way to manipulate control over an environment, and create false pleasure through unhealthy consumptions. Because food is being used as an answer to the problems of life, much like an alcoholic might drink to forget their troubles, the only way to offer successful and long term treatment of benefit is to educate the patient about the reasons why they abuse food, and also encourage self awareness, contemplation, and professional therapeutic guidance.

Available Treatments for an Eating Disorder

Eating disorders may be treated either on an outpatient or inpatient basis, depending on the severity of the condition. If the disorder has progressed to the point that the health effects of the condition immediately threaten the health and wellbeing of the patient, then the first step to recovery should be medical treatment in an effort to restore health, and possibly restore body weight.

Some people may benefit from outpatient therapy and counseling, but anyone with a serious problem may want to consider a more comprehensive residential rehab facility for the intensive treatment, behavior modification and counseling needed to really break free from the disorder. Whether treated on an inpatient or outpatient basis, the general techniques and strategies of the therapy remain consistent, and only their relative intensity varies.

Individual Therapy

Because an eating disorder is to be considered an addiction, a necessary therapeutic approach to the treatment of this disorder is to discover what causes the compulsion to abuse food, work to resolve the basal issues that influence the disorder, and work with the therapist to develop nutritional strategies, behavioral techniques, and emotional control in the effort to limit the need to abuse food. These therapeutic sessions with an eating disorders professional or psychologist can occur on either an in or outpatient basis, but if the disorder is severe, has been occurring for a long period, or is presenting an imminent health threat, the more intensive counseling of a sequestered rehab facility may be warranted.

Psychiatric Medications

After a psychiatric assessment, medical personnel may recommend that psychiatric therapeutics be prescribed in conjunction with counseling and education, to help minimize the pull to abuse. Anti depressants are commonly used, and SSRI’s have proven very effective in the treatment of bulimia. It is important that medication be used in conjunction with therapy and education, as medication alone is unlikely to offer the patient the necessary resistance to further abuse.

Peer Therapy

An eating disorder can cause a cruel distortion of the mind and even psychical changes in the brain, and this distortion of reality can further provoke abuse. Peer group sessions with other sufferers of eating disorders can enlighten and educate on the shared traumas, compulsions and pain of an eating disorder; and can be a very effective tool in any recovery. Again, these peer sessions can occur while in a rehab facility or on an outpatient basis, but the “compulsory” attendance of these meetings while in a residential rehab facility may be of more benefit  to someone with a serious disorder.

Behavioral Modification

The severity of any addiction is best minimized through the reduction of temptations and triggers to further abuse, and an eating disorder is no exception. Cognitive therapy aims to increase a patient’s awareness of what situations and stresses induce their compulsions and desire to abuse their bodies through food, and how best to minimize exposure to these places, people and stresses in the future.

Nutritional Counseling

When the abused substance is food, it can be important for patients to really understand the implications of food abuse, what may happen to their body during abuse, and to learn the nutritional strategies they’ll need to best minimize the negative affects of the disorder.

Part of nutritional counseling is exposure and consumption of nourishing meals while participating in the rehabilitation process. Food is “IV force fed” only as a very last resort in dangerous situations, and instead patients are encouraged to eat, and monitored on what they actually do and do not consume.