Treatment Options for Eating Disorders

ADHD

Attention Deficit Disorder is a chronic condition by which it’s afflicted are continually inattentive, hyperactive, and occasionally impulsive. ADHD starts in childhood and often lingers into adulthood. As many as 2 out of every 3 children affected by ADHD continue to have symptoms well into adulthood. This includes inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity – which are the key behaviors of those with ADHD.

Crisis Management

Often characterized by a mental breakdown, crisis management is dealing with extreme situations in an effective manner. People who suffer from this are typically incapable of thinking of practical solutions and will negate the issue at hand. The patient suffering from crisis management tends to need help very early on in the process. This means reaching out to family/friends and contacting a doctor or mental health provider.

Grief & Loss

After loss, some individuals have a difficult time returning to their lives before and require special attention and help. The grieving process is very individualized; there is no actual timetable for it to end. Grief encompasses shock and disbelief, sadness, guilt, anger, and fear.

Stress Management

Dealing with stress and stressful situation with calm, level-headed intentions and charisma. Physical symptoms of stress range from low energy and headaches to chest pain and dry mouth. If left unchecked, ongoing stress can cause serious health issues including depression, cardiovascular disease, obesity, sexual dysfunction, and gastrointestinal problems.

Substance Use Disorders

Abuse, consistent use, or addiction characterizes the plight of substance use disorders. The substance could be interfering with the person’s personal or professional life or even life-threatening. Common Substance Use disorders include Alcohol Use Disorder, Tobacco Use Disorder, and Cannabis Use Disorder. Regardless of the substance, many of the same behaviors are prevalent and require the same course of treatment.

Anger Management

Anger management is dealing with the inability to cope with stressful situations, controlling one’s anger, attitude, and ability to deal with situations productively and responsibly under calm duress. Suppressed anger can also be an underlying cause of anxiety and depression. Doctors suggest deep breathing and positive self-talk as the first steps in helping manage anger.

Chronic Pain Issues

People with issues resulting from medicating chronic pain issues require specialized healing that can come in numerous forms and must be discovered individually with guidance from a trained professional. Chronic pain is often defined as any pain that lasts longer than 12 weeks. Whereas acute pain is a normal sensation that alerts us to possible injury, chronic pain is very different. Chronic pain persists—often for months and sometimes even longer and may be complicated by issues associated with prescription medication.

Impulse Control Disorders

Controlling feelings or actions that are immediate and often reactionary. These individuals need assistance in finding new psychology in dealing with their intense immediacy and needs.  Scientists are still researching the cause of these types of disorders but many think that there are a good handful of factors including physical or biological, psychological or emotional, and cultural or societal issues.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Caused from a moment or moments of extremely stressful situations, environments, and individuals. This disorder can cause the afflicted to avoid people, places, or activities in fear and completely disrupt their personal and professional lives. Not every traumatized person develops ongoing (chronic) or even short-term (acute) PTSD. Not everyone with PTSD has been through a dangerous event. Some experiences, like the sudden, unexpected death of a loved one, can also cause PTSD.

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental disorders marked by feelings of anxiety or loathing. Anxiety is a worry about the future and loathing is a reaction to current happenings. These feelings could manifest in physical forms, such as a faster heart rate or trembling. Disorders in this category include Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Sleep Disorders.

Mood Disorders

Mood disorders refer to a plethora of swinging, bipolar, or mood control disorders. These disorders often ruin relationships and take control of the individual’s free will. About 20% of the U.S. population reports at least one depressive symptom in a given month, and 12% report two or more in a year. Depression is a common feature of mental illness, whatever its nature and origin. People are more easily demoralized by depression and slower to recover if they are withdrawn and unreasonably self-critical or irritable, impulsive, and hypersensitive to loss.

Relational Trauma

Trauma is caused by a personal experience with another individual. Often characterized by mental, verbal, and physical abuse inflicted on the sufferer.  Women experience remarkably high rates of relational trauma including child abuse and neglect and intimate partner violence (IPV) during adulthood, and the childbearing years are no exception.

Personality Disorders

Personality disorders are disorders in which a person may forget who they are or become another person they think they are. It causes major disruptions in their daily lives and relationships. Symptoms of each personality disorder differ and can be either mild or severe. People with personality disorders often have trouble identifying that they have a problem; they believe their thoughts are normal and that it is other people who are to blame. Treatment usually includes talk therapy and sometimes medicine.

Body Image Issues

Body image issues are when an individual sees themselves in an extremely negative light. It could stem from mental and verbal abuse from any age and typically attacks the psyche by focusing on what the sufferer perceives as a flaw.  Researchers have noted that people with body image issues or disordered eating have difficulties with visual processing.

Family Issues

Issues pertaining to family are treated with the help of clinicians who know how to break down communication barriers in relationships in order to fix the problems at hand. Conflicts are a part of family life. A lot of different issues, such as Parenting Issues can lead to conflict, including illness, disability, addiction, job loss, school problems, and marital issues. Listening to one another and actively working to resolve conflicts are key to reinforcing the family.

Relationship Issues

Problems between loved ones typically stemming from communication breakdowns and the inability to compromise or change to make the other person happy. These issues can arise from a couple spending too little – or even too much – time together. They can stem from fighting over the same issues, from insecurities over your future to feeling misunderstood. Money is also a common root of relationship issues.

Sexual Disorders

Sexual disorders are involving sex, perversion, or acts that have nothing to do with sex in the standard definition but have been fetishized and cause a disruption in the individual or society’s regular agenda. Psychotherapy is a common treatment for desire disorders. Treatment focuses on bringing awareness to any unresolved conflicts and how they impact the patient’s life. While improvement is possible, the sexual dysfunction often becomes autonomous and persists, requiring additional techniques. Various hormones have also been studied for the treatment of sexual desire disorders.

ADHD

Attention Deficit Disorder is a chronic condition by which it’s afflicted are continually inattentive, hyperactive, and occasionally impulsive. ADHD starts in childhood and often lingers into adulthood. As many as 2 out of every 3 children affected by ADHD continue to have symptoms well into adulthood. This includes inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity – which are the key behaviors of those with ADHD.

Crisis Management

Often characterized by a mental breakdown, crisis management is dealing with extreme situations in an effective manner. People who suffer from this are typically incapable of thinking of practical solutions and will negate the issue at hand. The patient suffering from crisis management tends to need help very early on in the process. This means reaching out to family/friends and contacting a doctor or mental health provider.

Grief & Loss

After loss, some individuals have a difficult time returning to their lives before and require special attention and help. The grieving process is very individualized; there is no actual timetable for it to end. Grief encompasses shock and disbelief, sadness, guilt, anger, and fear.

Stress Management

Dealing with stress and stressful situation with calm, level-headed intentions and charisma. Physical symptoms of stress range from low energy and headaches to chest pain and dry mouth. If left unchecked, ongoing stress can cause serious health issues including depression, cardiovascular disease, obesity, sexual dysfunction, and gastrointestinal problems.

Substance Use Disorders

Abuse, consistent use, or addiction characterizes the plight of substance use disorders. The substance could be interfering with the person’s personal or professional life or even life-threatening. Common Substance Use disorders include Alcohol Use Disorder, Tobacco Use Disorder, and Cannabis Use Disorder. Regardless of the substance, many of the same behaviors are prevalent and require the same course of treatment.

Anger Management

Anger management is dealing with the inability to cope with stressful situations, controlling one’s anger, attitude, and ability to deal with situations productively and responsibly under calm duress. Suppressed anger can also be an underlying cause of anxiety and depression. Doctors suggest deep breathing and positive self-talk as the first steps in helping manage anger.

Chronic Pain Issues

People with issues resulting from medicating chronic pain issues require specialized healing that can come in numerous forms and must be discovered individually with guidance from a trained professional. Chronic pain is often defined as any pain that lasts longer than 12 weeks. Whereas acute pain is a normal sensation that alerts us to possible injury, chronic pain is very different. Chronic pain persists—often for months and sometimes even longer and may be complicated by issues associated with prescription medication.

Impulse Control Disorders

Controlling feelings or actions that are immediate and often reactionary. These individuals need assistance in finding new psychology in dealing with their intense immediacy and needs.  Scientists are still researching the cause of these types of disorders but many think that there are a good handful of factors including physical or biological, psychological or emotional, and cultural or societal issues.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Caused from a moment or moments of extremely stressful situations, environments, and individuals. This disorder can cause the afflicted to avoid people, places, or activities in fear and completely disrupt their personal and professional lives. Not every traumatized person develops ongoing (chronic) or even short-term (acute) PTSD. Not everyone with PTSD has been through a dangerous event. Some experiences, like the sudden, unexpected death of a loved one, can also cause PTSD.

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental disorders marked by feelings of anxiety or loathing. Anxiety is a worry about the future and loathing is a reaction to current happenings. These feelings could manifest in physical forms, such as a faster heart rate or trembling. Disorders in this category include Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Sleep Disorders.

Mood Disorders

Mood disorders refer to a plethora of swinging, bipolar, or mood control disorders. These disorders often ruin relationships and take control of the individual’s free will. About 20% of the U.S. population reports at least one depressive symptom in a given month, and 12% report two or more in a year. Depression is a common feature of mental illness, whatever its nature and origin. People are more easily demoralized by depression and slower to recover if they are withdrawn and unreasonably self-critical or irritable, impulsive, and hypersensitive to loss.

Relational Trauma

Trauma is caused by a personal experience with another individual. Often characterized by mental, verbal, and physical abuse inflicted on the sufferer.  Women experience remarkably high rates of relational trauma including child abuse and neglect and intimate partner violence (IPV) during adulthood, and the childbearing years are no exception.

Personality Disorders

Personality disorders are disorders in which a person may forget who they are or become another person they think they are. It causes major disruptions in their daily lives and relationships. Symptoms of each personality disorder differ and can be either mild or severe. People with personality disorders often have trouble identifying that they have a problem; they believe their thoughts are normal and that it is other people who are to blame. Treatment usually includes talk therapy and sometimes medicine.

Body Image Issues

Body image issues are when an individual sees themselves in an extremely negative light. It could stem from mental and verbal abuse from any age and typically attacks the psyche by focusing on what the sufferer perceives as a flaw.  Researchers have noted that people with body image issues or disordered eating have difficulties with visual processing.

Family Issues

Issues pertaining to family are treated with the help of clinicians who know how to break down communication barriers in relationships in order to fix the problems at hand. Conflicts are a part of family life. A lot of different issues, such as Parenting Issues can lead to conflict, including illness, disability, addiction, job loss, school problems, and marital issues. Listening to one another and actively working to resolve conflicts are key to reinforcing the family.

Relationship Issues

Problems between loved ones typically stemming from communication breakdowns and the inability to compromise or change to make the other person happy. These issues can arise from a couple spending too little – or even too much – time together. They can stem from fighting over the same issues, from insecurities over your future to feeling misunderstood. Money is also a common root of relationship issues.

Sexual Disorders

Sexual disorders are involving sex, perversion, or acts that have nothing to do with sex in the standard definition but have been fetishized and cause a disruption in the individual or society’s regular agenda. Psychotherapy is a common treatment for desire disorders. Treatment focuses on bringing awareness to any unresolved conflicts and how they impact the patient’s life. While improvement is possible, the sexual dysfunction often becomes autonomous and persists, requiring additional techniques. Various hormones have also been studied for the treatment of sexual desire disorders.

Thin Woman with a Small Amount of Food on a Plate and a Glass of Water to Demonstrate Eating Disorders

The CDC estimates that close to 30 million Americans are currently suffering from eating disorders. The most common diseases are anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder.

While the media popularized the image of a stick-thin figure obsessing over their weight and appearance, eating disorders are far more complicated than that. In fact, a binge eating disorder is far more prevalent than the starvation diet of anorexia nervosa.

The following article will explore the different types of eating disorders, who are most affected, and what treatment options are available for patients.

What is an eating disorder?

An eating disorder is characterized by a severe disturbance in how an individual perceives their body image. Distorted perception gives way to disruptive, harmful, and often dangerous eating habits. While it is a common belief among the popular consensus that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice, that is incorrect; eating disorders are a serious mental health condition that can kill.

Obsessions with eating habits, food, body image and weight usually signal the start of an eating disorder. Below is a list of symptoms of anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder:

Anorexia Nervosa

  • Intense fear of gaining weight
  • Views self as overweight even if they are of average weight or underweight
  • Restrictive eating, intentional starvation
  • Emaciated, gaunt appearance
  • Denial

Serious side effects may include:

  • Bone thinning
  • Muscle wasting and weakness
  • Anemia
  • Brittle nails and hair
  • Dry or yellow skin
  • Growth of lanugo
  • Multi-organ failure
  • Low blood pressure
  • Low internal body temperature
  • Severe constipation
  • Lethargy
  • Infertility

Bulimia

  • Bingeing and purging, or the act of overeating then force-vomiting
  • Excessive use of laxatives or diuretics
  • May maintain a healthy weight throughout the course of the eating disorder

Serious side-effects may include:

  • Swollen throat, inflamed throat
  • Acid reflux and gastrointestinal disorders
  • Worn tooth enamel and sensitive teeth
  • Intestinal problems from laxative use
  • Dehydration
  • Electrolyte imbalance that can lead to a stroke or heart attack

Binge eating

  • Bingeing or gorging on meals, not followed by purging.
  • Usually overweight or obese
  • Compulsively eating large amounts of food in a short period
  • Eating even when not hungry or when feeling full already
  • Frequent dieting without weight loss
  • Feeling ashamed
  • Eating in secret

Since binge-eating sufferers are often overweight or obese, their condition comes with all of the health risks associated with unhealthy body weight, such as heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.

Who is at risk of developing an eating disorder?

Eating disorders do not discriminate based on age, gender, or socio-economic background. Genetics, environmental factors, and personality traits all contribute to developing this mental health condition. Anywhere from 50% to 80% of the risk associated with developing an eating disorder are genetic.

Also, people with eating disorders often suffer from comorbid mental health conditions. With anorexia, almost half of sufferers also have depression, and 1 in 5 anorexics will attempt suicide. People with bulimia often have a comorbid anxiety disorder and 1 in 10 present with a substance abuse disorder. The most common is alcohol addiction. Up to 72% of young female alcoholics also have an eating disorder.

Because eating disorders come with a gamut of severe health risks, it is imperative to seek treatment. Serious side effects, like heart attacks, strokes, and multiorgan failure can kill the person with an eating disorder. In fact, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental health condition. Every hour in the United States, a person dies from an eating disorder.

Fortunately, there are health care professionals who specialize in treating eating disorders and their associated health complications.

Who can treat an eating disorder?

Physicians and physicians’ assistants are qualified to treat eating disorders and monitor any complications which may arise. Also, nutritional counselors and qualified therapists can help sufferers regain control over the disease. If someone has a comorbid substance abuse disorder, they will need rehabilitation treatment in addition to treatment for the eating disorder.

What are the treatment options?

Treatment options require a solid foundation of stopping any excessive exercise regimens, bingeing and purging cycles, and developing sound eating and nutritional habits. Because eating disorders are complicated issues to treat and they often come with a host of comorbid mental health conditions and possibly substance abuse, individuals need customized plans which may include the following:

  • Detox
  • Drug or alcohol rehab
  • Therapy
  • Medications and monitoring from doctors
  • Nutritional counseling

Cognitive behavioral therapy and family therapy help patients monitor and control their emotional responses to adverse events and life stressors. With proper coping skills, they can lessen their chances of relapse or recurrence of the eating disorder.

Also, family support or appointing a caregiver to oversee the individual’s eating habits and diet have been shown to reduce the chances of recurrence significantly. Individuals can gain weight with care and support of a trusted loved one.

Since people with eating disorders often suffer from depression and anxiety, antidepressants such as SSRIs and SNRIs can help alleviate the symptoms of these comorbid conditions.

With treatment, the majority of eating disorder sufferers go on to make a full and lifelong recovery. Up to 60% will never experience another episode related to the disease. A further 20% will partially recover, meaning they will continue to have negative beliefs about their body image and may be unable to diet effectively, but they will be able to live life without any significant complications from the disorder.

An unfortunate remaining 20% will continue to relapse and need continuous care for their affliction. Since eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental health condition, it is incredibly important to get people the help they need.

Trained professionals and counselors for eating disorders are available at the National Eating Disorders helpline where they can find resources, treatment, and therapists for people suffering from the pain of an eating disorder. With the support and continuous care from qualified therapists and doctors, eating disorder sufferers can live a life free from the distress and health complications of the disorder.

The facilities at Mission Harbor are staffed with trained experts to best assist patients with their mental health issues. We are capable of dealing with any and all cases with a licensed staff, equipment, and approved techniques. Our mission is to help those who want to help themselves, and we support your decision in seeking help.

Ready To Start Your Recovery? Call Us Today.