Generally eating disorders are caused by low self-esteem, physical and mental traumas, depression, compulsive behavior, negativity and inability to cope with stress. People suffering from eating disorders want to take control of their self and their bodies in a manner that they know, that is to diet and exercise. This is good, for the time being since they can maintain their weight. The bad side is that when they gain control of their weight, they cannot stop as they start to be obsessed with how they look.
Controlling their weight is done in secret so the signs of eating disorders are not that apparent at first. People around the person who is suffering from an eating disorder may not realize that their daughter or their family member is already a victim or anorexia or bulimia so they cannot ask the person to undergo eating disorder treatment. The sufferer will also be in denial so it will take careful observation to see if their suspicion is correct.
Parents, family members and close friends have a great role to play in helping a victim of eating disorder to get back to health. They must not feel ashamed that someone close to them is suffering and requires eating disorder treatment. They need to understand that the real issue about eating disorders is not the victim’s obsession with food and their weight. It is actually the product of underlying causes, which are avoidance of stress and emotion-related issues, which are problems they had to endure and do not know how to solve and their attempts to control it.
If you suspect that your loved one or someone close to you is suffering from an eating disorder, watch out for warning signs. Even if the sufferer tries to take control of their weight and food intake, you can still see many physical signs such as excessive exercising, eating a large amount of food without gaining weight, frequent trips to the bathroom, continuous dieting, taking laxatives and diuretics or having a large stash of junk food.
Recovery from bulimia and anorexia will be easier if the eating disorder treatment is done early. While the sufferer may be in denial that they have an eating disorder, you can reach them on an emotional level. By showing them your concern and your care, and letting them know that you are willing to listen to them and will support them while they undergo eating disorder treatment, it will be easier to convince them that their eating problem can be resolved.
Professional Treatment Options
Eating disorder treatments are varied and a doctor will have to evaluate the individual before an eating disorder treatment option can be recommended. It depends on the extent of impact the eating disorder had on the person’s body and health. But the most effective treatment is usually a combination of psychological and physical eating disorder treatment options.
The psychological part will teach the patient the various constructive ways to cope with life’s demands and how to positively face challenges while the physical part will deal with the medical and nutritional needs of the patient and how to view food as an ally to be healthy.
For severe cases such as when the individual resist treatment, is continuing to lose weight or there are already medical conditions that have to be medically monitored, the eating disorder treatment may also include hospitalization or staying in a residential treatment facility where the meals will be medically supervised.
For less severe cases, eating disorder treatment can be a combination of psychotherapy, nutritional counseling and attending support groups.Psychotherapy can be individual or group therapy where the underlying issues on what caused the individual to have an eating problem will be discussed. They will be taught how to improve their self-esteem and learn how to deal with emotional pain and cope with stress. Family members may also be required to attend the psychotherapy sessions so that they can better understand the eating disorder and what the eating disorder treatment is all about and how they can continue the treatment at home.
Nutritional counseling is an important part of eating disorder treatment. Individuals with anorexia are more concerned with controlling the food that they eat to the point that they will choose to eat food with the least amount of calories. On the other hand individuals suffering from bulimia and with binge eating disorder, they do not care what type of food they eat, they just want to eat as much food as they can until they feel satiated.
It is just that with those suffering from bulimia, they will feel guilty and ashamed afterwards and will try to compensate for their momentary lapse by purging, excessive exercise or take diuretics and laxatives to immediately flush the food from their system.
With nutritional counseling, the individual will be taught how to plan healthy meals, get them to set dietary goals and how to reach a healthy weight for their age and height. They will be taught about basic nutrition and what the effects of their eating disorder did to their bodies.
Eating disorder treatment can also include attending support group discussions. Support groups are usually made up of peers who have a deep understanding of the eating disorders, with some of them having recovered from their own eating disorders. A support group can help someone suffering from bulimia, binge eating or anorexia feel less ashamed and alone and they will be able to learn from their peers on how to develop coping strategies, share their own experiences, give and get advice and receive lots of encouragement.
Among all eating disorder treatment options, the cognitive behavioral therapy is considered the best. This is because most eating disorders stem from deep seated mental and psychological problems that victims of eating disorders tried to cope on their own. Verbal and physical abuse during childhood and teen years, derogatory remarks from people close to the individuals, peer pressure and emotional stress are some of the causes for an individual to be obsessive about food and their weight.
With cognitive behavioral therapy, conducted in one hour sessions once a week the patient will be taught about their eating disorder, how to recognize the symptoms and learn to predict when the symptoms will occur. The eating disorder treatment session also includes keeping a diary of eating, binge eating and purging episodes and what caused these episodes to happen. The patient will also be taught how to eat regularly, change the way the individual think about the symptoms and have positive thought patterns. The length of time for the therapy sessions vary. It can last for several months to over a year.
Eating disorder treatment at home
While it is best to seek professional help for eating disorder treatment, it is also advisable to continue the treatment at home by providing a warm and caring environment. As a parent or relative, you can help your love one who has an eating disorder recover faster with some eating disorder treatment tips such as the following:
Your own attitude towards food, weight and body image may have played a part in driving your own child to be obsessed about the way she looks so this is the time to correct it.
Eating disorder treatment suggests that stress, self-loathing and emotional pain should be avoided therefore it is necessary that you treat the person with anorexia, binge eating or bulimia with patience and kindness. Avoid threats and scare tactics and never give angry outbursts because your daughter or your son became a victim of an eating disorder.
Remain firm in your resolve to get your child back to health no matter how much your child pleads to avoid eating. You should also learn how to answer when your child wants to skip meals, throw tantrums and have emotional outbursts when their special food is eaten by someone else.
Part of their eating disorder treatment is to receive plenty of positive encouragement to help boost their self-esteem. Praise them when they have reached a dietary goal and continue to encourage them when they feel stressed, depressed or lonely. Let them know that you and your family members understand what they are going through and that you are all there to support them.
You should remember that you are also undergoing the eating disorder treatment together with your child. Yes, you are responsible for your child but you must not feel guilty that your child had an eating disorder. It is not your fault or your child’s fault and the sooner you accept that the faster and easier it will be for your child and you to recover.
Remember that it will take the combined efforts of health professionals, your child and you to make the eating disorder treatment a success. Perseverance, patience, understanding and continuous learning will see to it that there will be no relapse.
