Findingthe right type of eating disorder treatment depends on the disorder and its symptoms. It usually includes a mix of specific types of talk therapy, also known as psychotherapy, as well as medical monitoring and sometimes nutrition education or medicines.
Eating disorder treatment also involves taking care of other medical problems that an eating disorder causes or makes worse. These problems can be serious or even life-threatening if they go without being treated for too long. If an eating disorder doesn't get better with standard treatment or causes health problems, a stay in a hospital or another type of inpatient program may be needed.
Whether you start by seeing your primary healthcare professional or a mental health professional, you'll likely benefit from a referral to a team of professionals who specialize in eating disorder treatment. Members of your treatment team may include:
Talk therapy, also known as psychotherapy, is the most important part of eating disorder treatment. It involves regularly seeing a psychologist or another mental health professional with specialized training in eating disorder care.
Your psychologist or another mental health professional may ask you to do homework. This could include keeping a food journal to review in therapy sessions and figuring out what causes you to binge, purge or use other eating behaviors that aren't healthy.
Registered dietitians and other professionals who take part in your treatment can help you learn more about your eating disorder and create a plan to regain and maintain healthy eating habits. It's important to seek treatment from someone who has specialized training in eating disorders because this training is not standard for dietitians. Goals of nutrition education may be to:
Medicines can't cure an eating disorder. They're most effective when combined with talk therapy. Antidepressants are the most common medicines used to treat eating disorders that involve binge eating behaviors. Taking an antidepressant may be helpful if you have bulimia or binge-eating disorder. These medicines have not been shown to be effective for people who are underweight.
A hospital stay may be needed if you have serious physical or mental health problems or if you can't eat or gain weight. Severe or life-threatening physical health problems that occur with eating disorders can be a medical emergency.
In many cases, the most important goal of a hospital stay is to stabilize short-term medical symptoms by starting to improve eating and weight. Most of this work takes place in the outpatient setting.
Day treatment programs are structured. Generally, you need to attend for multiple hours a day, several days a week. Day treatment can include medical care, as well as group, individual and family therapy. It also can include structured eating sessions and nutrition education.
With residential treatment, you live at an eating disorder treatment facility for a time. A residential treatment program may be needed if you need long-term care for your eating disorder or you've been in the hospital several times, but your mental or physical health hasn't gotten better.
Eating disorders can cause serious health problems related to poor nutrition, bingeing, purging and other factors. Which health problems eating disorders cause depends on the type of eating disorder and how severe it is. In many cases, the problems an eating disorder cause require ongoing treatment and monitoring.
You are the most important member of your treatment team. For treatment to work, you need to take part in your treatment, as do your family members and other loved ones. Your treatment team can help you learn more about eating disorders and tell you where to find more information and support.
There's a lot of bad information about eating disorders on the web. Follow your treatment team's advice and get their input on which websites you can trust to learn more about your eating disorder. Examples of websites you can trust include the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders (F.E.A.S.T.).
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Some rat poison products contain blue or green dye so that you can quickly identify when someone has touched or swallowed them. If possible, check the packaging for the active ingredient and share that information with healthcare providers and poison control. This can ensure the correct treatment is given.
Call your city or county hazardous waste disposal facility to find out how to get rid of old rat poison safely. If you have any of the older forms of rat poison around the house, dispose of it safely and buy safer bait.
If your dog or other pet eats rat poison, you need to act fast. It doesn't take much rat poison to kill a dog. Just 15-30 mg (just a few granules) is lethal for a dog weighing 15 pounds or less. For larger dogs, a lethal dose is around 100 mg (1/50th of a teaspoon).
Regardless of how much you believe they ingested, take your dog to the nearest veterinarian right away. Note when your dog ate the poison, how much you suspect they ate, and what kind of poison it was. If you can, bring the packaging with you.
To diagnose binge-eating disorder, your healthcare professional may recommend a mental health evaluation. This includes talking about your feelings and eating habits with a mental health professional. Look for a mental health professional with expertise in treating eating disorders.
Your healthcare professional also may want you to have other tests to check for health problems that can be caused by binge-eating disorder. These may include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, GERD, poor nutrition, electrolyte imbalances and some sleep-related breathing disorders. Tests may include:
The goal for treatment of binge-eating disorder is to have healthy, regular eating habits. Because binge eating often involves shame, poor body self-image and other negative emotions, treatment also addresses these and related mental health conditions, such as depression. By getting help for binge eating, you can learn how to feel more in control of your eating.
Treatment of binge-eating disorder may be done by a team of specialists. The team can include doctors and other healthcare professionals, mental health professionals, and dietitians, all with experience in eating disorders.
Talk therapy, also called psychotherapy, can help you learn how to exchange unhealthy habits for healthy ones and reduce binge eating. Talk therapy may be in individual or group sessions. Examples of types of talk therapy that can help binge-eating disorder include:
Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (Vyvanse) is a medicine for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This is the first medicine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat moderate to severe binge-eating disorder, but only in adults. Because it's a stimulant, this medicine can be habit-forming and misused. Common side effects include dry mouth and problems sleeping, but more-serious side effects can happen.
Most dietary supplements and herbal products designed to lessen the appetite or aid in weight loss are not effective and may be misused by people with eating disorders. Natural doesn't always mean safe. Some weight-loss supplements or herbs can have serious side effects and dangerously interact with other medicines.
If you have binge-eating disorder, you and your family may find support groups helpful for encouragement, hope and advice on coping. Support group members can understand what you're going through because they've been there themselves. Ask your healthcare professional or mental health professional about finding a group in your area.
Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment. Think about asking a family member or friend to go with you. Someone who goes with you can help you remember key points and, with your permission, give extra information about your situation.
Dr. Debra Rose Wilson is a professor, researcher, and holistic healthcare practitioner. She teaches graduate-level psychology and nursing courses. Dr. Wilson has over 200 publications in her areas of expertise, which include complementary and alternative therapies, autoimmune disease, stress and coping, and obstetrics and breastfeeding.
Catherine Lovering holds a law degree (LLB) from the University of Victoria. She has been a freelance writer since 2010 writing about health and other people-focused issues. Catherine is currently completing a Philosophy and Psychology combined degree at UBC in Vancouver, British Columbia.
This procedure treats the condition C. difficile colitis (C. diff). This infection causes a person to experience severe diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and fever. The condition occurs in those taking long-term antibiotics. As a result, a person may not have enough healthy bacteria in their stool to fight off other infections, like the C. diff infection. If a person has chronic C. diff infections, fecal transplantation may be an option.
Partial anorexia means a dog will eat, but only if something special, such as treats or table scraps like chicken or beef, are added to the food. Sometimes, dogs will refuse everything but will eat something as peculiar as a fast-food hamburger.
Medical causes of anorexia include any condition or illness that causes a dog to not want to eat. They can include hundreds, maybe even thousands, of potential issues. The medical disorders that can cause anorexia include diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreas, kidneys, airway, lung or blood, and anything that can cause pain. Information about some of the most common causes include:
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