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4 Helpful Ways to Deal with Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are serious medical conditions characterized by eating behavioral patterns. Common signs include obsessions with food, body shape, and weight. These disorders can affect your physical and mental health and be life-threatening if left untreated. If you or loved ones of any age, gender, weight, or race are showing signs of excessive food restrictions or eating, seek treatment immediately.
Approximately nine percent or nearly 29 million Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime, estimated in a report. Researchers are unsure of the cause but suggest genetics, behavior, psychological, biological, and social issues may put some people at risk. Treatment is very important and helpful for full recovery in the early stage before the disorder becomes severe.
Find a clinic specializing in eating disorders
Learning how to deal with eating disorders can be very difficult, especially if you aren’t completely aware that you may have an eating disorder. However, a professional can help diagnose and recommend appropriate treatments based on your personalized needs. If you are wondering what the most commonly diagnosed eating disorders are, here are three:
Anorexia is an eating disorder with signs of avoiding food and severe restrictions of food consumption. People diagnosed with anorexia eat very small portions of specific foods and are extremely underweight.
Bulimia is a disorder in people who usually eat large amounts of food and feel a lack of control over their eating behaviors. They will force themselves to vomit, use laxatives excessively, fast, and perform extreme exercise as the consequences for overeating.
Binge-eating is a treatable eating disorder associated with eating in excess. People are usually overweight and diagnosed as obese because of their weight and large consumption of food.
Depending on what eating disorder you or a loved one has, there are many treatment options for eating disorders that can help through this difficult challenge. Clinics often have inpatient and outpatient treatment options that are recommended based on the severity and type of diagnosis. At reputable clinics, you will be in the good hands of professional and licensed clinicians, registered dietitians, nurses, and psychiatrists.
Read books about eating disorders
There are many books on the subject that have been written about understanding eating disorders as well as books about ways to help you work through them. Some books are about
personal experiences battling eating disorders that may also help you feel more empowered to overcome the disorder. One of the biggest reasons that people start with a book is because they don’t understand or know if they actually have an eating disorder and thus, may use reading as an exploratory experiment. If you choose to read a book about eating disorders, consider reading one from a professional whose goal is to help you not only understand but also treat yourself.
In some cases, eating disorders are more severe than one thinks it is. With this in mind, reading a book may not be helpful. It is important to evaluate yourself before reading the book, while you’re reading it, and after you are done reading it to see if you need additional help.
Work with a therapist
If you would like one person to manage all of your phycological needs, then it is important that you find a therapist that has a background in eating disorders along with whatever your other needs may be. Therapists that specialize in body image, psychiatric care, nutrition, and recreational therapy is a good start.
If you are already seeing a therapist, talk to them about your concerns and work with them to learn if they can help you or recommend you to a different therapist. You are not alone and can have a full recovery surrounded by attentive and compassionate professionals who are supportive through the treatment and recovery process.
Consider why you have an eating disorder
Eating disorders aren’t usually directly related to eating and are commonly related to body image, family or personal problems, or other event-related problems. By evaluating why you have these issues may help you find a solution to it. For example, if you are experiencing issues with body image, then it may be a good idea to research and learn about overcoming body image challenges.
When it comes to other problems such as family events or other event-related issues, there may be books that you can read to help with the situation but it may be better to work with a professional to work through these challenges. Professional therapists and clinical psychologists are trained to help you overcome these challenges with a science/research-based approach. That way you have someone who knows what to expect and how to help you when problems arise.
With the support of medical professionals, you can complete a treatment plan designed to meet your individual needs successfully. To learn more about eating disorder treatments, call Center for Change today or visit online.
