Is treatment necessary for eating disorders? The emotional, physical, and behavioral sides of eating disorders must be treated to prevent an early death. People with eating disorders need to seek professional...
People with eating disorders need to seek professional help as soon as they are diagnosed with the illness. Eating disorders are serious health conditions that can lead to death if left untreated. The illness is physically and emotionally destructive to the person suffering with the disease and also to the person's family.
"Eating disorders are very complex today," says Sondra Kronberg, a clinical nutrition therapist specializing in eating disorders. She is on the board of directors of the National Eating Disorders Association and is the executive director of NEDA Long Island. "Here at the National Eating Disorder Association we know that treatment is multidimensional, that you have an emotional side to this illness, and you have behavioral thoughts to this illness. You have a genetic piece to this illness and a physiological piece, so these are psychiatric illnesses that could potentially end in death."
According to NEDA, the most effective treatment available to treat eating disorders is some form of psychotherapy or psychological counseling, coupled with careful attention to medical and nutritional needs. Each treatment is tailored to the patient's illness, the patient's needs and the severity of the disease.
"Psychological counseling must address both the eating disordered symptoms and the underlying psychological, interpersonal, and cultural forces that contributed to the eating disorder," the NEDA website states. Many people with eating disorders respond to outpatient therapy, including individual, group, or family therapy and medical management by their primary care physician. Hospital care is necessary when the patient's illness is life threatening, when there are severe psychological or behavioral problems, and when the patient is not getting any better. The exact treatment of each individual varies, so that is why it is very important for a victim to seek treatment.
"Treatment is critical, because without it, people could go on and on and on for years," says Kronberg. "Even though it takes a long time to recover from an eating disorder, people can get better. The longer you go without treatment, the more likely it is that you will not get better."
Focus on nutrition and exercise is very important during treatment of a patient. A person needs to eat in moderation and eat a variety of foods to get nutrients that they need. If a person is restricting or eating unconsciously, they are not listening to their inner selves to determine what they really need. When a person is seeking treatment, they are closely monitored if they are not getting better.
"It depends on where they are in their recovery," says Kronberg. "I think it is important when there is an exacerbation of symptoms like the use of diuretics or laxatives. We need to monitor them because there are many physical consequences that can be very harmful and even deadly."
Also, it is very important that the body has protein, carbohydrates, and fats to function properly before and after treatment. Each one of those macronutrients supplies the body with some essential nutrients that it needs to operate and function.
"We need proteins to build bones, carbohydrates for energy, and fats to lubricate our system and pad our organ tissues," says Kronberg. "It is just a matter of having them in balance and not having an excess that one might get from eating unconsciously."
