Eating Disorders- What Can I Do?
Article
It’s very important to get help for an eating disorder because binging, purging and/or severely limiting how much food you eat can cause a lot of serious health problems. But eating disorders are very treatable and many people recover with treatment. Treatment for an eating disorder often includes support from a few different professionals. Regular medical check-ups are also important to treat physical health problems.
(Taken From: http://www.cmha.bc.ca/get-informed/mental-health-information/eating-disorders)
- Counselling—Counselling is a very important part of treatment. Cognitive-behavioural therapy or CBT helps you understand the thoughts, feelings and behaviours behind the disorder. Interpersonal therapy or IPT focuses on your relationships with other people. Family therapy can help the entire family understand the disorder.
- Nutritional help—A nutritionist can help you learn about food and help you create healthy meal plans.
- Support groups—Support groups for yourself or your loved ones can help you see that you aren’t alone. You can learn new ways of coping and find support from others.
- Hospitalization—If you weigh too little or you start to develop serious health problems, you may need to be treated in the hospital.
- Medication—Medication usually isn’t the first treatment option, though some research suggests that a type of antidepressant can help people living with bulimia and binge-eating disorder control binging and/or purging.
- Self-help—There are many things you can do at home to help cope. Some ideas include getting enough sleep, learning stress management and problem-solving strategies, keeping in touch with family and friends, practicing relaxation techniques, and taking time to do things you enjoy. Your mental health professional can suggest other useful things to try at home.
(Taken From: http://www.cmha.bc.ca/get-informed/mental-health-information/eating-disorders)
Paragraph Summary
If anyone feels the symptoms of an eating disorder, they should definitely get help. If an eating disorder is left untreated, many health problems can start to rise. Now that eating disorders are starting to get more noticed, several centers around the world are opening up to lend a hand to those suffering. There are six different ways of treatment and these include: counselling (therapy helps the target understand the problems behind their disorder and build relationships with others), nutritional help (nutritionists guide others to make healthy food choices and meal plans), support groups (support groups aid the target to see that he/she isn't alone and gives support and love) hospitalization (if hazardous health problems start to rise, hospitalization may be needed) medication (although this isn't as efficient as others, research says that anti-depressants can help) and self-help (you can treat yourself by interacting with family and friends, doing things you enjoy, getting enough sleep, doing yoga/meditation/relaxation techniques, e.t.c) .