Definition:

Eating disorders are extreme expressions of food and weight issues experienced by many individuals, particularly girls and women. These disorders are dangerous behaviors that result in serious health problems.

Anorexia = The restriction of food and the refusal to maintain a minimal normal body weight.

Bulimia = The devastating and addictive binge-purge cycle.

Binge Eating = Food is a coping mechanism to deal with uncomfortable feelings - to numb all that is going on around them.

Pica = An appetite for non-nutritive substances (e.g., coal, soil, chalk, paper, etc.) or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered food ingredients (e.g., flour, raw potato, starch).

Rumination = Drawing the contents of the stomach back up into the mouth, chewed for a second time, and swallowed again.

Treatment Options:

The most effective and long-lasting treatment for an eating disorder is some form of psychotherapy or counseling, coupled with careful attention to medical and nutritional needs. Ideally, this treatment should be tailored to the individual and will vary according to both the severity of the disorder and the patient's individual problems, needs, and strengths.

Therapy with eating disordered patients involves providing education, insight, and a corrective emotional experience, allowing the patient to rectify faulty thought patterns, fill in developmental deficits, and internalize missing psychological functions. In individual therapy it is the relationship between the therapist and patient, rather than any certain technique, that is the most curative aspect. In essence, the therapist uses his or her training and the therapeutic relationship to put the eating disorder "out of a job."

Links:

• OSF Eating Disorders Webpage
• Eating Disorders Association
• National Eating Disorders
• WebMD on Eating Disorders

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