Anorexia Nervosa Disorder Treatment
Anorexia Nervosa Treatment: Comprehensive Guide for Individuals and Families
Eating disorder, or in other words, Anorexia Nervosa, is a severe and complex mental condition. It affects an individual in several ways- emotionally, physically, and even psychologically. An extreme fear of gaining weight and body size consciousness resulting in self-inflicted food restriction is what causes Anorexia Nervosa. While it may not seem like a problem initially in the world of people wanting to lose weight, if not treated at the right time, it severely affects the individual's physical health. People suffering from Anorexia Nervosa often lead themselves to several health issues like bone density loss, heart problems, and sometimes even death. However, with treatment at the right time, they can regain control of their lives.
Causes And Risk Factors
Similar to most mental conditions, researchers haven’t been able to find a single cause for Anorexia Nervosa. Psychologists give several factors credit for the onset of the disorder. They believe some of the reasons are family history, hormonal imbalances, circumstances which, in medical terms, are social or environmental factors, etc. An evaluation helps the professional understand the triggers and possible causes for the onset of the disorder before starting the Anorexia Nervosa treatment.
Anorexia Nervosa- Steps Of Diagnosis
Anorexia Nervosa is a complex mental health condition that severely affects the physical health of the person suffering from it, making things complicated. Hence, the diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa requires a comprehensive evaluation that involves several steps:
1. Checking For Medical History and Physical Examination: To ensure that the severe weight loss is not because of a physical issue, the patient undergoes multiple pathological tests. The medical history of the patient is also very important for professionals.
2. Psychological Evaluation: After the initial tests, in the second step, professionals carry out a psychological assessment of the patient to understand their thoughts and relationship about food and body.
3. Diagnostic Criteria: The anorexia nervosa diagnosis is done based on the criteria laid out by the DSM-5. Generally, a person needing anorexia nervosa treatment enforces self-restriction on food intake, has extreme fear of weight gain, and often has a wrong idea about an ideal body.
4. Laboratory Tests: Professionals, before confirming anorexia nervosa, rule out the presence of any other underlying health-related issue for body weight loss by ordering several lab tests.
5. Additional Tests: Depending on the stage and condition of the patient, further tests are carried out to check the amount of harm the disorder has already caused. It includes checking for bone density, heart function, etc.
What Is The Treatment For Anorexia Nervosa?
The treatment of anorexia nervosa involves treating and targeting both physical and psychological issues of the patient at the same time. Here are the types of anorexia nervosa treatment used on patients in combination:
1. Psychotherapy Psychotherapy is the main element of anorexia treatment. It is focused on altering unhealthy thoughts and behaviors towards food. The most common anorexia nervosa treatment methods include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT aims to find the root causes of negative thoughts around food, body, and self-worth and then change them. CBT also helps develop coping mechanisms to deal with triggers.
- Family-Based Therapy (FBT): Effective for adolescents, especially where the family is involved in the therapy sessions. It helps the family to get trained in supporting the patient with their eating habits and recovery routine.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): DBT focuses on teaching skills like mindfulness to deal with extreme emotions that come with anorexia.
2. Nutritional Rehabilitation Anorexia nervosa treatment involves not just counseling the mind to accept food in a healthy way but also restoring a healthy body weight and addressing malnutrition and other issues affected by the disorder. Hence, to aid in the nutritional journey, below given anorexia nervosa treatment methods are used:
- Nutritional Counseling: Anorexic patients require help with nutrition the most for their physical recovery. However, their mental condition stops them from consuming any. Dieticians help these patients find their nutritional goals, create a custom diet plan, and follow them. To do that, they educate the patients about food, nutrition, and body and body weight relationships. Nutrition counseling is an extremely important step in the anorexia nervosa treatment.
- Meal Support Therapy: It is designed for residential patients. It helps those who are unable to eat at all. Meal support therapy, along with making the perfectly needed diet, helps the patient eat by teaching them to accept food and reduce anxiety around it.
3. Medication & Hospitalization Anorexia nervosa, due to its severe effects on the physical body, in most cases, requires medical treatment along with psychological help.
- Hospitalization: Patients coming in with severe malnutrition or in extremely bad shape may require hospitalization as part of the anorexia nervosa treatment first.
- Medically Assisted Treatment: Patients may be prescribed some medicines to control the symptoms of anorexia nervosa.
4. Rehab Treatment Programs Depending on the condition of the patient, anorexia nervosa treatment can be of two types:
- Inpatient Treatment: Patients in extreme condition have to stay and remain under supervision 24/7. When in rehab, they receive round-the-clock care and supervision with nutrition and psychotherapy, and, if needed, then anorexia nervosa treatment medication. This constant care gets better and faster results, including weight monitoring and other assistance.
- Outpatient Treatment: Patients who do not need constant care are advised outpatient anorexia nervosa treatment. It is also for those transitioning from inpatient to outpatient and slowly adjusting to daily life. The program involves nutrition and psychotherapy with medical support if and when needed while the patient stays at home and continues with daily life. It is generally given to less severe patients.
5. Anorexia Nervosa Treatment Medication Antidepressants and antipsychotics are used to control the symptoms of anxiety and depression in anorexia nervosa treatment.
6. Support Groups Support groups can be joined online or in-person to help patients and families connect with families taking the same journey. It gives them a community where they can learn and understand the condition from each other's experiences and get emotional support.
Choosing the Right Treatment
The best anorexia nervosa treatment is personalized for the patient based on their requirements. It often includes different therapies, diet, medical support, support group activities, and more. After thoroughly evaluating the patient and their condition, professionals design a treatment plan most suitable to the patient. Also, all anorexic patients are constantly monitored for signs of improvement or issues to immediately custom redesign the plan if needed. The duration is also decided per individual needs to ensure long-term recovery and no relapse.
Steps in the Anorexia Nervosa Treatment Process
The anorexia nervosa treatment is a comprehensive and structured process which includes the following steps:
Initial Assessment and Admission A detailed evaluation of the patient is carried out to check for their physical and mental health condition to diagnose and plan the anorexia nervosa treatment.
Detoxification and Managing Withdrawal Symptoms Anorexia nervosa is a complex condition where the patient is in extreme dieting and involved in purging behaviors. A crucial part of the treatment is to control and manage the withdrawal symptoms and detoxification from the extreme belief and behavior. It involves getting immediate medical help if needed and controlling purging and extreme dieting with therapy.
Inpatient and Outpatient Care Options Doctors, after a thorough evaluation, detoxification, and managing withdrawal symptoms, decide whether the patient is capable of taking outpatient care or would need inpatient care.
- Inpatient Care: Meant for serious patients needing medical assistance and 24/7 monitoring, inpatient care means that the patient has to get rehab for anorexia nervosa treatment or get hospitalized.
- Outpatient Care: If the patient shows milder symptoms that can be controlled with help, outpatient care is suggested for the anorexia treatment. Outpatient care is also for patients transitioning from inpatient to living a normal life. Here, the treatment, diet, and therapies are given while the patient continues with daily life.
Effective Anorexia Nervosa Treatment Approaches
Anorexia nervosa treatment is a combination of therapies. An effective plan is customized for each individual after evaluation based on their need and often includes these key approaches:
- Psychotherapy: It's talk therapy based on CBT and DBT that identifies and addresses the underlying psychological issues of anorexia and triggers, such as negative self-image and obsessive behaviors, and alters them.
- Nutritional Rehabilitation: Anorexic patients mostly suffer from malnutrition, which is why gaining a healthy weight at a healthy speed with the correct diet becomes a priority. While creating a nutrition plan is necessary for the patients, this also involves educating them on the importance of nutrition and food to help them accept food intake.
- Medical Monitoring: Another part of the anorexia nervosa treatment is the regular medical checkups to ensure that the treatment is showing results and the patient is restoring weight.
Medically-Assisted Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa
As mentioned earlier, there are no specific medicines to cure anorexia nervosa as it is a complex medical condition. However, several antidepressants and antipsychotics used to improve anxiety, depression, and OCD symptoms are used to control the symptoms of anorexia if and when needed under supervision.
Rehabilitation Programs At Anorexia Nervosa Treatment Centers
Jagruti Rehab offers specialized rehabilitation programs for anorexia nervosa treatment. Our programs include an expert medical team, psychologists, psychiatrists, dietitians, and nurses working together for 24/7 holistic care for serious patients. We integrate therapy with practical activities, diet and nutrition, medical care, family therapy, and education to achieve holistic healing for the patient. Also, we gradually prepare the patient to return to their daily life while preventing relapse with our aftercare.
Latest Trends in Anorexia Nervosa Treatment
Anorexia nervosa is more common than known, especially among adolescents and youth. The latest trends are making the anorexia nervosa treatment more advanced and accessible through the following ways:
- Teletherapy: It is another term for online therapy that makes therapy sessions reachable to people who do not have access to treatment or are stigmatized by the concept of mental health treatment. Teletherapy makes the treatment accessible and can help patients and their families with the right motivation and awareness of the disorder and the need to look for anorexia nervosa treatment near me.
- Mindfulness-Based Approaches: Mindfulness techniques are often integrated with mental health treatment for effective results. In anorexia nervosa treatment, yoga and meditation are used to stimulate body positivity and overall physical and mental well-being.
- Genetic Research: Advances in genetic research are revealing connections between genes and anorexia. The research is leading to the development of newer treatment options.
Related Learning: Difference Between Anorexia and Bulimia
Success Rates and Effectiveness of Anorexia Nervosa Treatment
The effectiveness and success rate of anorexia nervosa treatment depends on two things-
1. The severity of the patient's condition
2. The individual, along with their family's commitment to get better.
Recovery is possible from extreme cases, too, but it requires extreme discipline and care, which you get at Jagruti Rehab. While early diagnosis gives the patient better chances of recovery without harming the body to a larger extent, late treatment is better than no treatment.