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Teens with eating disorders to include anorexia, bulimia and binge eating need help from professionals who specialize in treating this potentially life-threatening problem. A teen suffering from this serious disorder can't regain normal eating habits without specialized treatment. In order to heal, the emotional and psychological issues driving their obsession with food have to be identified and dealt with.
Treatment Options for Teens With Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are a psychological and physical condition with potentially severe consequences to include cardiac arrest, kidney failure and death. Research shows that recovery rates are highest when treated in the early stages, rather than putting off treatment until the behavior has continued for years.
The options for dealing with this complex disorder are:
Intensive outpatient therapy
Outpatient therapy is often the best place to start and in the early stages of an eating disorder some teens can be successfully treated on an outpatient basis.
Choose a mental health professional who specializes in treating eating disorders in adolescents. In addition to providing individual therapy a therapist with training and experience in helping teens with eating disorders will evaluate how far the disease has progressed and provide recommendations for additional outpatient services to include a support group for teens with eating issues, support and education for family members and consultation with a nutritionist.
If symptoms are severe or do not improve with outpatient treatment, then a more structured and intense program is needed.
Day treatment programs
Due to the complexity of this disease and the multi-faceted approach required to treat it many teens with an eating disorder require a more intensive, structured, supervised program in order to heal successfully. Day treatment programs offer a full treatment program during the day, with the teen returning home in the evenings. In this supportive setting teens receive help to identify and resolve the complex factors contributing to their eating issues.
Treatment for eating disorders includes:
- Individual therapy to address destructive thinking and behavior
- Group therapy to provide education and support
- Education on eating disorders
- Nutritional therapy
- Family therapy to support the teen in the recovery process
- Supervised meals
- Expressive therapies such as art or music therapy
- Medical care and monitoring
- Healthy exercise classes
Residential treatment programs
Teens who don't make progress in less restrictive settings or who have a severe disorder often benefit from intensive residential programs specifically designed to provide the structure, monitoring and safety needed to heal from an eating disorder.
Teens suffering from eating disorders are obsessed with food and weight and often need to be completely immersed in a supportive, safe environment in which they can learn about the disorder and how to live and eat in a healthy manner.
Sometimes teens with an eating disorder also suffer from other issues to include depression, drug abuse or anxiety that can best be addressed in this type of setting. Another advantage of residential programs are the supervised meals provided so that parents don't have to engage in the power struggles that so often accompany this illness.
One residential program describes their services as follows, "Healthy eating, appropriate exercise, stress management and an understanding of patterns that have been controlling your life."
Psychiatric Hospitalization
In rare cases, a teen with an undiagnosed or untreated eating disorder may need to be hospitalized if their condition becomes potentially life-threatening to include significant weight loss, low blood pressure, severe depression, thoughts or threats of suicide.
Upon discharge from the hospital, the teen would most likely be transferred to a residential program specializing in eating disorders for continued treatment.
Eating disorders have a strong impact on all aspects of a teens' life and require treatment that is specialized and comprehensive in its approach. With appropriate and timely treatment most teens with eating disorders can be relieved of their symptoms and able to successfully manage their lives in a healthy manner.
Quick Links: Treatment Programs for Troubled Teens | Quiz - Does your teen have an eating disorder? | All Eating Disorders and Teens Resources