Anorexia Nervosa Treatment
Treatment Goals:
In general treatment of anorexia focuses on re-establishing healthy eating habits, healthy weight and healthy body image within the context of identifying and exploring psychosocial issues that influence sense of self and impact functioning.
Treatment goals address self esteem, school stress, friendships and family relationships with an emphasis on building adaptive strategies and coping skills
In the treatment of anorexia, as with all mental health conditions, specific treatment goals are tailored to individual clients.
Psychotherapeutic:
While one-on-one cognitive behavioral therapy is often used for adults with anorexia, the most successful treatments for children and adolescents involve the whole family—intensive family therapy and education that enables parents and siblings to help a child with anorexia return to normal eating patterns. Parents are seen as allies in the treatment of each child and adolescent.
The first goal of any treatment is to restore your child to a healthy weight, and she or he should be immediately hospitalized for this purpose if in any medical danger. Milder cases respond well to family therapy; more severe cases require a hospital stay or a residential program. The disadvantage to residential programs is that patients tend to relapse when they are back at home, unless the family lifestyle has changed to make it incompatible with the dangerous behaviors. Treatment is more effective when the disorder is caught early, and the longer a child stays at a healthy weight, the less likely she or he is to relapse.
Pharmacological:
No known medication can address the core symptoms of anorexia, though drugs are often prescribed to treat co-occurring symptoms. Some drugs, particularly antidepressants, have been helpful, but they are most often targeted at another condition the child might also have, such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Eating disorders commonly co-occur with other psychiatric disorders as well, including substance abuse and anxiety disorders. Treating the co-occurring disorder can make the therapy for anorexia more successful.
Coordination of care with the youngster’s primary care physician is also important when necessary.