Approximately 10 million women and 1 million men in the United States battle eating disorders each year, and the numbers continue to grow. Eating disorder clinics work to help people overcome these disorders. Depending on the clinic, a wide variety of therapies are offered in addition to medication. These therapies can make attempts to directly address the issues involved, through the use of inpatient care, psychoanalysis,or nutrition counseling. They can also seek to develop a person’s understanding through such activities such as art or music therapy.
Conditions Treated at Eating Disorder Clinics
There are generally three eating disorders that every eating disorder clinic sees: anorexia, bulimia and binge eating. Within these specific diseases, there are subsets that can also be addressed by specific clinics.
- Anorexia (AN) is characterized by an obsessive fear of gaining weight, which can result in severe weight loss. The most prominent victim of this disease was singer Karen Carpenter, who died at age 32 in 1983. Two offshoots of anorexia are pregorexia, which is extreme dieting for pregnant women, and orthorexia, which is an obsessive focus on exercise that can also manifest itself through healthy eating taken to an extreme. In addition, food phobia is when a person has great difficulty eating due to a fear of choking or vomiting from food, or simply a fear of swallowing.
- Bulimia (BN) is binge or even regular eating that is followed by purging (induced vomiting) or the excessive use of laxatives, diuretics, or extreme exercise. Selective eating disorder (an extreme “picky” eater) is part of this group, along with diabulimia, which occurs when diabetics reduce their daily insulin in an attempt to lose weight.
- Binge eating (BED) is similar to bulimia regarding the intake of food, but is done at least two or three times per week and involves gorging on food to the point that it damages a person’s physical condition. The psychological effects of binge eating can be seen in the sense of shame a person doing this feels after this action.
If you or someone you know shows signs of these diseases, there are eating disorder clinics that focus their energies specifically on these type diseases. There may be one in your area, but if not, performing an online search of such clinics should provide you with a number of different options. Be sure to check if a facility treats your specific eating disorder.
