The eating disorder treatment process starts with an initial assessment by a counselor or physician.  They will provide recommendations, which could include the following actions or suggestions.  The general rule is that the more components a treatment plan includes, the quicker it will take for a patient to make progress.

• Hospitalization if in poor enough health where a medical crisis exists or death or suicide is possible.
• The restoration of weight in order to improve mood, cognitive functioning and general health.  As a side note, anorexics fear the gaining of weight and they especially fear being forced to gain weight in a hospital.  This is a huge barrier to overcome during treatment and recovery.  Regardless, it is preferable for the patient to be as closet to a “normal weight” as possible at the end of their treatment.  This gives them a much better probability of recovering completely.  It has been shown in medical studies that the lower one’s body weight is, the great chance there is of treatment failing and relapse occurring.
• Medication in order to alleviate anxiety and/or depression.
• Visit to the dentist in order to fix any damages and prevent potential problems in the future.
• One-on-one counseling in order to teach healthy ways of living and being in control of one’s life.  For the treatment of binge eating disorder and bulimia, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has proven to be effective.  When it comes to treating anorexia, the preferred therapy method depends on personal and familial circumstances.
• Attendance in group counseling meetings in order to more effectively manage personal relationships.
• Counseling involving one’s family so that former unhealthy patterns are altered and new, more productive ones are created.
• Counseling on nutrition, which involves designing healthy meals and exposing the truth concerning food myths.
• Participation in support groups to prevent isolation and overcome feelings of alienation.  It should be noted that support groups by themselves are not enough to overcome any eating disorder.  In order to truly be effective, support groups must be part of a larger, more comprehensive treatment plan.

What is the Length of a Recovery Period?

There are few cases of eating disorder suffers who eventually recover without the assistance of professional treatment, but the time it takes is usually between several years and even decades.  For the most part, those that have eating disorders do not recover unless they seek help.  Unfortunately, up to 20% of all eating disorder sufferers do not survive.

The good news is that those who do seek professional treatment and are able to work at it, end up with much better lives.  Approximately 50% of them successfully recover completely.  A quarter of those that receive treatment make considerable progress.  The bad news is that, even with treatment, the remaining 25% still remain chronic sufferers, and some of them die from their behaviors stemming from their eating disorder.

For a few of those in treatment, the process takes about a year or less.  For most in treatment, however, it takes between three to seven years or maybe even longer to recover.  Everyone is different and the length of recovery depends on the person and will take as long as it takes.  The largest challenge for the majority of sufferers is the altering of deeply entrenched eating behaviors and the resolution of the problems that underlie those behaviors.  It will probably be the toughest thing they will ever do in their lives.

The treatment process is usually more severe during the beginning.  This will involve several sessions of therapy per week and might also include hospitalization.  As patients progress, these sessions are held less often until there might be only two or three to go to a year.

Relapses may occur, and are to be expected, especially in the beginning.  This is because the eating disorder patient learns how to live their life independent on weight and food manipulation, but he or she encounters a predicament.  The coping skills that they have just learned are overwhelmed and feeling frantic, they do not know how to react.  They start to lean on their former troublesome patterns, such as purging, starving, or binge eating.  In a familiar scenario, a person will be receive treatment, leave treatment and become successful for a period of time.  They then relapse and come back for more treatment.  This becomes a cycle and may start anew multiple times before it ends and their recovery is considered stable.  Though it happens, individuals should not feel shame if they relapse.  They should see it as a learning experience where their vulnerabilities are shown and they can then react appropriately.

Rogers Memorial Hospital in Wisconsin published a outcome study that demonstrated that, when it comes to anorexia nervosa sufferers, the longer the duration of their stay in a hospital program, combined with being closer to “normal” body weight at discharge, the better the chances are of stable, long-term recovery.  The study is available for viewing and if you would like to see it, please call 1.800.767.4411, extension 310.