Having a good support system will make your fight towards freedom a little easier and you will know that you are not alone. Your treatment should probably include individual, family and group therapy, support groups, and nutritional counseling, in some cases medications and sometimes there is a need for hospitalization.
Individual Therapy – In individual therapy you will be able to develop a one-to-one relationship with your therapist. Once you begin to trust your therapist, you will be free to start releasing all the feelings that you have kept inside for so long. You will be able to start focusing on why you are doing this and what you need to do to stop. You will begin to understand why and how your eating disorder became your only means of coping, and you will learn new and healthier ways to cope. The frequency of visits will probably depend on the severity of the eating disorder. Some people are in daily therapy and others are in weekly therapy. The amount of visits will probably depend on you and your therapist.
Group Therapy – Group therapy can be very beneficial to someone trying to recover from an eating disorder. For the first time they are surrounded by others that know and understand exactly how they feel. For so long they probably felt like they were the only ones that had this problem, and now they know that they are not alone. Groups usually meet once a week and can discuss anything from the eating behaviors itself and finding ways to change the behaviors, to discussing the underlying issues causing the eating disorder. Group members can support one another and help each other to find ways to change their eating patterns and develop healthier ways to cope.
Family Therapy – Family therapy usually involves the people that are living with or very close to the person with the eating disorder. This could include parents, siblings, spouses and even grandparents. Usually an eating disorder indicates that there are problems within the family. Some problems could include martial problems, substance abuse, physical or sexual abuse, lack of communication, or difficulty in expressing feelings. All these issues can be discussed and worked on in family therapy. In order to solve these problems, the families must be willing to participate in therapy and be willing to make changes in their own behaviors.
Support Groups – Support groups are usually not run by a professional. Usually the leaders are people that have experienced an eating disorder themselves. The groups can meet anywhere from daily to once a month. Support groups can be very helpful to people with eating disorders because they realize that they are not alone and that recovery is possible. The members also help and support each other during difficult periods. Each support group is different. Some groups are free to discuss what they feel and others may pick a topic to be discussed at each meeting.
Medical Treatment – It’s important that your health is monitored by a physician that is aware of your eating disorder. There are many physical complications that can result from the eating disorder. If left untreated, they can lead to serious health problems or death. I would also urge the person to be very open and honest about their eating behaviors and symptoms with their doctor to insure they receive the best medical treatment possible. It is also important that you are seeing a doctor who is familiar with eating disorders and treats them properly. If you are bulimic, you may want to see your dentist for a check up. Frequent vomiting can lead to tooth decay as a result of enamel erosion form stomach acids.
Nutritional Counseling – A part of your recovery should include nutritional counseling. Many people with eating disorders have no idea what “normal eating” really is and a qualified nutritionist will be able to help you develop a healthy eating pattern.
Medications – In some cases medication has been useful in treating eating disorders. Antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft have been used in helping with signs of severe depression. Antidepressants can sometimes help a person binge/purge less frequently. Medication should not be used as the sole source of treatment. It should be combined with all areas of treatment.
Hospitalization – If the person’s weight is extremely low or if they are bingeing/purging several times a day, hospitalization may be necessary. Sometimes a person needs more support then outpatient therapy can provide. The hospital can provide them with a safe environment and help control the eating behaviors. If hospitalization is necessary, they should be admitted to a ward that is familiar with treating eating disorders. Psychiatric wards are usually not equipped to handle eating disorder patients and the person can sometimes feel worse while in there. Some hospitals do have units that specialize in treating eating disorders. These units should provide both psychological and physiological care.
The following letter was submitted to me regarding their concern for the situation of the mental health system. With their permission, I have decided to post it on line so that all can read it.
SHATTERED DREAMS
You wake up one morning and stare out the window at the world going by. Cars traveling down the road, people walking their dogs and little children playing in the parks. A site, you think to yourself, that all is right and normal. You realize living in this wonderful country that the freedom we have is a joy to be cherished. Unlike other countries where violence, plagues, starvation and unsanitary conditions are a way of life, we have it good here.
You look at the children and see the innocence which you know some day might change. The dreams that they live with now, may eventually be shattered. Why does it have to be that way, you ask yourself? What makes the young change so much? Why does a country with a standard of living that we have, continue to produce drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, people with eating disorders, manic depressives and so many more who have mental health problems. What is wrong here? Have we lost our compassion toward each other? Strange that the government of ours would commit millions of dollars to third world countries to help them in their growing problems but what about the countless of people right here in our own back yards that need help? Where is the government for these people? People with mental health problems are not a visible eyesore, so does that mean they don’t exist? But they do exist, and they struggle in our society to live? Where do they come from and how did they get here, questions that we should ask ourselves. Will we find answers? Yes we certainly will. All we have to do is look at our children, look at the lives we have given them and we can judge for ourselves.
The abuse of our children has lead to most of these problems. How can a innocent child grow into a normal mentally healthy adult when they carry the burden of abuse, be it emotional, sexual or physical. Most can’t! The shame, the guilt, the poor self esteem won’t allow them to be normal. These poor victims of society become survivors, not knowing how to live normally, not knowing how to interact with others, so what are their options. They turn to drugs , alcohol and prostitution. They mask their hurt and develop eating disorders, they become manic depressives and some develop split personalities. These people may be our friends, relatives, neighbors or strangers. There is no sign of mental problems like a broken arm that you can see, but it’s still there. For the so called normal people in society it would be hard to imagine waking up in the morning and a fear grows in your body and mind. The fear of leaving your safe environment of your house to venture into the real world. Or the fear of wanting to leave and are afraid of your life. The fear that you know might over take you and the panic that overcomes you. The sweat and loss of breath , that makes you feel you are dying. Yet these people have survived this torment and the torment of being abused and traumatized as young children or young adults. These people know that something is wrong and they also know there is no help. Or is there? These people want help, they are intelligent enough to survive and they do want help.
As a society do we not realize there is much truth to the saying our future lies in the hands of our children. The public needs an education on the effect of child abuse. We need to realize that raising a mentally unhealthy child is going to lead to more abuse in the future. But as it stands now, the alcoholics who abuse their wives or husbands and children, the drug addicts who commit crimes for their drugs, the prostitutes who sell themselves because they have no self esteem and know no other way of life, the countless people who have an eating disorder , the manic depressives, where do they go for help? I’m not saying all suffer from these problems but the majority do.
With countless cutbacks in the medical field what happens to the people who need help. They are left in the wayside to fend for themselves as they have done all their lives. It is time the government address the root problem to all this abuse that our poor children are facing, toughen the laws and give the survivors the help they need. The problems are more wide spread than any of us can imagine. How many know of just one person who is an alcoholic or a drug abuser or a anorexic or a depressive or a survivor from child abuse or a battered wife. All it takes, is to know one person that fit into any of these categories and you should realize how widespread it can be throughout the whole province or even the country. Yes it can happen here and it does. How many institutes in this province or country have programs to deal with the issues that cause these problems. I for one, do not know of many places that will help the mentally unhealthy recover from the injustices that have been done to them. Why not help the people that need help, it could only lead to a less abusive society for the future. After all, don’t we want a better place for our children to live in. That should start now, by educating ourselves and permitting people to heal from their traumas. We need more mental health care institutes not less. The problems will not go away if we avoid the issues but only get worse. Do we sit a watch as the dreams of our children become shattered by the abuse or do we do something about it
The government of this country should have some compassion for our children and provide the necessary help to eliminate this growing problem! Abuse kills so many things in so many ways, lets stop it before it effects us all.
Pete and Deb Cozza
Written by: Colleen Thompson
Resources:
-Surviving an Eating Disorder: Perspectives and Strategies for Family and Friends by Michelle Siegel, Ph.D., Judith Brisman, Ph.D., and Margot Weinshel, Ph.D. – Harper & Row Publishers, NY, 1988
-Special thanks to Pete and Deb Cozza for “Shattered Dreams”.