Posted on Aug 7th, 2009 |
By Colin Gilbert
Among the many types of treatment available to individuals suffering from eating disorders, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) stands out as especially effective. Because it targets the complex relationships between thoughts, feelings, and actions, CBT efficiently gets to the root of bulimia, anorexia, and other disorders where a person’s distorted self-image leads them to adopt unhealthy eating habits.
With most eating disorders, a warped perception of self is responsible for harmful eating habits. As a result of societal pressure or interpersonal abuse, a person may obsess over her weight and feel overweight even when she is not. Or, an overweight individual may erroneously associate food with comfort and safety. Feelings of fear, guilt, and despair often accompany the overwhelming preoccupation with eating or not eating, and the thoughts can lead to various types of damaging behavior.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is based on the idea that thoughts and actions are inexorably tied. Every person develops habits of thought that are the product of genetic disposition, environmental stimuli, and personal choices. In turn, those cognitive habits lead to specific kinds of behavior which can sometimes be self-destructive.
The aim of CBT is to identify and repair unhealthy patterns of thought, and consequently break the cycle of destructive behavior. For those who feel powerless in stopping the harm done by their sickness, CBT offers the encouraging idea that each individual has the power and potential to initiate his or her own healing.
According to University of Chicago’s Department of Psychiatry, cognitive behavioral therapy is ideal for treating bulimia nervosa and is also recommended in cases of anorexia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and other eating disorders. The university’s research suggests that CBT adds to the benefits of medication and other forms of psychotherapy.
Patients receiving CBT are typically asked to keep a journal of food consumption as well as a record of cravings, aversions, binging and purging episodes, and the feelings that accompany the behaviors. Planned meals help build healthy eating habits and appropriate attitudes toward diet and nutrition.
CBT sessions for eating disorders are typically an hour long and can be either private or group-based. Meetings are usually scheduled weekly or every two weeks and may last for one to six months. While CBT is often successful in managing eating disorders, it is not necessarily a permanent cure, and continued discipline on the part of the patient is required for long-term health.
Battling an eating disorder can be a terrifying and lonely experience, but help is available to those seeking it. Anyone interested in pursuing cognitive behavioral therapy for an eating disorder should contact his or her general practitioner for advice on finding local help. Links are also available through www.nationaleatingdisorders.org.
Posted in Eating Disorder Treatment
Posted on Jul 27th, 2009 |
By Leslie Thompson
Over the past few decades, obesity has become a highly prevalent problem in American society, and it is one of the fastest-growing health epidemics in the country. Recent reports show that 34 percent of adult Americans are obese and/or overweight, and more than 30 percent of children are similarly obese. With such a high percentage of the population battling obesity, many different treatment programs have been developed to help combat this issue. One such form of treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy.
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Posted in Eating Disorders
Posted on Jul 20th, 2009 |
Eating disorders are something that still seems to lurk along the sidelines of basic medicine. The stigma attached to a disorder, as well as the underlying psychological issues that could be present can often prevent an individual from seeking help for or even admitting to suffering from an eating disorder. (more…)
Posted in Anorexia
Posted on Jul 17th, 2009 |
More than 20 years ago, Maggie Baumann was struggling with anorexia while pregnant, a condition called “pregorexia.” Now 48 and living in Laguna Niguel, she’s a therapist who specializes in treating eating disorders.
When she was pregnant with her first daughter, Christine, she gained a healthy 33 pounds. But at the time, the weight felt foreign and unhealthy to her. “My first pregnancy I felt so out of control with my body changes…the stretching of my stomach, the increased size of my breasts…all those changes made me feel like I was losing myself and my identity of being ‘thin’ and in control of myself,” she said.
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Posted in Anorexia
Posted on Jul 9th, 2009 |
Michael Jackson weighed a reported 112 pounds at his death. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, which would make his body mass index a skeletal 15.6 at the time of his death. A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 25, and according to the World Health Organization, a BMI of 16.0 is the weight at which one might die of starvation.
Mark Rubi, a writer for www.Examiner.com, poses the question of whether Jackson suffered from anorexia, an eating disorder characterized by an unwillingness to eat. Sources close to Jackson say that he admittedly ate very little, and many who saw him up close over the last few years said he looked very frail.
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Posted in Anorexia
Posted on Jul 1st, 2009 |
An international study found that a variation in a gene that is active in the central nervous system is associated with increased risk for obesity. This research adds to the evidence that genes influence appetite and that the brain plays a role in obesity.
Robert Kaplan, PhD., associate professor of epidemiology and population health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University helped direct the international study, which involved 34 research institutions. Dr. Kaplan and colleagues found that people who have inherited the gene variant NRXN3 have a 10-15 percent increased risk of being obese compared with people who do not have the variant.
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Posted in Food Addiction
Posted on Jun 22nd, 2009 |
While many people think that anorexia and other eating disorders are caused by perfectionist parents and the media’s idealization of wafer-thin models, a Time article reports that researchers at the Maudsley Hospital in London believe the root cause of anorexia is hereditary. In fact, it may even be explained by some of the same genes that are associated with autism.
Researchers at the Eating Disorders Unit at the Maudsley Hospital have long been studying the relationship between autism and anorexia. They may seem entirely different, but the London researchers point out that some of the most important characteristics of the illnesses are similar.
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Posted in Anorexia
Posted on Jun 15th, 2009 |
Scientific evidence shows that our food intake is governed by both the need to eat for survival and the desire to eat, the latter of which is controlled by the dopamine signaling system in our brains. Dopamine controls motivation, movement, and feelings of pleasure, and it urges us to eat and lets us know that eating makes us feel good. The same thing happens in drug addiction.
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Posted in Eating Disorder Treatment
Posted on Jun 11th, 2009 |
People with nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder eat while they are asleep; they also often sleepwalk into the kitchen and prepare food without having any recollection of doing so. If this occurs often enough, a person can experience weight gain and increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The condition is a hybrid of a sleeping disorder and an eating disorder.
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Posted in Eating Disorders
Posted on Jun 6th, 2009 |
Eating disorders – which are serious, potential life-threatening diseases that develop due to poor body confidence, genetics and the desire to maintain control over the weight of a person’s body – afflicts over 10% of the American population, with many of the sufferers female. However, while many women may not develop full-blown eating disorders, new research has indicated that 65% of women struggle with their body image issues, with many women even going so far as to fast or starve themselves in an effort to lose weight. (more…)
Posted in Body Image
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