What is Anorexia Nervosa?
Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder that affects males and females of all ages. It is a condition that has one of the highest death rates of any mental health disorder.
Anorexia Nervosa Signs, Symptoms, and Causes
There are three essential features of Anorexia Nervosa:
1. Restriction of energy intake relative to requirements leading to a significantly low body weight in the context of age, sex, developmental trajectory, and physical health.
2. Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, or persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain.
3. Disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
Early diagnosis and treatment of anorexia nervosa are crucial to preventing permanent damage to the body’s vital systems. With proper treatment for anorexia nervosa, anorexia patients can regain their physical and emotional strength, achieve long-term recovery, and lead happy productive lives. Left untreated, anorexia can be fatal.
If you suspect that you or someone you care about may be suffering from the illness, it’s important to seek anorexia nervosa treatment as soon as possible. You can easily reach out to our rehab for anorexia to get immediate assistance. Some anorexia patients need, at a minimum, a combination of medical treatment, nutritional counseling, and variety of therapies. People who are severely underweight or have other related medical problems might require an initial hospital stay and intensive treatment before addressing the underlying conditions. Our broad goals for anorexia patients include restoring the patient to a healthy weight, establishing healthy eating habits, and addressing the psychological, emotional and other factors that contributed to the disorder.
Rosewood has more than a decade of experience understanding and treating people with even the most severe forms of anorexia. We take a holistic, gentle, non-judgmental approach to helping every patient overcome anorexia and the underlying issues that contribute to it.
Rosewood Uses an Individualized 5-Goal Process to Treat Anorexia
Our anorexia treatment methods and approach at Rosewood is always to personalize each patient’s anorexia treatment plan in ways that respond to their individual needs. Our overarching goals for each patient’s anorexia treatment program focus on a common set of imperatives that each patient arrives at in their own unique way. These include:
- Ensure the patient is medically stabilized, at a weight level that’s medically appropriate; provide any necessary detoxification under careful medical supervision
- Develop a comprehensive anorexia treatment plan with input from our multidisciplinary team as well as the patient and family members.
- Work with the patient to detect and deal with any psychiatric illness and psychological challenges associated with anorexia or co-occurring disorder(s).
- Focus on behaviors and thinking processes that impede progress toward lasting recovery.
- Proactively prepare each patient with comprehensive aftercare plans that reduce the chance of relapse.
Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa
Rosewood accepts patients at any point in their recovery journey. As the client’s recovery evolves, so will his or her personal treatment program. Anorexia treatment options:
Medical Treatment: The first priority in anorexia treatment is addressing and resolving any serious health issues, including malnourishment, heart issues, depression, as well as addiction and other co-occurring disorders. We offer acute-care inpatient services, including medically supervised detox if necessary, to stabilize the patient.
Nutritional Counseling: One of our first priorities when you arrive at Rosewood is to have you meet with one of our Registered Dietitians (RD) one-on-one to develop a comprehensive anorexia treatment plan. All members of our nutrition staff have at least a Master’s-level degree in nutrition with experience in eating disorders. Additionally, our lead dietitian is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian and a Board Certified Specialist in Eating Disorders. Your meeting with the RD helps us customize a nutrition program specifically for you. We’ll seek to evaluate your nutritional needs, assess your unique history and relationship with food, understand the progression of your eating disorder behaviors, learn about any medical complications, dietary allergies and intolerances we need to know about to personalize your meal plan. With this information, the RD will design a customized meal plan for and with you—one you’ll enjoy while you’re with us at Rosewood and long after you complete your anorexia treatment.
Counseling and Therapy: As part of each patient’s multidisciplinary team at Rosewood, a therapist will work with the patient in individual and group settings to help identify and replace any negative thoughts with healthier and less distorted beliefs about themselves and their relationship with food. We also offer a wide range of experiential therapies that help patients heal and grow. These proven therapeutic techniques give patients a chance to deal with tough emotions, stress, insecurities, and relationship problems in a productive way. Therapists will also help patients get past their fears of gaining weight. Each patient’s anorexia treatment plan also contains a strong relapse prevention component.
Levels of Care for Anorexia Treatment
At Rosewood, our patients enter treatment at the appropriate level of care that is required for their specific situation. This determination is generally based on medical complications, acuity of the eating disorder and results of the patient’s evaluations. As patients move along the path of recovery and achieve their treatment goals for anorexia nervosa, they can step-down among the levels of care within our comprehensive services:
Rosewood Takes An Individualized Approach To Treatment for Anorexia
Anorexia nervosa treatment at each beautiful Rosewood facility focuses on treating the whole person within an individualized, collaborative framework. Clients, multidisciplinary professionals, family members and referring professionals work as a team toward long-term recovery. Each client’s anorexia treatment program at Rosewood involves multiple modalities across five key components:
- Medical stabilization, weight restoration, detox
- Identify & address psychological challenges
- Identify & address psychiatric illnesses
- Reduce or eliminate destructive thoughts & behaviors
- Create & implement a strong relapse prevention plan
Who Is Mainly Affected by Anorexia?
Statistically, anorexia nervosa affects 0.5-1% of the population. Teenagers and young adults between ages 12 and 25 comprise almost 95% of all anorexia sufferers. Though more common among youth, anorexia can affect people of all ages and can even be a recurring illness throughout one’s life. Although the exact cause of anorexia development is unknown, researchers believe it to be a combination of biological, psychological and environmental factors.
I am taking it one day at a time. I am sober. I am recovering. And I will share my story to let others know they’re not alone.
Is Anorexia A Problem For You Or Someone You Love?
Find out and take action. Rosewood’ anorexia treatment center offers proven treatment programs that work. Here are some next steps:
- Take our free online anorexia assessment in complete confidence. One of our trained anorexia treatment center specialists will call you back with results.
- We know how to treat anorexia nervosa! Call us now at (888) 228-1253. Compassionate staff is available 24/7 to answer your questions, in complete confidence.
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I can’t even begin to explain the amount of support I received from my treatment team and other patients. I’m so thankful for Rosewood and all that they have done for me. They saved my life and for that I will be forever thankful.