Family-based therapy (Maudsley) is also used with adolescents suffering from bulimia, not just anorexia nervosa. And, while there is still much to learn about how best to treat chronic eating disorders of long duration in older patients, it is likely that many of those eating disorders started in adolescence or young adulthood. How wonderful it would have been if those behaviors could have been interrupted at an early stage of the illness, instead of becoming chronic. All evidence points to early intervention as leading to better outcomes.
While research on the Maudsley method has been studied in adolescents, I know of people who have successfully used it with older adult children. While perhaps not the norm at this time, it is not impossible.
For bulimia in older patients, the evidenced-based treatment of choice is Cognitive Behavioral therapy and antidepressant medications. I am personally less familiar with this as this was not my family's issue. However, I have done a great deal of reading and research on ED's in general.
Bob, I appreciate your willingness to maintain an open mind an acknowledge that people with ED's come from all sorts of backgrounds. What I found so upsetting in Joanna's column was the 'this is the way it is' for eating disordered patients, as though they were all lumped into one.
Please recall the schizophrenogenic mother of schizophrenia or the refrigerator mothers of autism. No one believes that anymore. Why do eating disorders, a mental illness, deserve the special distinction of being blamed on parenting, on the media or on society?
Dr. Thomas Insel says, and I quote "...Anorexia nervosa, among the most serious of mental disorders, can be deadly for young women who get caught up in a malignant cycle of weight loss and compulsive behaviors. The mortality rate for those with anorexia nervosa is estimated at 5% per decade. Research tells us that anorexia nervosa is a brain disease with severe metabolic effects on the entire body. While the symptoms are behavioral, this illness has a biological core, with genetic components, changes in brain activity, and neural pathways currently under study. Most women with anorexia nervosa recover, usually following intensive psychological and medical care."
He also states:
"How badly we have done by parents by separating individuals from families,
and blaming families for the problem...
We need to ask for a day of atonement for past care,
and we need to bring families into the picture."
Dr. Thomas Insel Director of the US National Institute of Mental Health 2007
There are obviously differing views in the ED treatment world. This is a big part of the problem for families...and ultimately sufferers.
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Family-based therapy (Maudsley) is also used with adolescents suffering from bulimia, not just anorexia nervosa. And, while there is still much to learn about how best to treat chronic eating disorders of long duration in older patients, it is likely that many of those eating disorders started in adolescence or young adulthood. How wonderful it would have been if those behaviors could have been interrupted at an early stage of the illness, instead of becoming chronic. All evidence points to early intervention as leading to better outcomes.
While research on the Maudsley method has been studied in adolescents, I know of people who have successfully used it with older adult children. While perhaps not the norm at this time, it is not impossible.
For bulimia in older patients, the evidenced-based treatment of choice is Cognitive Behavioral therapy and antidepressant medications. I am personally less familiar with this as this was not my family's issue. However, I have done a great deal of reading and research on ED's in general.
Bob, I appreciate your willingness to maintain an open mind an acknowledge that people with ED's come from all sorts of backgrounds. What I found so upsetting in Joanna's column was the 'this is the way it is' for eating disordered patients, as though they were all lumped into one.
Please recall the schizophrenogenic mother of schizophrenia or the refrigerator mothers of autism. No one believes that anymore. Why do eating disorders, a mental illness, deserve the special distinction of being blamed on parenting, on the media or on society?
Dr. Thomas Insel says, and I quote "...Anorexia nervosa, among the most serious of mental disorders, can be deadly for young women who get caught up in a malignant cycle of weight loss and compulsive behaviors. The mortality rate for those with anorexia nervosa is estimated at 5% per decade. Research tells us that anorexia nervosa is a brain disease with severe metabolic effects on the entire body. While the symptoms are behavioral, this illness has a biological core, with genetic components, changes in brain activity, and neural pathways currently under study. Most women with anorexia nervosa recover, usually following intensive psychological and medical care."
He also states:
"How badly we have done by parents by separating individuals from families,
and blaming families for the problem...
We need to ask for a day of atonement for past care,
and we need to bring families into the picture."
Dr. Thomas Insel Director of the US National Institute of Mental Health 2007
There are obviously differing views in the ED treatment world. This is a big part of the problem for families...and ultimately sufferers.
June 4, 2009 - 6:49pmThis Comment
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