Anorexia Treatment

"A health care team of doctors, nutritionists, and therapists will help the patient get better. They will help bring the person back to a normal weight, treat psychological issues related to anorexia, and help the person get rid of actions or thoughts that cause the eating disorder. Some research suggests that medicines, such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, or mood stabilizers, may sometimes work for anorexic patients. These medicines may help the mood and anxiety symptoms that often coexist with anorexia. Other recent studies, however, suggest that antidepressants may not stop some patients with anorexia from relapsing. No medicine has shown to work 100 percent of the time during the important first step of restoring a patient to a healthy weight. Some forms of psychotherapy, sometimes known as talk therapy, can help make the psychological reasons for anorexia better. Psychotherapy uses different ways of communicating to change a patient's thoughts or behavior. This kind of therapy can be useful for treating eating disorders in young patients who have not had anorexia for a long time. Individual counseling can help someone with anorexia, and if the patient is young, counseling may involve the whole family. Support groups may also be part of treatment, allowing patients and families to meet and share what they have been through. Prescribing medicines and using psychotherapy designed for anorexic patients may work better at treating anorexia than psychotherapy alone, although whether a treatment works depends on the person and the situation. No one kind of psychotherapy always works for treating adults with anorexia."