Living in a society obsessed with being thin, dieting, and extreme exercise, you may have difficulty recognizing that your thoughts or behaviors relating to food have become detrimental to your health and happiness.
An eating disorder such as anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder may have become a means of expressing control over the chaos swirling around you. Or an eating disorder may have developed to cope with symptoms of another mental health disorder, such as borderline personality disorder (BPD), substance abuse and addiction, or bipolar disorder.
In the U.S. alone, approximately 28.8 million people will have an eating disorder sometime in their lives, and 35- 57% of adolescent girls will engage in potentially dangerous weight-loss activities. Eating disorders are very serious, complex mental illnesses that impact both physical and mental health, and left untreated, they can be fatal.
At Clearview Treatment Programs, we address unhealthy relationships with food as well as the underlying issues that cause eating disorders.
What Does an Eating Disorder Look Like?
- Anorexia nervosa causes people to obsess over their weight, at times leading to below-normal body weights. It’s common for those with anorexia to starve or exercise excessively to prevent weight gain or to lose weight, which can lead to serious health problems. People with anorexia often equate thinness with self-worth and are 18 times more likely than the general population to die prematurely.
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Bulimia nervosa is characterized by recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food and feeling a lack of control. This binge eating is followed by destructive behaviors that compensate for overeating, such as self-induced vomiting, the abuse of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, excessive exercise, or a combination of all these behaviors. This binging and purging cycle may occur daily or weekly.
People with bulimia nervosa commonly sustain a healthy or normal weight. The intense fear of gaining weight and the desperate desire to lose weight leaves them deeply unhappy with their body size and shape. Bulimic behavior is often enacted in secret due to prominent feelings of inner disgust and shame. - If you have experience with Binge Eating Disorder, you know what it is like to lose control over your eating. Different from bulimia, binge eating is not followed by purging, excessive eating, or fasting, which often leads to being overweight or obese. People with binge eating disorder are at higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. They also often feel guilt, shame, and distress about their eating habits, which can trigger additional binge eating cycles.
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Treating Eating Disorders
While often challenging to overcome, eating disorders are treatable. At Clearview, clients can gain a greater sense of self, return to healthier eating habits, and reverse the damage caused by disordered eating.
Eating disorders frequently co-occur with other mental disorders such as depression, substance abuse and addiction, anxiety, or borderline personality disorder (BPD). With co-occurring conditions, it’s vital to get treatment for both the eating disorder as well as the mental health disorder to ensure lasting recovery.
At Clearview, we understand what clients are going through and specialize in helping them regain a sense of self, while improving their overall health. Our nutrition experts, eating disorder therapists, and onsite chef all contribute to tailored treatment plans to meet the needs of each client.