Robyn’s Monthly Morsel: Eating Disorders Awareness Week is February 22-28

During this time we are reading and seeing many pieces that suggest a greater knowledge of this complex disease.

In my experience treating eating disorders and disordered eating for over 20 years, the best treatment approaches in terms of practice are self-acceptance, patience, a great care team and management of concurrent psychiatric diagnosis.

Orthorexia, a disorder centered around avoidance of foods believed to be unhealthy is largely influenced by trends such as gluten-free diets and growing attention being given to where food comes from and how it’s processed and grown. Orthorexia is the latest eating disorder diagnosis to gain major attention.

At the same time Binge Eating Disorder remains the most common and prevalent eating disorder and we continue to see new developments with respect to treatments all the time. If you suspect a friend or family member is suffering with an eating disorder, or disordered eating, I would recommend consulting the following resources before approaching that person. Eating disorders are diseases, but they are also cries for help and occur concurrently with anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric illnesses.

Here are links to organizations providing information and resources for eating disorders:

Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association
National Eating Disorders Association
International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals Foundation
Eating Disorders Blog