Help For Eating Disorders

Getting Psychological or Psychiatric Counseling

What is the difference between psychologists and psychiatrists?  Basically, psychologists focus on behavior modification through psychotherapy solely.  This is the process of using verbal and nonverbal communication to discover the underlying issues contributing to a person's mental illness. 

Conversation is the most commonly used vice to achieve this objective, but psychologists may also encourage more creative forms of expression, such as through a written story, artwork or a play.  Psychologists may also use therapeutic therapy throughout their sessions.  In terms of medication, psychologists are not able to prescribe any.

On the other hand, psychiatrists may or may not use psychotherapy to help their patients.  For many of them this is a secondary concern, since their primary approach is curing the problem through psychiatric drugs.  In fact, there is so much of an emphasis on just signing prescriptions in the psychiatric community, that many psychiatrists spend very little time actually communicating with their patients. 

During a session with these types of psychiatrists, patients are asked very general questions about their emotional well-being, many of which aren't much different than what a regular physician would ask.  Granted, a patient would get the drugs they need, but emotionally they might be getting severely neglected.  Indeed, going to the wrong type of psychiatrist could cause a person to never really know what caused their issues in the first place.  And if the root of the problem is never addressed, a person could still revert back to their negative habits. 

With that being said, how can an eating disorder sufferer decide what approach is best for them?  Well, on the surface one may automatically assume that the psychologist is a better option, but this is not always the case.  This is because it's not impossible that an eating disorder sufferer might also have another mental disorder that requires drugs to treat.  An example could be depression or mania, each of which could make an eating disorder worse.  If this is the case, the best course of action would be to find a psychiatrist that also places emphasis on psychotherapy. 

Indeed, for the patient such a psychiatrist offers the best of world when it comes to psychological treatment.  However, if such a psychiatrist is not accessible, a person could still go to a regular psychologist.  If the psychologist feels a person needs psychiatric drugs, they will refer them to a psychiatrist who can issue the prescription. 

In terms of payment, most health insurance plans will cover psychological or psychiatric therapy.  This is not to say, however, that an individual psychologist or psychiatrist will accept payments from a health insurance plan.  If they don't, patients can expect to pay around $100 per one-hour session.  It should be noted, though that in some cases payment arrangements can be made if patients find it difficult to pay the fee.  There are also situations where a doctor may waive the fee, though a patient would usually have to prove a compelling case of hardship.  

The Physical Healing Process

When a person starts recovering from an eating disorder, they will notice changes in their body.  The most major one, at least for anorexics or bulimics, is immense weight gain that happens very quickly.  This is because when the body undergoes starvation, especially for a long period of time, it develops a much slower metabolism.  Any food that is consumed gets quickly converted to fat.  This process can be offset a bit by weight-training or other types of exercise that helps build up muscle. 

Yet, it is important to note that anorexics or bulimics will not be allowed the opportunity for more extensive exercise if they are receiving treatment in a mental hospital or a eating disorder clinic.  And even when their stay is over, their doctor may still want to limit the amount of psychical activity they get, at least until they can prove they can exercise in more 'normal' amounts.

For binge eaters the opposite effect is achieved….this means they will actually lose weight, since they are being placed on diets that are much healthier than what they would eat during a binge session.  Emotionally, this may make the binge eater happy, at least initially.  They will still have to struggle with their illness because for them their main enemy will be extreme hunger and cravings. 

Both will begin to cease as the binge eater's body gets used to surviving on a more normal amount of calories, but they still will have to be dealt with, at least in the beginning stages of recovery.  Some binge eaters may decide to take even more drastic means to deal with their illness, such as gastric bypass surgery.  This is a procedure that reduces the stomach while rerouting the intestines.   The result is that the body will only be able to digest a lesser amount of food at a time.  If the body receives more food than it can handle, the binge eater will get sick. 

Of course, weight is not the only physical aspect that becomes affected during recovery of an eating disorder.  For instance, if an anorexic or bulimic got lanugo, (body hair), during the course of their eating disorder, they will notice it will disappear.  They will also start to get their periods back as well as a renewed sense of energy.  This renewed sense of energy may cause their hunger level to return to what it once was, which may scare the victim.  In terms of binge eaters, they may actually get more tired since their bodies are operating on fewer calories.  However, if they are put on an exercise program, this tired feeling can be overridden. 

All in all for an eating disorder sufferer, the thought of recovery might actually be scary, since they may see the physical changes associated with it as being disastrous.  Why try to recover from their disorder if they are going to gain the weight back, or be hungry all the time?  Indeed, if the eating disorder sufferer can only answer this question with "there's no reason to recover," that is even more of a sign that they need to get treatment as soon as possible. 

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