What Are Eating Disorders and Eating Disorder Treatment Options?

What are Eating Disorders?

Eating disorders are a mental health diagnosis that significantly impacts the person’s functioning in their relationships, occupationally and in their everyday lives. Eating disorders are defined by changes in behaviour, thoughts and attitude towards food, eating, weight or body image. Individuals who meet the criteria for an eating disorder may engage in behaviours such as restricting their food intake, vomiting, binge eating, engaging in excessive exercise and using laxatives and diet pills. Eating disorder behaviours are usually an attempt for individuals in the moment to seek control, influence their body shape/weight and/or numb and distract themselves from experiencing intense emotions.

Eating disorders occur in 1 out of 20 Australians throughout their lifetime and require the appropriate support to manage symptoms and medical risks associated with Eating Disorders. Eating disorders can occur at any age, weight, size, shape, gender identity, socioeconomic group and cultural background. Eating disorders may develop as a result of the person’s temperament and genetics, previous bullying experiences around appearance or body image, modelling and observing other people’s eating behaviours and experiencing trauma, abuse and/or neglect.

What are the different Eating Disorder presentations?

The primary eating disorder presentations include:

• Anorexia Nervosa (AN)

• Bulimia Nervosa (BN)

• Binge Eating Disorder (BED)

• Otherwise Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED), and

• Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).

It is important to access professional support to be diagnosed effectively and receive appropriate treatment. Further information on diagnoses; https://insideoutinstitute.org.au/assets/dsm-5%20criteria.pdf

How to access support for an Eating Disorder and what does this look like?

To seek treatment for an Eating Disorder, clients are required to attend a session with their GP to receive access to an Eating Disorder Management Plan (EDMP). During the session, the GP will assess if they are eligible to receive the plan. There are a few things to note about the use of an EDMP:

1. The plan is activated from the date the client organises their plan with their GP (for example if seeing their GP on the 8th of August 2024, the plan would expire on the 8th of August 2025).

2. Clients can access between 20-40 sessions from when their plan was activated and can receive a Medicare rebate for sessions when attending sessions with their psychologist.

3. Clients are required to attend a review with their GP after the 10th session of their EDMP.

4. At the 20th session, it would be required for the client to attend an appointment with a psychiatrist to then be able to receive access to another 20 sessions until the plan expires.

It is required that clients attend sessions consistently, for example weekly or fortnightly, to gain optimal support. It is also recommended that clients may need ongoing support from their GP, psychiatrist and/or dietitian. Treatment is aimed at providing a safe space to manage symptoms experienced.

Treatment approaches available include but are not limited to the below approaches. Your psychologist will also be able to guide you with which eating disorder treatment options are best suited to your needs and goals.

• Enhanced Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT-E)

• Specialist Supportive Clinical Management (SSCM)

• Schema Focused Therapy for Eating Disorders

• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

Authored by Laura Miles, Clinical Psychologist

Laura offers sessions at True North Psychology on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings. She currently has a waitlist.