Couselling for Eating Disorders

Anorexia Nervosa is a mental health problem that changes our way of thinking towards food. A person suffering from Anorexia Nervosa feels that he needs to lose weight, even though they have average weight or are underweight. People think that they need a tight diet plan, and they start doing over-exercise.

Anorexia Nervosa can be fatal because it is a mental problem. According to NIED, 20 percent of people with Anorexia Nervosa attempt suicide in their lifetime in Canada. It is mostly seen in women, and the mortality rate is 12 percent greater for females aged between 15 to 25 years old.

The following are some signs and symptoms you may feel when you are suffering from Anorexia Nervosa.

• Feeling anxious about high calories food
• Fear of gaining weight
• Overthinking about body shape
• Not being honest when someone ask about your diet
• Over Exercising after eating
• Feeling anxious or depressed after eating
• Feeling doubtful When others say you have normal weight

Bulimia Nervosa is the second type of eating disorder, and people with it feel they have eaten much in one sitting, and now they are ashamed of what they did. They try to get rid of the food they ate through vomiting or using laxatives. Excessive eating is known as bingeing, and getting rid of it through vomiting is known as purging.

People with Bulimia Nervosa try to avoid eating, which leads to bingeing, and they eat a lot in one sitting. The binge-purge cycles can be triggered by anxiety, stress, sadness, and hunger. According to NIED, 25 to 35 percent of people with Bulimia Nervosa attempt suicide in their life in Canada.

The following are some signs and symptoms you may feel when you are suffering from Bulimia Nervosa.

• Feeling anxious about body shape
• Fear of gaining weight
• Feeling ashamed and guilty
• Purging food after binge
• Preventing yourself from eating to avoid weight gain
• Eating a lot of food in one sitting

People with this type of eating disorder overeat regularly. Sometimes people depend on food for emotional support and use it as a way to overcome or forget difficulties. It is common in both the gender; men and women and more common in adults.

Several types of therapies are used to overcome eating disorders, including CBT and FBT. Counselors help you to face your challenges by identifying their reasons and to become more confident. Counselors will teach you how to deal with your thoughts to cope with difficult situations and other mental health issues associated with eating disorders. The following are some of the most common therapies used to get rid of eating disorders.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy or talkative therapy focuses on our way of thinking about how we look at the world and ourselves. Cognitive means how our negative thoughts contribute to anxiety, and behavioural means how we behave in the circumstances that create anxiety and forces us to overeat. Cognitive Behavioral therapy treats panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and many other mental health issues associated with eating disorders. The therapist first analyzes your negative thoughts and teaches you how to deal with them and then replace them with real thoughts. CBT is short term therapy and usually ends in 10 to 20 sessions and can be used with a group or individual.

Family-based therapy is an effective and proven treatment for youth suffering from Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa. In FBT, parents play a vital role and help their children to recover from eating disorders. Counsellors teach parents how to take control of their child’s diet and how they can help their children to eat healthily. When the child becomes used to the healthy diet plan, parents give back control of the diet to them. Parents and the person with eating disorders visit the therapist together during FBT. Family-based therapy usually involves 20 sessions.

Interpersonal therapy is a structured therapy that is especially associated with interpersonal issues. The therapy works on your beliefs and thoughts and relies on the concept that mental health problems are often responses to difficulties we are facing while interacting with others. Interpersonal therapy is short-term and usually lasts around 12 to 16 sessions and focuses on the root causes of the problem.