Seeking Help for an Eating Disorder: Guide for College Students

Eating disorders are rampant in our country in today's society, especially among high school and college students. If you have an eating disorder, you are not alone. If you want to seek help for your eating disorder, please continue to read, as I will use my personal experience to tell you how you can find help while suffering with an eating disorder in college.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder IV-TR (DSM IV-TR) (2000), the book therapists and psychiatrists utilize in order to diagnose mental illnesses, recognizes three major types of eating disorders: anorexia, bulimia, and eating disorder not otherwise specified.

Anorexia nervosa is constituted by purposeful self-starvation in order to lose weight. An individual with anorexia refuses to maintain at least 85% of normal body weight for one's age and height, and possesses a distorted body image. Additionally, individuals who suffer from anorexia have an intense fear of gaining weight. Finally, postmenarcheal females with anorexia have not experienced a menstrual cycle in at least three months. According to the DSM IV-TR, the prevalence of anorexia is 0.5% among Americans, with females being affected ten times more than males. Anorexia typically begins in middle to late adolescence; however, adults can also develop the condition.

Bulimia nervosa is another eating disorder recognized by the DSM IV-TR, and is characterized by binge-eating, eating significantly more than a typical individual would eat in the given situation, and purging, inappropriate behaviors, such as excessive exercise, self-induced vomiting, or taking laxatives in order to prevent oneself from gaining weight, at least twice a week on average for the duration of three months or longer. Individuals with bulimia also tend to base their self-worth on their weight or shape. According to the DSM IV-TR (2000) bulimia typically starts in late adolescence or early adulthood and affects approximately 1-3% of American women. Bulimia affects ten times as many females as it does males.

Finally, eating disorder not otherwise specified is defined by the DSM IV-TR (2000) as any disordered eating patterns that do not fall into the categories of anorexia or bulimia. For instance, someone who meets all criteria for anorexia, but who has not lost her menstrual period yet would be diagnosed with eating disorder not otherwise specified. Additionally, those who compulsively overeat, those who binge-eat and purge only once a week, and those who starve themselves, but are maintaining 90% of normal body weight given one's age and height would all be diagnosed with eating disorder not otherwise specified.

If eating disorders go untreated, individuals who suffer from them can experience physical and psychological consequences. According to the Anorexia Nervosa And Related Eating Disorder, Inc. (ANARED), some of the physical consequences that may occur from untreated eating disorders include: loss of muscle mass, brittle bones, weakened immune system, malnutrition, anemia, sleeping difficulties, seizures, a damaged pelvic floor muscles, bladder infections, hypoglycemia, the growth of hair on one's arms, face, and body, infertility, a ruptured esophagus, destroyed teeth, gastric distress, kidney and liver damage, and death.

Cognitive consequences of eating disorder include an inability to make decisions, choose appropriate priorities, and make appropriate judgments, according to ANARED. Psychological consequences also result from untreated eating disorders, and include, but are not limited to: depression, self-harming behaviors (such as cutting, burning, hitting oneself, and pulling out one's hair), anxiety, feeling out of control, obsessive thinking, feeling lonely, compulsive behaviors, feeling like a failure, and suicide.

Not only can these medical, cognitive, and psychological consequences occur with untreated eating disorders, relationships are often disrupted during the course of an eating disorder. Relationships that were once good with parents may become troubled, distant, and cold. Good friends might become adversaries.

The fact that many parents tend to deny the existence of an eating disorder strains parent-to-child relationships further. Likewise, peers might encourage each other to lose weight, to exercise excessively, or to binge eat.

If you know you have an eating disorder or if your friends are concerned about your eating patterns you should seek professional help for your eating disorder. I know seeking treatment can be scary, and you are concerned about what a therapist might think of you or that you are not "sick enough" to receive treatment, but I can assure you that you will be glad you sought treatment when you begin to recover from the eating disorder that is holding you captive.

First, seek help from your college counseling center. You may not think they can do much, but these counselors are qualified to help you with your problems. Oftentimes, college campuses will employ at least one therapist who specializes in eating disorders because they are such a big problem among college students, especially college women. Call your campus counseling center and make an appointment with a therapist.

During your appointment, tell your therapist about your disordered eating. Most therapists are upfront about whether they think they can help with your specific problems or not; if the therapist you are seeing cannot help you, he or she will make a recommendation as to who you could see for therapy. If no one in the campus counseling center can help you adequately, the center will be able to give you a referral to a counselor within the community you can see.

Additionally, sometimes college campuses have therapist-run eating disorder support groups. If your campus has one of these groups, you may want to join the support group in addition to going to therapy. Many communities also have eating disorder support groups, so if your campus does not have one, ask your college's counseling center if they know of any eating disorder support groups in the greater community. If they do not know of any, do an Internet search for eating disorder support groups in your local area.

Sometimes, individuals with eating disorders need more than outpatient therapy for their eating disorders. If this is the case with you, your therapist will likely know of the nearest eating disorder treatment facility for you to consider for treatment. Many treatment centers have intensive outpatient programs and inpatient programs. In intensive outpatient programs, you spend 12-15 hours each week receiving treatment for your eating disorder through therapy sessions, medication management, groups, and sometimes meals. In an inpatient program, you stay at the treatment facility for weeks or months in order to receive all the help you need for your specific eating disorder.

Other treatment centers also offer day programs and partial hospitalization programs. If you attend a day program, you spend five or six hours each day getting treatment for your eating disorder through therapy, groups, meals, and medication management. If you attend partial hospitalization, you spend 9-11 hours each day getting help for your eating disorder with therapy, groups, meals, medication management, dietary counseling, art, music, and more.

What program is right for you will be determined by many factors including the seriousness of your eating disorder, your preferences and needs, your insurance coverage, the amount of your co-pays, and how much your family can afford to pay for your treatment, among others. This is where things can get tricky. Insurance companies do not always pay for eating disorder treatment. If your insurance company does not pay for your treatment, you must rely on your family to help you pay for care, and if they deny the existence of your eating disorder, this will be an issue.

However, some treatment centers will allow you to make payments over time. Additionally, you could seek help from your local churches and charities to help you pay for the treatment you need.

It seems rare, but I know of at least one treatment center that will provide individuals with eating disorders treatment with no cost to them, Mercy Ministries. However, this is a program centered around God and Christian principles, so if you are not Christian or are not interested in becoming Christian, this is not the right treatment program for you.

In order to find a treatment center that is right for you, do an Internet search on "eating disorder treatment centers in...." Fill in the blank with whatever state in which you live. Psych Central has composed a list of some of the eating disorder centers available in the United States; you can visit the list here. The Center for Healthy Living and Eating Disorder Resource Guide has also put together a list of eating disorder treatment centers organized by state; to view this list visit this website and scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you will see links for every state's name.

Most eating disorder centers have a lot of information about their programs on their websites, including payment options, what insurances they accept, the structure of their program, and they staff they employ. If there are any questions you have not answered on the website, contact the center to ensure all of your questions are answered before you decide to move forward with applying for or making an appointment for treatment.

If you have an eating disorder, reaching out for help can be very scary, but it is worth it to do so. Not only will you escape the grips of your eating disorder, you will be saving your own life. I truly hope this information helps you seek and obtain the help you need for your specific eating problems.

Sources:

Anorexia Nervosa And Related Eating Disorders, Inc.: Medical and Psychological Complications of Eating Disorders:
http://www.anred.com/medpsy.html

The Center for Healthy Living and Eating Disorder Resource Guide:
http://www.edtreatmentcenters.com/

Psych Central: Eating Disorders: Treatment Centers:
http://psychcentral.com/resources/Eating_Disorders/Treatment_Centers/

American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR. (2000). American Psychiatric Association: Washington, D.C.