Eating recovery refers to the full spectrum of care that acknowledges and treats the multiple etiologies of anorexia nervosa and bulimia, including the biological, psychological, social and emotional causes of the disorder, through a comprehensive, integrated treatment regimen.
When successful, this regimen restores the individual to a healthy weight and arms them with the skills and resources needed to maintain a sustainable recovery.
This carefully orchestrated treatment curriculum incorporates the following tenets to help patients cultivate an understanding of disease-management skills and how to implement those lessons into their post-treatment lives.
Anorexia patients with a very low body weight (BMI < 13) may need to be stabilized due to medical complications caused by starvation, including liver failure or heart problems.
[5] In eating recovery, patients work with their therapists to mentalize, or identify, their own emotions while understanding that others may hold differing points of view.
The ability to understand emotions and see situations from more than one viewpoint reduces anxiety and minimizes the need to rely on an eating disorder as a coping mechanism.
[6] Absence of self-awareness is frequently seen in eating disorder patients, causing them to react to situations, feelings and other stimuli emotionally rather than rationally.
By practicing mindful self-awareness, eating recovery learn to examine their thoughts, feelings, memories and bodily sensations from an objective point of view.
Patients are encouraged to let go of self-centered thinking to achieve a state wherein individuals are able to observe their thoughts and understand their subconscious motivations—sexual, material, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual.
Self-directedness is a dimension of a person's character which has to do with the ability of an individual to control, regulate, and adapt their behavior to the situation at hand in accordance with their own goals, purposes, and values.
Eating recovery focuses on helping patients engage in self-directed behavior by giving their actions meaning within a values context.
[9] Dialectical behavioral therapy or DBT combines standard cognitive-behavioral techniques for emotion regulation and reality-testing with concepts of mindful awareness, distress tolerance, and acceptance in the treatment of eating disorders.