Eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are notoriously difficult to treat.?

Question

What factors appear to be significant in these disorders that make recovery very difficult to achieve? You can cite studies which identified predictors of recovery for these disorders

Answer 1

Sine qua non factor for intractability is: Once it reaches the delusional stage, i.e. body image, certainty that a 'magic' weight will mean happiness and a full blown self hatred - it's a tough nut to crack. Because ALL delusions, by their very definition, are beliefs held in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

I don't remember the lay person who wrote about the CNC: But, I think she is onto some basic truths. Both her daughters had eating disorders and she pioneered some ways of helping them. CNC = confirmed negativity condition. The victims of this become so unbelievably negative and self condemning that it makes treatment difficult. So, there are two factors. I hope some others come up with other good stuff. This is an area that is sorely neglected by psychology.

I think it is neglected because, the girls scoff at CBT and its weakness and quasi preaching techniques.

Answer 2

anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are both eating disorders. an eating disorder is...well, an eating disorder, and a mental illness at that. anorexia is usually classified as undereating and refusal to maintain a healthy body weight, and bulimia is binging (overeating, or eating quite a lot) and then purging (getting rid of it through laxatives or self-induced vomiting.) there's also an eating disorder where you OVEREAT, i'm not sure what it's called though.

Answer 3

I believe the main factor is that if someone is an alcoholic you can remove all alcohol from their life so they will be less tempted. But what is unique to eating disorders is that their addiction is contradictory to what is required to survive (i.e. they do not eat or purge but they must eat to sustain themselves)... The tricky part then is finding a balance internally between these to opposites.

Answer 4

The thing is, getting someone's state of mind to change is extremely hard. People with the likes of anorexia believe they are fat no matter what weight they are and they will do anything to constantly lose weight... It's all about state of mind.
People with the likes of Anorexia truely believe they are fat and if you strongly believe in something it takes a lot to change that belief. It's sort of like religion in some ways.
I suppose in some ways it's like trying to get a priest to not believe in God.

Answer 5

I found sexual abuse is often underlying weight issues. Anorexia "does away" with the secondary features of maturing into an adult woman. This is seen by many as making themselves look like boys or children and therefore gives them some sense of protection. Psychotherapy is effective here.

Answer 6

My mother suffered from it, or rather we suffered from it while she thought she was normal..
We tried anything and everything we could do. At the end she just wasted away, it broke our heart..
I think it depends on the personality, my mother was extremely introverted, and very hard headed

Answer 7

I suffered from anorexia in my teens , it was more of an addiction for me

Answer 8

imo, its all about mindsets. the toughest barriers to break, after all, are psychological barriers.