Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are widely identified as being difficult mental health conditions to treat. Therefore it is important to be aware of key factors which are likely to play a role in treatment outcomes.
Anorexia Treatment Outcomes
Anorexia nervosa has one of the highest mortality rates of all forms of psychiatric illness, which makes effective treatment extremely important. However, as with many health problems, sadly there is a huge difference in care, largely depending on where a person lives and whether or not one has access to private health-care.
In Eating Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence, Lask & Bryant-Waugh (2008) identify the following aspects associated with anorexia treatment outcomes:
- better outcome in younger patients
- around 25% of previous inpatients may require another admission
- recovery rates usually increase with longer follow-up
- average time for recovery, around 57-79 months
- recovery uncommon in first three years
- good outcome in half of adolescent onset cases studies
- poorer outcome in adult onset
Further research into anorexia nervosa treatment outcomes have suggested that if a anorexia sufferers receives appropriate treatment sooner rather than later, she is likely to have a better outcome than in the case of those who have had the eating disorder for a significant length of time. In addition, those who have other psychiatric conditions as well as anorexia, such as depression or obsessive compulsive disorder are often harder to treat.
Bulimia Treatment Outcomes
In contrast to anorexia, there are likely to be many more bulimia sufferers who have never received a diagnosis or treatment. This is partly due to the fact that bulimia is harder to spot because sufferers may be of normal weight and appear to eat normally when dining with others. However, bulimia is a very serious eating disorder, with dangerous purging methods typically used, including diuretics, laxative, diet pills and even emetics such as Ipecac.
Lask & Bryant-Waugh (2008) recognise that outcomes associated with the eating disorder, bulimia, are as follows:
- progression to anorexia is much less common than reverse
- some evidence suggests crossover to EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified)
- evidence that full bulimia recovery in around 47% of cases
- longer follow-up results in lower relapse rates
- less favourable outcomes if co-morbid psychiatric conditions present
As highlighted above, the eating disorders of anorexia and bulimia typically require treatment with regular follow-up care, the earlier the better. Also, while bulimics may crossover with EDNOS, it is more common for anorexia sufferers to progress to bulimia, than in reverse.
Source:
Lask, B. & Bryant-Waugh, N. (2008) Eating Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence London:Routledge
Kate Le Page - Kate Henning-Le Page writes about eating disorders, body image and recovery issues. She specializes in anorexia recovery.
Join the Conversation