Eating Disorders

Overview & Synopsis

Eating disorders are common and life-threatening. Their treatment has led to many problems that are difficult to resolve. What treatment should we offer people with very long-standing eating disorders (Severe and Enduring Eating Disorders, SEED)? When younger patients are referred, should they have priority over patients with a longer history who might be more challenging to treat? Is there ever a case, for example, when patients have been treated many times, possibly against their will, and not benefited, for discontinuing active treatment and adopting a palliative approach? Even posing the question can be controversial. When someone lives far from any clinic, or if a referral is made during a pandemic, is it reasonable to offer teletherapy using videoconferencing approaches? How should we approach the management of osteoporosis in eating disorders? Do hormones work? Are biphosphonate drugs appropriate and safe to use in anorexia nervosa? Is exercise useful in the treatment of binge eating disorder? What is mentalizing, and how is it relevant to people with eating disorders? Can bariatric surgery be used in people with obesity and eating disorders? How are obesity and eating disorders associated? This new book begins to unravel some of these knotty issues, which include medical, psychological and ethical/philosophical elements. The book will be of interest to clinicians in mental and physical health, faced with dilemmas in the management of patients and legal scholars and practitioners, attempting to unravel ethical issues which emerge during the treatment of eating disorders. People with eating disorders and their carers will also find helpful discussions of those dilemmas in their own lives. It is by no means the last word, as these problems continue to emerge and challenge professionals, patients and carers attempting to find solutions.