Posted by Dr. Beth Steinhauer on December 22, 2004, at 17:10:48
In reply to Re: Steinhauer:, posted by stresser on December 22, 2004, at 12:42:21
Dear Stresser,
I applaud you for your concern and your wish to help your daughter. We know that getting treatment early for eating disorders is crucial in preventing long-term medical and psychiatric complications.
There are many excellent books on the market that may answer some of your questions. One book, "Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder", by James Lock and my colleague at University of Chicago, Daniel le Grange, was just published and I recommend it highly for parents and families. For your daughter, another book I recommend a lot is Christopher Fairburn's "Overcoming Binge Eating". It is quite accessible and many of my patients have found it helpful.
The basic message that I'd emphasize is that restrictive dieting almost inevitably leads to compensatory bingeing. Rather than dieting, I encourage people to regularize their eating by eating 3 meals per day and snacks, not exceeding 3-4 hours in the daytime without having something to eat or drink, and exercising regularly (but not compulsively). These are important tenets for all of us, and lead to lifelong healthy eating.
Best of luck with your daughter's recovery. I'm delighted to hear that she's in treatment. If she does not appear to be responding to talk therapy alone with her psychologist, you might want to ask him/her to refer her for a consultation with a child psychiatrist, as SSRI medications can be very effective in binge eating and bulimia. ES
poster:Dr. Beth Steinhauer
thread:432437
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/eating/20041128/msgs/432997.html