Eating Disorder Treatment
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia is a devastating illness that robs you of your joy, your peace of mind, and eventually your health.
Maybe all you ever think about is how much you’ve eaten, and how to avoid eating more, or maybe you’re worried when you go out to eat. You feel like you’re in control, but more often it feels like maybe anorexia is actually in control.
People with anorexia worry a great deal about gaining weight or becoming “fat”. The idea of “fat” may be associated with other ideas such as a loss of control or being unlovable. Because of this fear, you have difficulty nourishing yourself well enough. Therefore, you may become underweight or even dangerously thin.
Real change is possible.
Symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa
Many people with anorexia report that they spend a good amount of their mental energy worrying about what they’ve eaten and planning for your next meal. For those who have concerned others in their lives, they may hide their eating habits. However, a person with anorexia often continues feeling “fat” because that feeling doesn’t have much to do with how their body actually looks. Perhaps, you’ve seen the cartoon depicting anorexia. This cartoon showed a thin woman looking in the mirror with a larger woman looking back. Many people with anorexia describe their experience with their bodies as being very much like that.
Some people become aware that their eating problems have gotten out of control. They notice that it’s difficult to concentrate or even care about anything besides food. Some might even stop getting their menstrual periods or notice that they are losing hair. Sometimes, loved ones might start expressing concern about your weight or how much you eat. After doing some research, it’s clear that anorexia has taken over your life.
Signs and Symptoms of Anorexia
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Note: some people do not get all or any of these symptoms. You might still have a problem, even if you don’t have these symptoms. Please reach out to our clinic if you are unsure.
Rapid or extreme weight loss
Low body weight
Weakness
Brittle, breakable hair and nails
Ammenhorria (this happens when your period stops and fertility is impacted)
Often feeling cold
Lanugo (a fine downy hair that the body grows to deal with the cold)
A yellowish or orange tint to the skin
Difficulty sleeping
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Irritability
Often worrying about being fat or having fat on your body
Feeling a grandiose sense of achievement for thinness
Lots of anxiety about food & your body
Preoccupation with food, including feeding others
Difficulty thinking about things that are not food-related
Poor concentration
Feeling “space-y” and out of it
Low energy
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Not eating enough
Eating in peculiar ways to manage anxiety during meals (food rituals)
Weighing yourself frequently
Checking for body fat often
Hiding how little you’re eating from others
Bingeing (occasionally eating large quantities of food)
Purging (attempting to get rid of calories eaten)
Our Approach to Anorexia Nervosa
During eating disorder treatment at Monarch Wellness and Psychotherapy in Washington DC, we will work with you to find control over anorexia. Our counselors help you understand anorexia and the false promises it has made.
We think about what emotional role anorexia may play, such as helping you to feel safe, in control, good enough or lovable. Then, we make sure that you feel empowered to begin to meet those needs yourself in healthier, more reality-based ways.
While we are doing this deep emotional work, we also offer solid, concrete, evidence-based tools for fighting anorexia. Our therapists will help you establish a complete support team to help you tolerate your anxiety when you begin to eat differently.
Then, we help you to fight back against your “eating disorder voice.” This is the voice in your head that says that you are never good enough, never thin enough, never perfect enough. Ultimately, we hope to help you discover your own voice and take back your life.
To treat anorexia, we use the following tools:
Anorexia Nervosa in Youth And Adolescents: Family-Based Therapy (FBT) & Family Systems Therapy
For our younger clients who are struggling with anorexia, family therapy can often be extremely helpful. An eating disorder can affect everyone in the family. In addition, everyone in the family can affect the behavior of someone with an eating disorder. With the help of a family therapist, you can begin to turn arguments about food into real conversations about feelings, stop battling each other and start feeling more connected.
Healing from Anorexia Nervosa
Clients who come to us for eating disorder treatment report feeling free. They finally have the headspace to really care about school and work, relationships, and how they feel about themselves. They are comfortable in their bodies and have the energy to do the things they care about. Let the counselors at Monarch Wellness and Psychotherapy help you find freedom from Anorexia.
Ready to start your healing journey?
Schedule an appointment with Monarch Wellness and Psychotherapy today. We’re here to support you every step of the way toward a healthier, more fulfilling life.