How is anorexia treated?
Treatment of anorexia must focus on more than weight gain. In fact, weight gain should be secondary to the more serious underlying issues facing the anorexic. Some individuals recover fully after a single episode. Some experience a fluctuating pattern of weight gain followed by a relapse. Others experience a progressively deteriorating course of the illness over many years and still others never fully recover. As with many other addictions, it takes a day-to-day effort to control the urge to relapse. There are a variety of treatment approaches. Treatment typically depends primarily on the resources available to the individual. For those individuals whose weight loss has become so severe or has seriously impaired other body systems, hospitalization may be necessary. Because of increasing insurance restrictions, many patients find that a short hospitalization followed by a day treatment program is an effective alternative to longer inpatient programs. Most individuals, however, initially
