Eating disorders are serious psychiatric illnesses that cause people to

develop severe anxiety and unhappiness related to food, eating, and their

body. People with Eating Disorders may make efforts to change or control

eating that can become excessive and ingrained and can lead to

malnourishment, additional health problems, and even death. We can help.

At Owl & Eagle Health and Wellness, our team of board-certified psychiatric

nurse practitioners and psychotherapists offer compassionate, team-based

treatment for eating disorders. We get to know you, and design a holistic

treatment plan combining up to date psychiatric treatments with

psychotherapy and evidence based integrative care. This holistic approach

can effectively treat your eating disorder and any co-occurring mental health

disorders, while helping you improve your overall health and well-being.

For expert assessment and holistic psychiatric treatment for Eating Disorders in

teens and adults, either in person at our offices convenient to the Denver

Metro area, or via telehealth throughout Colorado, Contact Us with questions

or Book Now to request an intake appointment today. 303-736-9697

Eating Disorders Q&A

How common are Eating Disorders?

In the US, about 1 in 10, or 29 million people, have an Eating Disorder at some point

during their life. Eating Disorders are twice as prevalent in females as males, but rates

of Eating Disorders are increasing faster in males.

People who are overweight are 2.5 times more likely to have an Eating Disorder than

people who are normal weight or underweight, but half as likely to be diagnosed or

treated.

Members of the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly transgender people, are at

especially high risk for Eating Disorders.

Why should I seek treatment for Eating Disorders?

Eating Disorders cause persistent negative thoughts about the body’s appearance,

dangerous dysfunction in eating behaviors, and severe emotional distress. Eating

Disorders affect people of all genders, races, ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, body

shapes, sizes, and weights. People with Eating Disorders frequently have other co-

occurring mental health disorders such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders,

substance use disorders, PTSD, OCD, and personality disorders. Eating Disorders have

the highest death rate of any psychiatric disorder other than opioid abuse, and

someone dies from an Eating Disorder every 52 minutes.

Fortunately, effective treatment for Eating Disorders is available. With treatment, people

with Eating Disorders can improve their relationship with food and develop

healthier feelings toward their bodies.

What causes Eating Disorders?

Eating disorders have the following risk factors:

Heredity: If one of your blood relatives has an eating disorder, you are more

likely to have one too.

Trauma and Adverse Experiences: People who have experienced traumatic

events such as abuse, neglect, violence, or food insecurity are at higher risk

of eating disorders.

Media influence: The media portray extremely thin, lean, and muscular body

types as ideal, but these body types are unrealistic for most people.

Frequently, photos are edited to make models’ bodies even more “ideal” and

unattainable. Social media can be particularly damaging to body image. The

more time spent on social media, the higher the risk of poor body image and

eating disorders.

Diet Culture: Fear of weight gain, idealizing thin bodies, dieting to lose weight,

and guilt about eating are risk factors for eating disorders. In a study of

women, those who diet are 5 times more likely. and those who follow very

restrictive diets are 18 times more likely to develop eating disorders.

What are the Types of Eating Disorders and their Symptoms?

Anorexia Nervosa: causes intense fear of weight gain, self-esteem tied to thinness,

unwillingness to maintain a healthy weight, compulsively weighing self, and

continuing to believe self to be overweight even when severely underweight.

Anorexia has two subtypes:

Restrictive: only eating certain foods severe restriction of food intake avoidance

of eating

Binge-Purge: severe restriction of types and amount of food, episodes of binge

eating followed by efforts to get rid of what they ate by vomiting, use of laxatives

or diuretics, or compulsive exercise

Secondary effects of anorexia nervosa include fatigue, low body temperature,

low blood pressure, slowed heart rate and breathing, anemia, dry skin, brittle

hair and nails, growth of fine hair on the body, muscle wasting, bone thinning,

heart damage, brain damage, infertility, organ failure, and death. Anorexia nervosa has

a very high death rate, due to starvation, medical complications, and suicide.

Bulimia Nervosa: causes frequent episodes of uncontrolled, compulsive eating

followed by efforts to get rid of or make up for what was eaten by purging, either by

vomiting, fasting, over-exercising, or use of laxatives or diuretics.

Secondary effects of bulimia nervosa include dehydration, GI distress, sore and

inflamed throat, swollen salivary glands, worn tooth enamel, and electrolyte imbalance

which can cause heart attacks or strokes.

Binge-Eating Disorder: causes frequent attempts to diet and repeated episodes of

rapid, uncontrolled, compulsive eating of very large quantities of food, without

compensatory purging. Binge eating disorder also causes people to eat until

uncomfortably full, eat in secret, and feel ashamed of eating. People with binge-eating

disorder are usually overweight or obese.

Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID): causes people to develop

aversions to certain foods, loss of appetite, progressive restriction of types or

amounts of food, GI problems, and extreme weight loss. Unlike other eating

disorders, people with ARFID do not have distorted body image or fear of

weight gain.

Atypical Eating Disorders: cause people to restrict eating, binge

eat, and/or purge to the point where they are malnourished, but they remain

overweight or obese. People with atypical eating disorders can suffer the

secondary health effects of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa without

losing weight. This can be especially distressing because if they seek

treatment, medical professionals may not believe that they have an eating

disorder.

How are Eating Disorders treated?

At Owl & Eagle Health and Wellness, our team of board certified psychiatric nurse

practitioners treat eating disorders with understanding and expertise. Our holistic

approach combines cutting edge medical treatments, psychotherapy, and integrative

care to maximize treatment efficacy. We will perform a thorough diagnostic evaluation

to identify eating disorders and other co- occurring mental health disorders.

We will work with you to create a treatment plan that can include medications,

specialized psychotherapy, nutritional planning, stress management, sleep hygiene,

vitamins, supplements, yoga, meditation, and breathwork. Medications used for eating

disorders and co- occurring conditions include antidepressants, anxiolytics, mood

stabilizers, antipsychotics, addiction medications, sleep medications, and for binge

eating disorder, medications to help with cravings and impulsivity. Medications usually

have very manageable side effects, and most resolve in the first weeks of treatment.

Genetic testing can help identify which medications are more or less likely to be

effective and well tolerated for you. If you have Binge Eating Disorder and/or co-

occurring depression or OCD that doesn’t improve sufficiently with initial treatment,

transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be very helpful.

Treatment of eating disorders requires specialized psychotherapy, especially when

there are other co-occurring mental health disorders. We provide CBT, Motivational

Interviewing, Supportive, Solution Focused, and Psychodynamic therapy, and can

provide referrals for DBT, Somatimotor Therapy, and EMDR.

Treatment of eating disorders can be challenging, but recovery is possible. We will be

with you every step of the way.

If you would like to learn more about psychiatric evaluation and holistic psychiatric

treatment for Eating Disorders for children, teens, and adults at Owl & Eagle Health and

Wellness, Contact Us with questions or Book Now to request an intake appointment

today. Appointments are available either in-person in our offices in Golden or Denver,

or via telehealth anywhere in Colorado. We look forward to meeting you!