What is Anorexia?
Anorexia is an eating disorder and although the telltale signs involve someone being well below the target weight for their body type, the root of this condition begins in the mind. A person with anorexia is convinced that they are overweight, despite being at a healthy size at onset and becoming underweight if anorexia continues unchecked. The reasons behind this false belief vary—sometimes anorexia is part of the onset of puberty, at other times it starts with the pressure to be thin to follow a certain career path, and in some cases it begins with low self-esteem and feeling societal pressure.
Some of the ways a person with anorexia manages to lose so much weight are exercising to an extreme, dieting and taking laxatives. So in a way, some people with anorexia are engaging in substance abuse. They may refuse to eat while other people are present, even though they may cook for others.
Patterns of obesity, excessive dieting, compulsive exercising, and uncontrollable food cravings may be symptoms of deeper emotional problems that can be addressed at our dual diagnosis and drug treatment center with psychological intervention. We address the addictive behavior and the emotional aspects having an unhealthy preoccupation with food and weight.
Transitions Alcohol and Drug Rehab Center also treats eating disorders. When people come to us for help with an eating disorder, we know that they are often placing restrictions on and punishing themselves. For that reason, we do not treat patients who have eating disorders in hospital setting. While we do provide structure and support, we do not want to add the additional burden on harsh regulations. In order to help our patients transition into a life where they can have a healthy relationship with food and enjoy eating, we offer: individual and group activities, support groups and opportunities to engage in food shopping and meal preparation. This last part is crucial to helping patients return to their daily lives. If we treated patient with counseling and therapy, but never once had them attempt to prepare food, they could return to daily life still not ready.
Our facility has become known for its expertise in helping people with eating disorders and we treat people from all over the United States and form other countries.
