Jennifer Beckjord, PsyD
UPMC Center for Eating Disorders

Western Behavioral Health

Eating disorders are serious conditions that go beyond dieting or wanting to lose weight – they can significantly affect one’s physical and mental health and overall well-being. In addition, out of all mental illnesses, eating disorders have one of the highest mortality rates and can be life-threatening if left untreated.

Approximately 9% of the U.S. population, or nearly 30 million people, will experience an eating disorder in their lifetime. Recognizing early warning signs and getting treatment right away is key to preventing long-term health consequences and promoting recovery. Increasing public awareness and knowledge about eating disorders is an important part of prevention. Annual campaigns such as the upcoming Eating Disorders Awareness Week, February 26 – March 3, help raise awareness and understanding about eating disorders and engage support for individuals and their families affected by them.

Types of Eating Disorders

There are several types of eating disorders including:

Anorexia nervosa is marked by restriction of food/calories leading to significantly low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight, disturbance in one’s self-view of body size and shape, and the failure to recognize the seriousness of low body weight.

Bulima nervosa involves repeated cycles of binge-eating and compensatory behaviors. Binge-eating is defined as eating an unusually large amount of food in a short time period and feeling a sense of not having control over eating. This is followed by behaviors including vomiting, laxative use, fasting, and excessive exercise in an effort to prevent weight gain. In addition, there is overvaluation of body shape and weight.

Binge eating disorder is characterized by repeated episodes of binge-eating coupled with a sense of lack of control. The binge-eating may cause feelings of embarrassment or significant distress. Other features may include eating when no longer hungry or until uncomfortably full and eating alone to hide the amount of food that was eaten.

Treating Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are serious behavioral health conditions that can be treated with the help of a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, nurses, social workers, dietitians and other healthcare professionals. Eating disorder treatment options exist across all levels of care – inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient and traditional outpatient.

Inpatient/Residential eating disorder treatment is 24/7 care. Inpatient may focus on acute medical stabilization and takes place in a hospital setting whereas residential treatment is less intensive and may be in a hospital or home-like setting. They both share the goal of stabilizing nutrition, decreasing and stopping eating disorder behaviors and restoring weight to a minimally adequate point, if needed.  

Outpatient eating disorder treatment can include partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and traditional outpatient therapy, typically in a clinic setting. Partial hospitalization is usually five days a week for 6-8 hours each day and provides nutrition support, meal supervision, and group, family, and individual therapy. Intensive outpatient is similar to partial hospitalization but is two to three days of the week for at least three hours each day. Traditional outpatient therapy usually consists of weekly individual sessions.

If you or a loved one are struggling with an eating disorder, it is important to know that you don’t have to go through it alone, and it is critical to get professional help right away.

Dr. Beckjord is a psychologist and director, clinical care services with UPMC Western Behavioral Health, Center for Eating Disorders service line. For more information, visit UPMC.com/services/behavioral-health/eating-disorders.