eating disorders

Eating disorders are characterised by an abnormal attitude towards food that causes someone to change their eating habits and behaviour. A person with an eating disorder may focus excessively on their weight and shape, leading them to make unhealthy choices about food with damaging results to their health. Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating.

Our eating disorders Blogs

Eating disorders: mapping the (lack of) evidence

74 Responses »
Helen Bould
Posted by
shutterstock_80397523

Helen Bould summarises a recent review that maps the evidence for the prevention and treatment of eating disorders in young people. Her conclusion? A call to arms for more better quality research to help people affected by these serious illnesses.

[read the full story...]

Meta-review presents the risks of all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders

170 Responses »
Raphael Underwood
Posted by
shutterstock_177940451

This recent and well-conducted meta-review concludes that the impact on mortality and suicide of mental disorders is substantial, and probably poorly appreciated as a public health problem. Raphael Underwood’s blog summarises the data for all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders.

[read the full story...]

Can schools prevent eating disorders?

73 Responses »
Helen Bould
Posted by
shutterstock_173445398

In 2012 there was a call from Parliament to research school interventions to reduce body dissatisfaction. Helen Bould reports on an RCT of school-based prevention programme for eating disorders, which highlights the need for more work in this area.

[read the full story...]

Watching what you eat: does mindfulness work for binging and weight loss?

44 Responses »
Helen Bould
Posted by
shutterstock_73037935

Helen Bould tells us that mindfulness may do many things, and is queuing up to take its place with CBT as the panacea of mental illness, but in her view it cannot yet lay claim to solving binge eating.

[read the full story...]

Corpulence and compassion: weight bias among professionals treating eating disorders

50 Responses »
Profile photo of Christopher Pell
Posted by
shutterstock_165451763

We elves are kept continually up to date with equality and diversity training, having had many centuries to build a society that rises above such petty differences, but we remain curious about the many aspects of stigma and its effects on humans. New avenues for research are constantly opening up, with studies continuing to highlight how [read the full story…]

RCT shows CBT is more effective than psychoanalytic psychotherapy for treating bulimia nervosa, but that’s only half the story

66 Responses »
Profile photo of Patrick Kennedy-Williams
Posted by
shutterstock_166315385

I had actually heard about this Danish study, published recently by Poulsen et al. (2014) in the American Journal of Psychiatry, before it landed in my inbox. The findings are interesting because they highlight the debate surrounding the comparative efficacy of psychological treatments. What is most striking though, is how the study itself challenges the [read the full story…]

Anorexia Nervosa and Oxytocin: focusing our attention

55 Responses »
Helen Bould
Posted by
shutterstock_122625982

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a very serious illness with a high morbidity; it is also notoriously difficult to treat. Praise then to researchers investigating innovative treatments that might help. This pair of papers investigating the hormone oxytocin have been widely reported in the popular press, from the BBC to Time magazine and the Daily Mail (link withheld [read the full story…]

One in 10 people in South East London report that they suffer from disordered eating, according to new survey

77 Responses »
Maxine Howard
Posted by
shutterstock_114322483

Historically, eating disorders have been discussed in a very black and white fashion; either you do or you don’t have one. Whilst this may be beneficial in terms of research and diagnosis, it isn’t particularly helpful for those that sit in the grey area between the two. People in this grey area are often referred [read the full story…]

Focal psychodynamic therapy or CBT vs optimised treatment as usual in outpatients with anorexia

62 Responses »
Sarah Man
Posted by
shutterstock_108037388

Anorexia nervosa has long been known to have a poor prognosis and few effective treatments are available (Kaplan and Garfinkel, 1999). Research in this area is limited, particularly in regards to evidence-based guidance.  The NICE eating disorders guidance (2004) is in need of an update, although there is a more recently produced care pathway. Other [read the full story…]

RCT compares two different versions of enhanced cognitive behavioural therapy for anorexia nervosa in an inpatient setting

41 Responses »
Maxine Howard
Posted by
scales

A general misconception about anorexia is that it’s just about eating and ‘being thin’, but it’s more complex than that. The illness affects multiple aspects of a person’s life, and often goes hand in hand with other psychological issues such as low mood, or excessive worry. In addition, the jury is still out on the exact [read the full story…]