Treatment of anorexia, as with all eating disorders, can be challenging. Effective treatment addresses the underlying emotional and mental health issues, issues that often date back to childhood and a person’s self-perception and self-image. Indeed, many of the treatment approaches described below focus on helping a person with anorexia to understand how their own self-image impacts their eating behavior. Self-image can be seen as a foundation of the change that a person with anorexia needs to address, as inaccurate self-image can be devastating — to the point where an emaciated individual still see themselves as overweight.
Some people with anorexia can be in what psychologists call “denial.” That is, they deny even having a problem, even if their body weight is dangerously low. They may point to supermodels or other celebrities as proof that they don’t have a problem and just want to “look as thin as they do.” Part of the challenge of treatment with anorexia, then, may be just helping the person with anorexia understand they do have a serious mental health concern that needs professional treatment (see Family Therapy below).
While there are many different routes to treatment, virtually all of them begin with seeing an eating disorder specialist. Usually this individual is a psychologist who has deep experience and training in helping a person with anorexia. A physical examination and workup by a medical doctor is also an initial part of the standard treatment of anorexia, to understand and begin addressing the physical problems that may have occurred as a result of the disorder.