Eating Disorders are serious medical/emotional and behavioral problems that occur when food becomes a compulsive mechanism for coping. People suffering from eating disorders believe that the use or control of food is necessary for the relief from uncomfortable moods and feelings.

Eating disorders are serious medical/emotional/behavioral problems that require specialized, professional treatment.

Destructive eating behavior can be triggered by external pressures to maintain a certain weight. What begins as weight-controlling behavior may end up as an eating disorder; bulimia (binge eating with or without purging), bulimarexia, or anorexia nervosa (self-imposed starvation).

On the surface, the desire to be thin appears to be the cause of the disorder, but food is not the real issue. The real issues are underlying fears, doubts, insecurities, low self-esteem, and anxiety. The eating disorder victim believes that use or control of food is necessary for relief from uncomfortable moods and feelings. Food is a drug for the person with an eating disorder. When it is consumed in excessive amounts, it "dulls the senses and relieves the pain."

Nationwide experience shows that eating disorder victims almost always suffer from depression. About sixty percent come from homes where there is a history of chemical dependency, and some experience family violence. Many have suffered some form of sexual abuse, and more than half of bulimic patients experience intermittent periods of substance abuse and are at high risk for chemical dependency.

Our complete Inpatient treatment program begins with a medical and psychological evaluation to determine whether there is an eating disorder, and whether there are any other complicated issues that need to be addressed. We treat all aspects of the disease in a controlled setting where we provide nutritional management by a registered dietitian, individual and group therapy, special subject discussions, and the psychological services needed by our eating disorder patients to deal with their complex problems and develop a healthy body image.

Treatment Components

The inpatient and/or the partial hospitalization (day treatment) programs consist of numerous treatment modalities, individually tailored to meet the special needs of the eating disordered patient.

• Medical Assessment, Stabilization
• Nursing Care
• Psychological Evaluation and Psychosocial Assessment
• Psychiatric Evaluation and Treatment
• Nutritional Evaluation and Stabilization
• Multi-disciplinary Individualized Treatment Planning
• Medically Supervised Eating Program
• Body Image Therapy and Special Issues Groups
• Individual Therapy
• Group Therapy
• Family Therapy
• Educational Lectures
• Recreation Therapy and Leisure Education
• Twelve Step Program
• Aftercare and Followup

The Family Program

When a loved one becomes addicted to food their behavior changes. To accommodate these changes in the addict, each family member changes his or her own behavior. Unfortunately, however, the accommodations and changes do not help, and family members feel confused, fearful, inadequate, unworthy and ashamed.

The Foundation helped pioneer the concept of family treatment because of our belief that addiction involves the entire family; each member suffers with the dependent person, and requires special care and attention. Our intensive family week program is designed to help each family member discover new, healthy ways to cope with life and recovery.

Diagnostic Evaluation

If you are not sure what the problem is, you may request a confidential outpatient assessment by calling (406) 248-3175 or toll free 1-800-227-3953. Based on the assessment results, we will refer you to the appropriate services.

Bulimia: Symptoms and Definitions

• Binge-eating

  Rapid consumption of food, in a short time period (usually less than 2 hours) resulting in an altered state of consciousness. Memory impairment, blackouts and sense of psychological abnormality and numbness often accompany this type of behavior.

• Fear

  A fear of not being able to stop eating voluntarily and losing all control.

• Attempts at Control

  Awareness that the eating disorder is abnormal and the use of purging methods to stop binges or control binge-eating.

• Purging

  Terminating or controlling binge-eating with self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse, excessive doses of diuretics, sleep or starving. Purging may or may not be present in bulimics.

• Dieting

  Chronic concern about weight and repeated attempts to control weight by dieting, diet pills, cathartics or vomiting. Often dieting will be severe between episodes of binging.

• Secretiveness

  Attempts to binge inconspicuously, or a refusal to eat with friends or family. Changes in eating patterns are characteristic. Bulimics will insist they are dieting to lose a few pounds. As a result, they are not eating or are reducing their intake dramatically around friends or family even though their weight may appear normal to others.

• Weight Fluctuations

  The range of weight fluctuations may be from mildly underweight to mildly overweight.

About Anorexia

The incidence of anorexia has more than doubled over the past two decades as thinness has come to be a major preoccupation and measure of success for women. Anorexia is a life threatening illness. Most of us probably first heard about this disorder through the nationally reported story and tragic death of Karen Carpenter, a singer and beloved entertainer. Anorexics are self-starvers and nine percent of them die from their illness.

Anorexia is characterized by the following:

• Self-imposed starving and a steadfast refusal to maintain normal body weight despite serious physical complications.
• Compulsive exercising such as jogging or other forms of physical calisthenics and workouts may be utilized by the anorexic to induce more weight loss.
• Weight loss which becomes severe (25%-50% loss of body weight).

For further information about our effective eating disorder treatment programs, call Althea Bartlett, Admissions Supervisor at 1-800-227-3953 or 1-406-248-3175. For more educational information on eating disorders, contact the Library at 1-800-227-3953 or 1-406-248-3175.