1a Conferenza Europea Salute e Benessere dei Giovani - Roma 16-18 giugno 2010
Eating disorders
The so-called EBD (eating behaviour disorders), especially anorexia, bulimia and obesity (compulsive relationship with food) are serious disorders that arise from the psyche and express a deep suffering through the body. A body which fills up and empties, losing or gaining excessive weight is an evident sign of a serious discomfort. These diseases, indeed, can be represented as an iceberg: the emerging tip is either the refusal of food, or obsessive calorie counting, hyperactivity, overeating followed by self-induced vomiting, or still excessive and continuous intake of food leading to a significant weight gain. The submerged part is where are placed individual problems, personal experiences, emotions, pain, events that have marked one’s life. Taking something at face value, considering only the visible aspect of anorexia, bulimia and obesity, means ignoring the most important part of the problem.
This is the reason why today the scientific community tends to offer multifactor models for eating disorders related to biopsychosocial perspective, unanimously affirming that there is no single cause but a combination of factors that can variously and differently interact in facilitating the emergence and perpetuation of these disorders.
Therapy, however, is still a real challenge for therapists since eating disorders are very complex and long-lasting diseases, with possible outcomes sometimes very serious. The several therapeutic attempts made over the years have proved variable, both for the direct effect on symptoms and for effectiveness on fundamental psychopatological nuclei underlying these diseases.
Today, the international scientific community has shared, as for medium and long-term results, the use of an integrated therapeutic approach in which several figures (internist, dietitian, psychiatrist, psychologist, educator) work at different levels with the subjects affected by the disease in its different stages, with his family and peer group.
Even with respect to the place where to carry out treatment, the scientific community proposes various hypothesis related to patients’ needs, stage of the disease and therapeutic approach.
However, to address each aspect of the treatment and prevention of eating disorders, it has often been highlighted the need to provide different facilities in terms of areas and functions such as outpatients’ clinic, day hospital, day centre and residential community.
The assessments so far expressed are also relevant with respect to all the activities related to prevention.
It is crucial to identify effective methodologies, areas for action, types of approach in order to design effective interventions aimed not only at stressing the importance of the relationship with food, but also at detecting the first onset of symptoms in order to make early diagnosis.
It has to be recognized the important role played in this process of acceptance and research on eating disorders by families’ and former patients’ associations committed in prevention activities, often with public institutions and services.
This is the reason why today the scientific community tends to offer multifactor models for eating disorders related to biopsychosocial perspective, unanimously affirming that there is no single cause but a combination of factors that can variously and differently interact in facilitating the emergence and perpetuation of these disorders.
Therapy, however, is still a real challenge for therapists since eating disorders are very complex and long-lasting diseases, with possible outcomes sometimes very serious. The several therapeutic attempts made over the years have proved variable, both for the direct effect on symptoms and for effectiveness on fundamental psychopatological nuclei underlying these diseases.
Today, the international scientific community has shared, as for medium and long-term results, the use of an integrated therapeutic approach in which several figures (internist, dietitian, psychiatrist, psychologist, educator) work at different levels with the subjects affected by the disease in its different stages, with his family and peer group.
Even with respect to the place where to carry out treatment, the scientific community proposes various hypothesis related to patients’ needs, stage of the disease and therapeutic approach.
However, to address each aspect of the treatment and prevention of eating disorders, it has often been highlighted the need to provide different facilities in terms of areas and functions such as outpatients’ clinic, day hospital, day centre and residential community.
The assessments so far expressed are also relevant with respect to all the activities related to prevention.
It is crucial to identify effective methodologies, areas for action, types of approach in order to design effective interventions aimed not only at stressing the importance of the relationship with food, but also at detecting the first onset of symptoms in order to make early diagnosis.
It has to be recognized the important role played in this process of acceptance and research on eating disorders by families’ and former patients’ associations committed in prevention activities, often with public institutions and services.
