The Anatomy Of Eating Disorders
What is an eating disorder? How does it develop? These are some of the questions David Hirshberg, Executive Director of Germaine Lawrence, addressed when he spoke on L.A. Talk Radio with Lon Woodbury and Larry Larry Stednitz,from Woodbury Reports, an Independent Educational Consulting firm.
David Hirshberg and Germaine Lawrence
David Hirschberg, Ed.D., Harvard University, has actually been assisting kids since his early years in high school. At first, he helped out disadvantaged young children as a camp counselor and tutor. After graduating from Brown College and university, he found a job as a director in an alternative school that was designed to assist high-school dropouts.
St. Anne’s School hired him in 1979 to turn the institution around. With the permission of the board, he reengineered the school to serve as a residential treatment center, and, in 1982, it was renamed Germaine Lawrence.
Defining Eating Disorders
An eating condition is considered serious when somebody has actually deprived themselves of food and lost 20 percent or more of their regular body weight. In addition, an extreme diet is considered a disease when an eating disorder becomes life-threatening.
The Process of How Eating Disorders Develop
Eating disorders are due to many possible causes like anxiety, depression, or loss. There is no singular cause. What starts out as a diet can change into a disorder when the dieter finds that eating less is a solution to many other personal issues. For instance, the disorder deflects from parental, peer, or societal pressure that may feel overwhelming.
What Parents should Look Out For
An eating disorder is not a passing phase of preadolescence or adolescence. Instead it should be approached as an illness that is as life-threatening as cancer or diabetes if left untreated. An individual that has a full-blown eating disorder has developed a strong aversion to food. The first step parents ought to make is to get their daughter to visit a doctor if they suspect that she is well below her typical weight and has actually taken on strange rituals and obsessions around food.
Final Thoughts
Fortunately, there are many effective therapeutic therapies for eating disorders, ranging from hospitalization to individual and family therapy. A powerful intervention technique known as the Mosley Approach consists of the parents firmly and persistently encouraging their daughter to begin eating more. A residential treatment program, which can last for as long as a year, is only necessary if all other attempts to heal the eating disorder at home have failed.
Looking to out more about Eating Disorders, then visit Lon Woodbury’s site to listen to the complete interview with David Hirschberg.
