What Every Therapist Wished Psychiatrists Knew About Eating Disorders
As a therapist, there are so many things I wish that psychiatrists knew when it comes to eating disorders.
Now before we hash this out, here’s my caveat–I am not a prescribing provider, I never went to medical school. I am a psychotherapist and these are all of my personal thoughts but from my professional experience.
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When we view mental illnesses as medical illnesses, we are going to miss the nuance that is associated with emotions and psychology.
There is no official proven line of treatment (I mean meds here) for eating disorders. But typically the individual also has some version of insert mental illness here and meds could be really helpful.
Here’s the thing. When we view eating disorders or any “mental illness” as a medical issue and we apply the medical model of disease and medication/treatment here, we lose the point. Mental illness is not the same as a neurological issue or a medical issue. There may be overlap, but it is not the same. There is so much more nuance that is associated with emotions and psychology and we must take that into account when thinking about medications.
In this episode, I'm diving into:
Psychiatric medication and how it can be helpful for those with eating disorders.
How challenging eating disorders can be to treat even with proven medications.
The limitations in understanding how medication impacts mental health.
The complexity of mental illnesses.
The diagnostic and treatment process of physical illnesses to mental illnesses.
The idea of a linear understanding of psychiatry.
The limitations of seeing psychiatric issues purely as neurological and the importance of addressing the nuances of each individual's experience.
A need to consider medical, social, and personal aspects when determining the best line of treatment.
A nuanced approach in therapy of one-size-fits-all may not be effective.
Interconnectedness of mental health.
Tweetable Quotes
"We can't just take a brain MRI and say, ‘this person has an eating disorder’.” - Rachelle Heinemann
"But at the end of the day, if we create too many boxes and we don't leave any room for you to be curious and for you to explore beyond the boxes, then I think we've done you a disservice. And I think that ends up becoming its own limitation." - Rachelle Heinemann
“Every single person has an intricate, complex way that their, ‘mental illness’ is developed and maintained, and it is the kind of thing that we cannot possibly insert a medication in order to fix it completely.” - Rachelle Heinemann
Resources
Related Episodes
Episode 103. What To Do When You Feel Stuck with Sondra Kronberg
Episode 101. How To "Deepen" the Treatment
Episode 100. For All You Critics of Intuitive Eating with Elyse Resch
Episode 96. What ED People Got Wrong About Science with Dr. A'nna Roby
Episode 93. Eating Disorders as a Way to Communicate with Dr. Elizabeth Hamlin
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Hey there! I’m Rachelle, the host of the Understanding Disordered Eating Podcast. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, I work with clients to make sense of life’s messy emotional experiences.
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