Binge eating disorder (BED) is perhaps one of the most widely misunderstood mental disorders despite the fact that it affects as many as 3.5 percent of American women and 2 percent of American men. This illness, which is characterized by compulsive, out-of-control episodes of eating followed by shame,...

The women, men and children struggling with eating disorders have world-class anxiety, and they use their eating-disordered thoughts and behaviors to manage their anxiety. As a result, addressing anxiety is key to effective intervention and sustainable recovery.

The treatment community has found that an effective way to address anxiety...

Eating disorders are becoming more complex. Researchers and treatment professionals aren't really sure what's behind this increasing complexity, although it's often suggested that a thin-obsessed media and heightened digital access to endless information about diet, exercise and achieving the "perfect body" are -- at least in part -- fueling creativity...

In my last post, I outlined several strategies that those in recovery from an eating disorder can draw on during the holiday season to protect their ongoing recovery. Family and friends can be additional champions to support a behavior-free holiday season, and a supportive network is essential to navigating this...

The holiday season can be a particularly challenging time of year for individuals struggling with eating disorders. The food-centric festivities surrounding most holidays can feel overwhelming to patients, regardless of their stage in the recovery process. In response to the anxiety that can accompany heightened exposure to food and gatherings...

I often remind the readers of this blog that eating disorders are complex illnesses with physical, psychological and sociocultural roots and implications. Yet another reason supporting this complexity is the elevated incidence of eating disorder comorbidities. In other words, other psychiatric and medical conditions often present alongside anorexia nervosa, bulimia...

With the 2012 London Olympic Games right around the corner, sports and athletic competition are increasingly on the minds of many men, women and children around the globe. However, in the shadow of sport's epic moments of glory lies a troublesome reality -- the incidence of eating disorders in athletes....

Families do not cause eating disorders.

It's true that older models of eating disorders treatment viewed families and dysfunctional family relationships as a contributing cause of these illnesses; however, the treatment community has moved away from the blaming of families toward an understanding that families aren't a cause, but...

When it comes to eating disorders, the conventional wisdom -- or the belief that anorexia, bulimia and other related disorders are a "teenage girl's disease" -- isn't so wise. In fact, it's just plain wrong. While it is true that the majority of eating disorders (95 percent) first...

A recent study revealed that 40 percent of Americans have themselves experienced or know someone who has experienced an eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia.* Despite rising awareness among the general population and health care professionals alike, misconceptions about these serious diseases, which have the highest...

First semester finals are wrapping up, and college freshmen across the country are flocking to planes, trains and automobiles to make the trip home for the holidays. Many young adults will bring with them bags of dirty laundry in need of washing or wacky roommates with no place else to...

It's not uncommon for individuals to consult their family trees to evaluate their predisposition to various illnesses, including heart disease, cancer and obesity. But a disease that tends to be absent from the checklist of dangerous and highly-inheritable illnesses to look for in family medical histories is eating disorders.

In my last post, I outlined some basic considerations for someone seeking eating disorders treatment. However, it occurred to me that parents seeking eating disorders treatment for their children face a distinctive set of uncertainties, and candid answers to questions related to child and teen eating disorders treatment are likely...

My hope is that my posts to date have emphasized at least two things about eating disorders: They're complex mental illnesses with biological, psychological and social implications for an individual's health and wellness; and because of this complexity, they tend to be the deadliest mental illnesses. Taken together,...

Exercise is good for you. This shouldn't come as shocking news to anyone; the risks of a sedentary lifestyle are abundant and well reported, particularly as the country faces a public health crisis in which one-third of adults and 17 percent of children are obese.*

However, like most things in...

Having dedicated more than 30 years of my career to the study of eating disorders and the delivery of effective treatment, there's not much I haven't seen when it comes to anorexia, bulimia and EDNOS. Additionally, after raising children, I have come to understand a thing or two about the...

Each day, we're on the receiving end of a barrage of messages through more and more mediums that encourage us to be thin. It's the yogurt commercial glamorizing disordered eating thoughts or the tweet urging followers to read an article describing "good" and "bad" foods for weight loss. The underlying...

The popular media regularly come out with trendy new "disorders," often proposing a provocative new slant on an emerging form of disordered eating or a weight management behavior. While I remind myself that these "disorders" aren't official clinical diagnoses, but rather are merely headline-worthy, clinical-sounding names for observed conditions and...

In an article in this month's Marie Claire magazine, Dr. Ovidio Bermudez, a colleague of mine at Eating Recovery Center and a nationally recognized eating disorders expert, noted the heightened prevalence of eating disorders in non-traditional demographic groups. He explained that the health care community has moved away...

Veterans in the field of eating disorders treatment have long acknowledged that child eating disorders, as well as eating disorders in adolescents, have become increasingly common in recent years, and reports released from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Archives of General Psychiatry confirm the observations of the community...