Can anorexia be cured?
Anorexia is curable in terms of physical symptoms. However, since it is a mental illness, which is not called “addiction” for nothing, certain mental aspects of the illness remain anchored in the patient. In the psychotherapy that is part of the treatment, the person learns to deal with his or her own psychological conflicts, to learn a realistic perception of his or her body and to understand the necessity of sufficient food intake.The patient must maintain these principles for life to avoid a relapse, as the genetic and psychological disposition for eating disorders remains. And even if the weight can be kept stable, the person is still sick when thoughts of eating and fear of weight gain dominate everyday life. Only when the patient has internalized the principles of psychotherapy and there is no longer any impairment of the psyche in addition to weight stabilization, can one speak of a cure.
When do I need professional help?
Eating behaviour becomes problematic when it determines the everyday life of the person concerned and/or a critical undersupply of the body occurs. If the thoughts turn thus only around eating and how one can hide the food restriction from the environment, a serious psychological impairment is present, which requires professional assistance. If, in addition, physical impairment is caused by malnutrition, a doctor is definitely necessary to prevent permanent damage.
What is the prognosis of anorexia?
Unfortunately, in up to 20% of (severe) cases, anorexia ends in death due to malnutrition or suicide with accompanying depression. Unfavorable factors that make healing more difficult and worsen the prognosis are poor social integration and support, a particularly low body weight, an already long-standing anorexia, a late age of onset or possible concomitant diseases. However, if the disease is treated in time and there are not too serious accompanying problems, the patient’s condition can be stabilized in most cases. This allows the patient to lead a normal life even if psychological factors of the disease persist. It is therefore advisable to remain in psychotherapeutic treatment for several years after successful stabilization of the weight in order to prevent a relapse.
