What forms of treatment are effective for anorexia nervosa?
Treatment of anorexia nervosa involves behavioral monitoring and nutritional rehabilitation to normalize weight. Psychotherapy is aimed at correcting irrational preoccupations with weight and shape and preventing relapse. Interventions include monitoring weight gain, prescribing an adequate diet, and admitting patients who fail to gain weight to a specialty inpatient or partial hospitalization program. Specialty programs combining close behavioral monitoring with psychological therapy are generally very effective in achieving weight gain in patients unable to gain weight in outpatient settings. The fear of fatness and body dissatisfaction characteristic of the disorder tend to extinguish gradually over several months if target weight is maintained, and 50-75% of patients eventually recover. No medications have been shown to facilitate weight gain. In the case of patients under 18 years of age, family therapy has been found to be more effective than individual therapy alone.
