Don’t Let the 25 Million with Eating Disorders Fail their Way to Intensive Treatment
As many as 11 million people in the U.S. have an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia, and about 25 million more are struggling with binge eating disorder, according to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).
Family and friends, if they notice the signs in time, often feel powerless to help as they watch the disorder slowly destroy their loved one. Don’t let your facility make these patients fail their way to intensive treatment by not having the proper services and contact UPS Healthcare.
Families Face Challenges Of Eating Disorders
These medical conditions not only affect the people who have them, they take an emotional toll on their families and friends. They may feel powerless to help as they watch an eating disorder slowly destroy their loved one.
“Most people who have not had their lives touched by an eating disorder dismiss them as not worth worrying about,” said one parent of a daughter with an eating disorder. “It is like trying to dismiss a tornado tearing through your home and your heart, tossing everything in its path around as if it were weightless and worthless. I have been through both. I would choose the physical tornado any time.”
More Than Just Physical Harm
Eating disorders are serious illnesses with a biological basis that are influenced by emotional and cultural factors. Researchers are discovering that certain genes appear to increase susceptibility to an eating disorder, much like with alcoholism or depression.
While eating disorders cause physical devastation to the individual, they also wreak emotional and financial ruin on the entire family. Insurance rarely covers treatment, thus, some families are forced to deplete savings accounts or take out mortgages to provide their loved ones with the care they need.
What Needs To Change
Compounding the problem, according to NEDA, is the stigma associated with eating disorders, which keeps some individuals suffering in silence. Due to a lack of education and the “behind-closed-doors” nature of the conditions, some family members, friends and health care professionals fail to recognize the signs of an eating disorder or the full extent of the risks involved.
“Eating disorders treatment cannot be successful if it starts with an aspirin and a Band-Aid,” said Kathy Benn, whose 19-year-old daughter, Shelby Starner, died because of an eating disorder. Starner had been treated for eating disorders for 26 months and was turned away from in-patient care because she was “not sick enough.”
Don’t fall into this category! Make sure your facility has the proper services to deal with eating disorders.
Let UPS Healthcare equip your facility with hundreds of techniques that will add value, many without requiring addition work for your or your staff.