According to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), exhibiting an eating disorder or related symptoms can be difficult enough, but it is actually also quite common for individuals to exhibit these symptoms in conjunction with another diagnosis, such as a mood disorder. For example, depression and eating disorders often go hand in hand, because when a treatment-seeking individual feels as if they are losing control while struggling with depression, disordered eating is a manner in which they can gain some semblance of control again, however only temporarily.
Getting enrolled in a treatment program such as at Clementine that allows for the treatment of both these challenges is the best way to make sure that they cannot feed off of each other any longer, because anorexia nervosa and depression cannot coexist in a meaningful manner.
Co-occurring Disorders Amplify Each Other
Many treatment-seeking individuals ask: “Can depression cause anorexia nervosa?” And the answer is a resounding yes because treatment-seeking individuals often are looking for ways to gain control in their lives when they feel as if depression or anxiety, bipolar or some other mood disorder is taking their control away. Symptoms of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa give the individual a feeling of control. However, that control is not real and is only temporary.
“When your healthy self is strong enough to deal with all that comes your way in life, your eating disorder self will no longer be useful or necessary.”
There is also a relationship between depression and binge eating, between people who are struggling with the challenges that depression causes may turn to binge eating in order to deal with stress. Binge eating disorder and depression often go hand in hand as well, and so facing the challenge that is depression will have to occur at the same time as the binge eating disorder in order to tackle both challenges.
Clementine offers the highest level of medical and psychiatric care outside of a hospital by providing its treatment-seeking individuals with a comfortable, high-quality homelike setting where recovery can occur whether the specific challenge is bipolar and anorexia nervosa or bipolar and bulimia nervosa. We treat combinations of the following disorders:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Bipolar Disorder
- Mood Disorders
- Bulimia Nervosa
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Binge-Eating Disorder
- Other Eating Disorders
The combination between mood disorders and eating disorders can manifest in a wide variety of different ways, and sometimes treatment-seeking individuals do not even realize that they are facing both challenges at the same time, or that one is feeding off the other.
“Having recovered myself I know the pain and courage involved in accepting and then battling an eating disorder. One way to think about the process is to remind yourself you are working toward something, you are learning to accept yourself where you are at this moment, are doing the best you can, and will continue working toward change. This will involve having compassion – for yourself.”
A High Level of Care Is Necessary
According to NEDA, there is a common thread between the mood disorder known as bipolar and eating disorders, because of the oscillating nature of the mood in bipolar disorder, and the food issues that occur with eating disorders. Treatment seeking individuals who are exhibiting an eating disorder or related symptoms who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, or who believe that they may have bipolar disorder should seek out a treatment program that is specifically designed to handle both of these unique challenges.
Treatment for bipolar disorder and bulimia nervosa, for example, is a unique challenge and you will need to work with counselors and other treatment providers that can provide the specific, tailored solutions that treatment seekers need.
Breaking the Cycle Through Self-Understanding
It should come as no surprise that there is such a strong correlation between mood disorders and eating disorders. Individuals who are seeking treatment or who are already enrolled in a treatment program should make sure that both of these challenges are being addressed at the same time in order to get the best possible results. One cannot treat only the mood disorder, or only the eating disorder if the two co-occurred. It is important to address both challenges together in order for them to both be effectively remedied.
Clementine is well equipped to address these challenges together in a comfortable, homelike setting using demonstrably superior, extensively validated treatment options. For the highest quality treatment programs imaginable and the highest level of medical and psychiatric care available outside a hospital, Clementine is the solution that participants should be looking for. We offer comprehensive academic and family support to our young women treatment seekers.