Compulsive eating disorders
Learn more about eating disorders
With an 83% success rate in treating eating disorders (Ray et al; 2007), our Brief Strategic Therapy model now represents a “Copernican Revolution” in the field of psychological treatment.
Eating Disorders and OCD
Although we often view eating disorders as very different from OCD, we have come to realize that the eating disorders described here regularly evolve from an underlying obsessive-compulsive perception.
Types of eating disorders treated at Clinique des TOC®:
- Bulimia
- Binge eating / Overeating
- Vomiting syndrome
- self harm
- Body dysmorphic disorder / Dysmorphophobia
A brief and effective treatment
We have demonstrated through research and practice that although human problems and suffering can be extremely persistent, complicated and painful, they do not necessarily require an equally long and complicated solution.
Through 25 years of clinical research and practice, we now have at our disposal an array of highly refined and effective scientific protocols for the treatment of many of the most debilitating problems your patients will ever experience.
Through real-world “practice-based evidence”, we have made our clinical interventions specific:
- Effective
- Efficient
- Repeatable
- Predictive
- Teachable
- Inexpensive to apply
Our understanding of eating disorders
Eating disorders
Eating disorders (ED) are on the rise and represent a serious problem with significant and potentially life-threatening medical and psychological effects.
Anorexia nervosa, in particular, has the highest mortality rate of any psychological disorder. The risk of premature death is 6 to 12 times higher in women with an eating disorder than in the general population, taking age into account.
Early recognition and rapid intervention is ideal for solving this problem. Outpatient treatment when possible and a strong relationship between professionals, patients and their family members are essential for a good outcome. At OCD Clinic®, we strive to provide clinical interventions that will create a truly collaborative treatment experience for patients and practitioners.
A Brief Strategic Explanation of Eating Disorders
Treatment at our clinics, we have an 83% success rate in treating these eating disorders. Our treatment usually takes place over several months and patients are normally seen fortnightly. Treatment may involve the individual or their family members if necessary.
Bulimia
A strategic description: Literally meaning "the hunger of an ox", bulimia is characterized by the consumption of large quantities of food, resulting in an exponential increase in body weight. Bulimic patients are generally extremely sensitive people and are often emotionally fragile. They often have difficulty controlling their reactions to many situations.
These patients often overeat and really benefit from it. They usually live in constant fear of losing control. They are not abstinent patients like anorexics but avoid cravings. Food starts out as a pleasant experience and can become a refuge at times when life seems unmanageable. Binge eating becomes a way to deal with this feeling.
Our unique treatment:
Our treatment is extremely effective in the rapid treatment of bulimia. No other model distinguishes the different types of bulimia. Our research revealed 3 different types and this has real implications for the types of scientific intervention used with the distinct typologies.
3 types of current:
- Those who eat endlessly without any real binge
- Those who alternate periods of binge eating with periods of successful dieting resulting in weight loss and subsequent weight gain
- Those who use food as compensation for deficiencies or as protection against relationships that they do not feel able to bear.
By understanding the different types of this disorder, he has helped us create even more specific and targeted treatments.
binge eating
A strategic description: Known as binge eating disorder, described in the clinical literature as a disorder characterized by binge eating without vomiting, in our view it differs from bulimia due to the alternation of long periods of fasting with periods of uncontrolled binge eating.
The main attempt at a solution by patients is to fast, in fact this solution only exists because of their fear of their binging and it is paradoxically these long periods of fasting that lead to long phases of binging. In some cases, they may seek cosmetic surgery even though they are a few pounds overweight, which often lays the groundwork for body dysmorphic disorder.
Vomiting
This disorder does not exist as a well-defined syndrome in current literature, but is considered a symptom that may be present with anorexia or bulimia. However, with thousands of cases treated, we have found that this behavior is distinct and completely different from other disorders.
Whether vomiting for more control over their weight or because of the guilt resulting from binging, these patients reach a certain point at which they do so for pleasure. Eating to vomit becomes a real ritual based on pleasure.
We have a number of different types and this will affect our treatment strategy.
3 types of current:
- Patients who take pleasure in their ritual and who do not want to do without it
- Those who enjoy it and want to stop but cannot
- Others who throw up and don't yet realize it's a real problem (usually in the younger category)
self harm
Self-harm is common and regularly occurs alongside many eating disorders. This problem can be pleasure-based or pain-based. We strive to effectively address self-harm, independently or in conjunction with the treatment of eating disorders.
Body dysmorphic disorder
Body Dysmorphophobia also known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) could also be called dreaded “ugliness” disorder. It is an obsessive disorder in which a person is preoccupied with a perceived flaw in their physical appearance and usually does a number of things like:
- Check how they look
- Be reassured about their appearance
- Choose your skin to make it smooth or fair
- Repeated grooming of hair, eyebrows or makeup to 'feel' just right
- Avoid mirrors to avoid being triggered by their reflection
success is the key
Over the past 25 years, our model for treating these forms of eating disorders has evolved and become even more effective and efficient. With over 30 books written and published in over 10 languages, this model now represents a truly unique and new form of treatment for psychological problems.
With an 83% success rate in treating eating disorders (Gibson and Casltenuovo; 2014; Ray and Nardone 2007).
A useful set of questions for GPs is the SCOFF questionnaire:
1 - Have you ever made yourself vomit because you didn't feel well "with a full stomach"?
2 - Are you worried that you have lost control of how much you eat?
3 - Have you recently lost more than 6 kilos in less than three months?
4 - Do you think you are too fat while others consider you too thin?
5 - Would you say that food is something that occupies a dominant place in your life?
One point for each yes, score 2 or more then high probability index (Morgan Reid Lacey: British Medical Journal 1999).
