Addiction and Eating Disorder – Two Illnesses, Two Tribes?
After meeting with a young woman in consultation today, I’ll call her Rachel, who is struggling to stay sober from alcohol addiction and abstinent from bulimia (binge/purge cycle eating disorder) I was struck by the similarities she faces with each of her discreetly diagnosed conditions. Each of her “drugs” – alcohol and the binge/purge cycle - help her to manage uncomfortable feelings. And surpringly “uncomfortable” doesn’t just mean sad, scared or angry, it also includes happiness and joy – often foreign feelings for the alcoholic or eating disordered individual.
I’m thrilled that the shift toward trans-diagnostic treatment modalities are now available that effectively and simultaneously address both addiction and eating disorder behaviors as well as mood diorders of all kinds (anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress). Everything from Somatic Experiencing and EMDR (www.cuttingedgecounseling.com) to Neurofeedback (www.neurofeedbackpainrelief.com) are lowering the vulnerability to relapse by percentages never before seen in addiction and eating disorder research http://www.brainpaint.com/addiction_adhd.pdf .
Isn’t it about time we treat the whole of Rachel, and not her individual disorders?
