Drug Addiction or Eating Disorder: Which Came First?

Posted by admin on March 12th, 2009 at 10:16am

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When a person enters drug rehab or an treatment facility and is diagnosed with a drug and eating disorder, the question arises which developed first and how do you treat two s?

First, let us define an eating disorder as the quality of ones thinking as it relates to food and weight and not how much someone weighs. Then, we may take a look at various behaviors and address other criteria. In most cases, ones thinking regarding food and weight became distorted way before they ever began using drugs or alcohol. It is not uncommon that after a period of time of trying to achieve certain determined goals through binging, purging or restricting and not achieving those goals, that the person would turn to drugs as a means to accelerate the process or deal with the emotional whirlwind of depression, shame or hatred. At this point we have an eating disorder and drug going full throttle in an attempt to by the person to gain control. It rarely happens and is described as the great illusion by most treatment professionals.

How To Treat Drug Addiction And Eating Disorders

When entering a drug rehab or treatment program with an accompanying eating disorder, the goal should always be patient safety. If the patient is not in a life threatening situation due to their disordered eating, then the individual usually enters detox for their drug . After detox is completed, the persons behavior as it relates to their eating disorder will be addressed. Whether it is binging, purging or restricting, the patient must be willing to address the behavior to achieve recovery. Realizing that abstaining from the eating disorder behavior will initiate cravings for drugs, the clinical staff at the treatment facility must be acutely aware of the possibility of relapse. During this process, the treatment facility must also address the issue of whether they are the appropriate setting for the patient and if not make a referral to another drug rehab or eating disorder facility.