Lately, I have been posting on social media about how difficult it is for people diagnosed with eating disorders to receive mental healthcare and especially specific, eating disorder focused care.

One in ten people diagnosed with an eating disorder will access general mental health care at all and of those people on 3.5 will receive eating disorder care from a trained professional. 

Today I thought it would be helpful to shed a light on some of the most common barriers to eating disorder treatment and explore what we can do to correct them. This article is for you if you have ever sought eating disorder treatment for yourself or a loved one and struggled, or if you are beginning the process and need some guidance. I have been a professional licensed counselor (therapist) treating eating disorders in Columbus, Ohio and I want to share my knowledge of the eating disorder treatment system with you.

Insurance 

The first and generally largest barrier to eating disorder treatment in the United States is Insurance coverage. There is the barrier of even having access to insurance at all, which we won’t get into today. Then there is the barrier of our insurance plan covering eating disorder care or the level of care that we or our dependent needs. Many insurance plans do not cover eating disorder care AT ALL, which is outrageous. And most people would not know this until they are looking for care and it is too late. We need to require that all managed care plans cover eating disorder treatment in the same way they cover other medical and physical diagnoses. If eating disorders are covered, there are HUGE hoops to jump through to get coverage and strict limitations on what they will cover and for how long. These standards are often outdated, uniformed and not in alignment with the current APA guidelines for treatment. For example, most coverage for a higher level of care including residential treatment, inpatient treatment or Partial Hospitalization Programs has weight requirements (meaning a person must be this weight or this percentage of their expected body weight) which we know can be rooted in weight stigma and can exclude many sick people from coverage of care that they need. We know that with eating disorders, early and intensive treatment produces best outcomes, where insurance operates on the medical model which says least intrusive and aggressive treatment first.

Support

Eating disorder recovery takes a large and robust support circle. It is nearly impossible to recover from an eating disorder on your own without family and friends who support your journey. For those who don’t have people around them who support their recovery or treatment or may be detrimental to it, this can be the thing that keeps full recovery out of reach. Support is need in terms of logistical support, such as employers allowing time of for treatment or treatment of a child. Families and friends can help with logistics by giving rides, housework help, or other errands. People struggling with eating disorders also need emotional support which can be anything from checking in on how they are doing, to going to treatment with them, to being a recovery partner during meals.

Community Resources

One major barrier to eating disorder treatment is access to care. Most eating disorder treatment facilities and trained providers have long waitlists after the COVID-19 Pandemic and national increase in eating disorder diagnosis and need for care. With a lack of quick, convenient access to specialized eating disorder care, people are struggling on waiting lists, at times their eating disorders getting worse, waiting for the care that they need. With my practice providing virtual treatment in Ohio, I am doing what I can to provide immediate access to eating disorder assessments and treatment from a trained professional. We can work to rectify this issue by passing the Counseling Compact which allows providers to serve clients living in other states, creating broader access to treatment by those specialized in the area that a client needs, no matter where they are located.

Stigma

Another major barrier to people accessing eating disorder treatment is the stigma that is around eating disorders. We as a society have done a lot to advance the acceptance of mental health care and treatment as a legitimate and normal need and we are working to improve access to general mental health care, though it is still lacking. When it comes to eating disorders, we are even further behind. There is such pervasive diet culture in America that is so ingrained in our society, that disorder eating behaviors are almost accepted and praised. “Oh you’re so good, I can never eat that clean!” or “You’re so dedicated to your workouts, doing 2 a days!” for example. When disordered behaviors are praised, it can make it very difficult for the person to think they are in need of help or take the step to change these behaviors when they are so praised by others. We need to continue the hard work of dismantling diet culture and destigmatizing eating disorders since they are so common. Those in the recovery community who are sharing their story and using their voice to spread the message of a life without eating disorders are helping so many people to gain the strength to start their own journey of recovery.

With all of these barriers, it will take individual and collective action to solve the access to eating disorder treatment issue. Personally, I am using my social media platforms to destigmatize eating disorders, dismantle diet culture, and educate society with facts and information on eating disorders. In my personal life, I stand up to diet culture by pointing it out to friends and family and putting a stop to commenting on other’s diets or appearance and encouraging others to do the same. Professionally, I am providing virtual eating disorder treatment in Ohio and working to increase quick and convenient access to eating disorder treatment in my community. I am attending trainings to stay up to date on providing the most evidence-based and effective eating disorder treatment to my clients. I am also working to get the Counseling Compact passed to expand access to care by talking to my representatives, voting and spreading the word with colleagues.

If you have a child or teen in Ohio who is dealing with eating concerns, please visit my site to learn more about eating disorder treatment in Ohio. I provide virtual eating disorder therapy services from Columbus, Ohio and work with teens and young adults in college. I treat anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in adolescents in Ohio.

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This blog is intended to be educational and informational and does not substitute for professional medical and therapeutic help, which is highly recommended when treating an eating disorder. If you would like help treating your child’s eating issues or want to learn more, Schedule a free consultation call today.