Behaviorist Approach to Eating Disorders
by Faith L. Pakhuongte, 1830234, 5CEP B
The Behaviorist Approach is different from the other approaches, which means when individuals exposed to external stimuli affect their observable behavior, that is, how they respond and behave towards that stimuli. Individuals exposed to external stimuli such as social media as an example, they see other individuals their age, who present different body types that lead to a lot of insecurities and comparing themselves to the others if they are not satisfied with how they look.
According to research, teenage girls are more exposed to these situations in which they feel unsatisfied with the way their bodies look and focus too much on their weight, body shape, and food, and this leads to dangerous eating behaviors. Eating disorders can harm the heart, digestive system, bones, teeth, and will also lead to other diseases.
Diagnosis
Eating disorders are usually diagnosed based on signs, symptoms, and eating habits of an individual. If an individual is suspected of having an eating disorder from his or her behavior such as suddenly refusing to eat, making excuses to skip meals, or suddenly eating more than his or her normal capacity at different or odd timings of the day, he or she will likely be asked to perform an exam as well as tests, by their doctor to help direct a diagnosis. Most of the assessments and tests include a physical exam which the individual will be examined to rule out medical causes for his or her eating issues, psychological evaluation in which a doctor or a mental health professional will ask about their thoughts, feelings and eating habits as well as asking them to complete self-assessment questionnaires, and finally, additional tests may be done to check for any complications related to the eating disorder.
Treatment
Treatments vary on the specific type of eating disorder, but it generally involves nutrition education, psychotherapy, and medication, or in serious cases, hospitalization. An individual suffering from anorexia or binge eating will be guided by a team of professionals which include primary health care providers, mental health professionals, and dietitians who will help the individual with treatments such as eating healthy by designing a plan to achieve healthy eating habits, and in the case of psychotherapy, this may include a different type such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which is commonly used to treat eating disorders by learning how to monitor and improve eating habits, and moods as well as other healthy ways to cope with stressful situations. A specific type of CBT which is known as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is used to treat individuals who exude suicidal behaviors in extreme cases, and this treatment helps individual to balance change with acceptance in which individuals will work to accept themselves as well as be motivated to change for the better, thus improving their behaviors to lead better and healthier lives.
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Prevention
Prevention programs are developed in systems and training to prevent eating disorder onset in a population, and these programs have targeted audiences and goals in which they carry out different types of prevention practices such as universal or primary prevention designed to prevent the development of eating disorders in large groups with varying degrees of risk which may involve education, policy or legal action. Selective prevention has the aim to prevent eating disorders by targeting individuals who do not yet have symptoms but are at risk due to biological, psychological, or sociocultural factors.
For example, in most Asian countries, it is a cultural norm that being slim and petite is preferable than having a little more flesh, and girls who are facing puberty are targeted from a young age to watch what they eat, thus affecting their behaviors negatively. The Indicated or Targeted Prevention targets individuals who are at high risk of developing an eating disorder due to warning signs or visible risk factors such as having high levels of body dissatisfaction. The goal is to stop the development of a grave problem that may lead to an eating disorder and is aimed directly at the individual. All these preventative measures can help individuals who have not yet developed any unusual eating habits but are on the line of developing one, and thus, will discourage these individuals from developing negative and harmful behaviors, and to develop good eating habits instead.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as a choice of treatment that falls under the cognitive approach to eating disorders is perhaps one of the strongest ways to tackle both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. This is primarily because thoughts and beliefs about oneself in comparison with others is an underlying cause of ED. The comprehensive 4 stage CBT plan devised also ensures prevention of relapse and other maintenance factors of the disorder. The blog briefs about all necessary aspects efficiently.
ReplyDeleteBehaviorist approach is very relatable because we are greatly influenced by social media. Even though there are a lot of campaigns on body positivity, we tend to focus on our insecurities more. Therefore such an approach is very relevant. This blog post covered almost all aspects of the approach.
ReplyDeleteMerin Mary Chacko 1830240
ReplyDeleteThe behaviourist approach looks at the individual's overt behaviour toward a particular stimuli, to analyse the disorder. This behaviour can be influenced by social factors, as is mentioned in the post. This post is very crisp and clear in explaining the concept of behaviourist approach towards eating disorders. The prevention and treatment measures mentioned in the post make sense with regard to eating disorders and helps individuals in understanding about the bigger and common issue surrounding eating disorders.