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Understanding and Treating Teenage Eating Disorders: Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating Explained

Written By Stuart Croft
Reviewed By Tiffany Green
Medically Reviewed By Dr David Barker
Updated October 24, 2024

Gladstones Clinic is one of only three private rehab clinics in the UK with the facilities, expertise, and requirements to treat teenagers (16+) for substance abuse, eating disorders, and mental health disorders in a fully residential setting. 

While the content in this article has been medically reviewed for accuracy by a qualified physician, Gladstones Clinic strongly recommends speaking to a professional when dealing with teenage disorders that have the potential to cause irreparable physical, emotional, or cognitive damage.

Whether you are reading this article as a current or former teenager, there is one thing we can all agree on: the need to fit in or find your tribe can be overwhelming during the adolescent years. For most of us, our teenage years represent a mixed bag of ups and downs as we navigate our way to adulthood, and you will almost certainly have experienced both the joys and anxieties of teenage years.

Unfortunately, there are teens whose adolescent lives are dominated by the pressure to fit in, teens who feel that any flaw in their appearance or personality is a death sentence, and teens who will do anything to fit the mould, even at the cost of their own health and happiness. 

When these desires (or other disorders) manifest as eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia, two of the most common eating disorders among teenagers (American Academy of Paediatrics), understanding what to do and where to get help is critical. An early intervention, diagnosis, and treatment can be the difference between a teenage eating disorder being nothing more than a temporary ‘down’ during adolescence, or an ongoing struggle with lifelong implications.

Understanding Teenage Eating Disorders

What are teenage eating disorders?

Teenage eating disorders refer to disturbances in thoughts, attitudes, and behaviours related to food, eating, weight, and body shape during the teenage years. Broadly speaking the three most common types of teenage eating disorders are:

  • Anorexia Nervosa (AN):
    • Characterised by an extreme fear of gaining weight and a distorted body image. Patients will restrict themselves to an extremely limited daily calorie intake or take other steps to control their physique, including excessive exercise or taking laxatives. Left untreated, anorexia leads to malnutrition which can cause reproductive issues, organ damage, hair loss, and several other physical and psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. 
  • Bulimia Nervosa (BN):
    • Characterised by repeated cycles of binge eating followed by purging. Typically, sufferers will self-induce vomiting after eating a disproportionate and unhealthy amount of food in a single sitting, although some resort to laxatives or excessive exercise. Bulimia is associated with several health conditions, including dental decay, gastrointestinal problems, and mental distress. 
  • Binge Eating Disorder (BED):
    • Characterised by episodic binge eating followed by feelings of shame and guilt. BED patients often feel as if they don’t have any control during bingeing sessions, leading to mental distress and physical symptoms that include dramatic weight fluctuations, gastrointestinal discomfort, and fatigue.

While Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is technically a mental health disorder, it may manifest in part as an eating disorder when a teenager develops certain attitudes or behaviours due to their self-image. 

All teenagers are susceptible to developing an eating disorder; however, girls are significantly more likely to develop anorexia and bulimia than boys. Binge eating disorder affects boys and girls roughly equally.

The overlooked dangers of eating disorders in teenagers

1. Eating disorders overlap significantly with mental health disorders.

Eating disorders and mental health disorders share positive feedback responses. This means that the presence of one type of disorder may lead to or exacerbate the other. 

It’s understandable how a young person with undiagnosed anxiety, PTSD, or OCD, someone who feels that they have little control over their life, might develop an eating disorder in a bid to find some level of control. Conversely, there are cases where an otherwise healthy teen develops an eating disorder due to environmental factors, such as bullying or societal pressure, only to then find themselves struggling with anxiety or depression as their physical and emotional health deteriorates.

Understanding this overlap is key to treatment. It demonstrates how simply addressing the eating disorder, in effect ensuring adequate nutrition, might not lead to a full recovery if any co-occurring mental health disorders are not diagnosed or addressed. For this reason, we strongly advise parents to see a physician and a mental health professional if their teens are struggling with eating disorders. 

2. Full recovery may take longer than expected.

A study published in the Cambridge University Press in 2018 showed that 20-25% of teen teenagers still meet the criteria for anorexia two years after starting treatment and that a significant number of those struggling with bulimia relapse within six months. Worryingly, approximately 30% of bulimia patients remain ill for 10 to 20 years after initial presentation; however, it’s worth noting that ‘binge and purge’ behaviours may become less frequent. The study also revealed that early adolescent bulimia increases the risk of developing bulimia in adulthood by a factor of 20 (Nicholis and Barrett).

Although this is subjective, food is one of life’s joys that everyone deserves to savour. Ignoring or only treating the physical side of eating disorders in teenagers could lead to a lifetime of food-related insecurities and anxieties, turning one of life’s greatest pleasures into a daily mental battle. If your teen or one you care about shows signs of developing an eating disorder, seeking professional assistance sooner rather than later could help them retain the ability to enjoy food’s pleasures.

Treating Teenage Eating Disorders

The right approach to treating eating disorders will consider the complicating factors mentioned above. An anorexia patient forced to meet a specific caloric intake under duress might manage to regain some of the weight they lost; however, this approach achieves little in the long run and will almost certainly cause a degree of psychological harm. One can come to similar conclusions with other eating disorders that affect teenagers: simply treating the physical symptoms or effects of the disorder is not a viable long-term solution.

Effective treatment, whether at home with the family or in a rehab facility equipped to treat teenage patients, requires diagnosing and addressing the underlying causes of the eating disorder in addition to treating its physical effect. In many cases, teenagers benefit significantly from psychological counselling or therapy that helps to normalise their relationships with food, tackle self-esteem issues, and address distorted body image perceptions. Additionally, combining therapy that focuses on managing anxiety, depression, or other mental health problems also promotes long-term recovery and mental well-being.

Assuming that the teenager and/or their parents acted quickly upon first suspecting that an eating disorder was developing and it hasn’t been allowed to progress, outpatient therapy and regularly scheduled visits to a physician might be enough. Unfortunately, many young people, especially those suffering from bulimia or binge eating disorder, manage to hide their disorders out of fear, shame, or stigma. In cases where their physical health has deteriorated significantly or the weight of their disorder is causing unmanageable stress or anxiety, residential rehab might be a better option.

Residential rehab for teenage eating disorders allows teens to recover in a healthy environment, away from the triggers and stressors of home and school and surrounded by caring and understanding medical professionals. Direct access to counselling and a medically overseen recovery programme, which includes oversight at mealtimes, means that teens receive continuous support in rebuilding healthy eating habits.

The structure offered at a residential clinic provides teens with a safe space to work on the psychological aspects of their disorder while keeping stress and anxiety in check. 

Gladstones Clinic: Teenage Rehab Specialists

Gladstones Clinic is a leading UK rehab clinic and one of only three in the country that is licensed to provide teenage residential rehab programmes to teenagers aged 16+. We provide a wide range of services aimed at helping tomorrow’s adults solve today’s problems, and over the last 20 years, we have helped dozens of young people overcome substance abuse and addiction problems, eating disorders, and mental health disorders.

Our experienced team of psychologists, counsellors, and recovery specialists have a deep passion for helping teenagers overcome serious afflictions that could affect their long-term happiness and success and have developed safe and effective treatment programmes that address all aspects of health. We rely on both evidence-backed clinical counselling methodologies, such as CBT and DBT, along with proven alternative therapies that facilitate healing and recovery. 

If your teen or one you care about is showing signs of developing an eating disorder, we encourage you to contact us for an obligation-free consultation. We’ll gladly walk you through the steps that you can take to ensure their well-being.

Do you need help with teenage drug abuse?

Contact Gladstones today. Our discreet operators will gladly talk you through our streamlined admissions process.

Works Cited

Hornberger, L. L., et al. “Identification and Management of Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents.” American Academy of Pediatrics, vol. 147, no. 1, 2021. Americal Academy of Pediatrics, https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/147/1/e2020040279/33504/Identification-and-Management-of-Eating-Disorders?autologincheck=redirected. Accessed 4 Oct 2024.

Nicholis, D., and E. Barrett. “Eating disorders in children and adolescents.” BJPsych Advances, vol. 21, no. 3, 2018, pp. 206-216. Cambridge University Press, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-advances/article/eating-disorders-in-children-and-adolescents/8106C7D0A89B1335E0293E545D4EBAD7. Accessed 17 Oct 2024.

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