NEW STUDY: Eating Disorders spiked after pandemic, local clinic discusses findings, treatment
Alsana, which has clinics in Birmingham and Huntsville, released their newest findings for the 2022 year.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - As a growing number of Americans continue to deal with mental health post-covid, one type of condition is on the rise.
Alsana, an eating disorder treatment program, says during and after the COVID-19 pandemic there was a mental health crisis. Eating disorders are one type of mental health disorder.
They found that the average age of patients they saw were 27 years old, and nearly 84% of patients were female.
Alsana says eating disorders can present in a variety of ways including food restriction, over-exercising, and binging and purging.
When treating their patients, they say the best approach is to consider the whole person by taking into account their medical, therapeutic, nutrition and relational aspects.
“We really want to create a soft landing for our clients to be able to come and explore and understand why they’ve needed these maladaptive coping skills in order to survive these periods of their life ,” says Mary Elizabeth Akinaka, Alsana’s regional executive director, “and, to help them find new ways of understanding and managing their internal experience as well as how to cope in the world.
Alsana says that early intervention brings about a higher success rate. You can learn more about eating disorders plus how to get help in a variety of ways on their website.
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