Mental Health in Anorexia Nervosa: From Medical and Psychiatric Stabilization to Psychotherapy
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (18 November 2023) | Viewed by 241
Special Issue Editors
Interests: anorexia nervosa; family psychotherapy; psychotherapy; eating disorders; personality disorders
Interests: anorexia nervosa; family psychotherapy; psychotherapy; eating disorders; personality disorders
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Talking about anorexia nervosa (AN) is talking about interdisciplinary teams, given the compromise of both mental and physical health that the disorder represents, since it is the only psychiatric condition that may lead to death due to its own characteristics. This condition poses the need for a step-by-step treatment, where initially it is necessary to stabilize the patient medically and nutritionally to reduce the primary risk compromising their life; later, a more complex intervention directed towards the function of the symptoms is carried out. For this reason, we need high-level specialists who can address the disorder from their point of view and expertise. Hence, we propose this Special Issue, where experts on this topic may share their valuable knowledge with the scientific community.
To start, we propose addressing the importance of forming an interdisciplinary team made up of specialists who can underpin the start of treatment with their in-depth knowledge on the subject in an outpatient scenario and, then, observing the possibilities of performing intrahospital interventions and achieving refeeding of these patients with minimal risk to them. Afterwards, family intervention is crucial in this area due to the observed need to work with parents and increase awareness of the disease, as well as the possibility of achieving structural changes that modify family functioning and the factors that maintain the disorder. Continuing with the process, it is also vitally important to carry out a psychotherapeutic intervention for the patient in a staggered manner where, first, the main objective is to achieve a change in altered eating behavior, through third-generation psychotherapy interventions, which make the patient aware of their behavior and their cognitive processes. Later, the intervention pivots towards the function of the symptom and secondary gains of the disorder, meaning the underlying reasons for relapse, related to a style of functioning that leads to the return of symptoms due a lack of emotional resources. In relation to this, about it is important to discuss its comorbidity with personality traits, and the possibility of knowing in-depth the emotional functioning in the internal structure of the patient, which would lead us to avoid a severe and enduring disorder. We cannot ignore the importance of the parental couple’s experience with their own behaviors and with the information received from their own families—that is, touching on transgenerational issues that could shed light on chronification prevention or may provide new treatment targets to develop interventions. Finally, we want to highlight interventions for community scenarios, since AN may represent a public health problem with a high burden not only for individuals and their families, but also for the health system.
Dr. María de Lourdes García Anaya
Dr. Laura González Macías
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- anorexia nervosa
- psychotherapy
- family psychotherapy
- reflective function
- functioning styles
- relapse
- self-efficacy
- awareness
- body image
- cognitive behavioral therapy
- interpersonal therapy
- psychiatric comorbidity
- personality disorders
- personality disorders comorbidity
- nutritional assessment
- pharmacotherapy
- medical assessment
- refeeding syndrome
- intergenerational transmission
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