What Does Inpatient Treatment Look Like for BED?

Blog Contributed By: Crystal Karges, MS, RDN, IBCLC

Binge Eating Disorder is a severely debilitating mental illness that impacts countless individuals across our nation. For some individuals, the consequences of binge eating disorder could become so acute that it directly interferes with one’s ability to carry out normal functions in their life.

Alternately, if a person has become a danger to themselves through their behaviors, it is important to consider forms of treatment that can immediately address these concerns.

Dual Diagnosis and Binge Eating Disorders

Binge eating disorder is a complex health issue that requires comprehensive treatment to appropriately heal from this disease. Because it is common for other psychiatric illnesses to co-exist with binge eating disorder, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or anxiety disorders, the help of multi-specialty treatment is necessary to find recovery and healing.

While the idea of inpatient treatment may feel overwhelming, it is an important option to consider, especially if the symptoms of binge eating disorder have escalated out of control.

If you or a loved one has been suffering through this devastating eating disorder, it is crucial to be assessed by a health care professional to determine the level of care that is right for you. Inpatient care may be appropriate for you if you have struggled to maintain recovery in an outpatient setting or if more intensive care is needed to address physical, emotional, and psychiatric symptoms related to binge eating.

What’s Involved in Inpatient Treatment?

If a collaborative decision has been made with your treatment team to enroll in inpatient treatment for binge eating, you may be wondering what this might involve. This level of care typically offers a full spectrum of services to address the variety of issues that are involved, including medical, psychiatric, nutritional, and psychological components.

Inpatient care will generally unfold as follows:

Assessment

Upon admission in an inpatient facility, a full assessment will occur to comprehensively assess medical and psychiatric needs. This will help the team involved understand what symptoms are present and how to prioritize treatment for the patient.

If physical and psychiatric symptoms are severe, the team will work to stabilize the patient upon admission. Upon completion of the assessment, a patient will be assigned members of his or her treatment team, which will include a medical physician, psychiatrist, registered dietitian, case manager, and primary therapist.

Treatment Intervention

Once a patient has been admitted, assessed, and assigned a multidisciplinary team, an individualized plan will be appropriately developed to begin treatment. Early intervention efforts will focus on stabilizing a patient, both medically and psychiatrically.

The length of time spent in this phase will vary and is determined on the severity of symptoms present upon admission. Treatment will evolve to include medical, psychiatric, psychological and nutritional interventions, as delivered by the treatment team, and include daily therapeutic sessions.

The treatment team will meet on a regular basis to assess the patient progress and evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment plan. Inpatient treatment can range in length from approximately 30 to 90 days, depending on the circumstances involved with each patient.

Aftercare

As a patient stabilizes, recovers, and moves through the phases of inpatient treatment, they will progressively become stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally. To ensure a smooth transition into a less acute level of care, a treatment team will work together to coordinate aftercare planning and relapse prevention training.

A Tremendous, but Worthwhile Decision

Having the option of inpatient treatment is a tremendous decision and one that should involve the support of loved ones and a professional treatment team. If you are considering inpatient care to treat binge eating disorder, be sure to discuss this with you primary doctor, therapist, or trusted health professional.

Recovery and healing can be found through the wonderful support and care that is found in inpatient treatment.