Treating eating disorders in young people can be more challenging than treating adults, according to a report in Bloomberg's Business Week.
"Disorders that start when you are young in adolescence, no matter what the disorder, are always harder to treat and harder to recover from," according to Dr. David Schlager, a professor at Texas A&M Health Service Center College of Medicine. "There are so many crucial things going on, so much pressure to establish yourself in various ways."
The most recent research using brain scan technology shows that adolescent brains react differently than adults' partly because the human brain does not fully mature until age 25 years old. Teens require special kinds of treatment.
Teens with eating disorders have the added problems of being unable to concentrate. They are usually irritable, depressed, and anxious, according to Dr. Andrea Vazzana, professor of child development and adolescent psychiatry at New York University. She also pointed out that research about eating disorders is about adults, and no one is sure if the same therapies used on adults are effective in teenagers and children.
Posted By: Eating Disorders Blog