Anorexia - Treatments
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If you have anorexia, you worry a lot about the way your body looks and about how much you weigh. You have an intense fear of being fat, and you starve yourself to lose weight. Having anorexia can seriously damage your health, and it may kill you.
Key points about treating anorexia
- To recover from anorexia, you'll need to do three important things: start to eat more food, put on weight, and change how you think about yourself and food.
- There's very little good research about treatments for anorexia, so we can't say for certain what will work.
- Doctors agree that the best treatment is to eat more to gain weight. But there's very little research about the best way to encourage someone with anorexia to eat normally again.
- There are no drugs that can 'cure' anorexia.
- Psychotherapy (a talking treatment) may work, especially if you feel depressed. It tries to help you become well by making you feel better about yourself. But there hasn't been enough research to prove it works.
- Involving the whole family, maybe with family therapy, may help to stop anorexia becoming a long term problem.
- You're more likely to get better if you get treatment early.
To learn more about the kind of treatment you might get for anorexia, see What you can expect from the NHS.
Treatments for anorexia
Which treatments work best? We've carefully weighed up the research and put the treatments into categories. However, there is no strong research evidence that any treatments work well for anorexia. You can find out more by clicking on the links below.
For help in deciding which treatment is best for you, see .
Treatments that are likely to work
- Managing weight gain: You will be given advice about how much you should be eating to get back to a normal weight. You may be given vitamin and mineral supplements to take. You will have probably have psychotherapy at the same time. More...
Treatments that need further study
- Psychotherapy (sometimes called talking treatment): You talk to a therapist regularly about your thoughts, feelings and problems with food. More...
- Antidepressants: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a group of antidepressants. They include the drugs fluoxetine (brand name Prozac) and citalopram (Cipramil). Tricyclics are an older type of antidepressant medicine, but they probably won't work. More...
- Going into hospital: Sometimes people go into hospital for treatment, even if they don't need emergency care. More...
- Oestrogen supplements: Taking this hormone may help prevent broken bones if your bones are weak because of anorexia. More...
- Zinc supplements: People who have anorexia often have a low level of zinc in their body. Some doctors think that taking zinc supplements could help people with anorexia put on weight. More...
Treatments that are likely to be ineffective or harmful
- Antipsychotic drugs: These are usually used to treat serious mental health problems. They help with anxiety and irrational thoughts. But they have side effects. More...
Glossary
- hormones
- Hormones are chemicals that are made in certain parts of the body. They travel through the bloodstream and have an effect on other parts of the body. For example, the female sex hormone oestrogen is made in a woman's ovaries. Oestrogen has many different effects on a woman's body. It makes the breasts grow at puberty and helps control periods. It is also needed to get pregnant.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited ("BMJ Group") 2007. All rights reserved
This information does not replace medical advice. If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.
