  |
|||
|
|
|
||
|
Posted by Lori Henry Nov 8, 2006 |
People who suffer from anorexia have been studied to see whether the disorders have a meaning behind their starving behaviours.
"Therefore, treatments of anorectic behaviour which disregard the meaning that the patients attribute to the illness are likely to end in relapses," says the lead investigator Dr. Ragnfrid H. Nordbo, of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo.
The study he lead considered the perceptions of 18 women with anorexia between the ages of 20-34 years. He interviewed each of them in-depth to identify 8 core “constructs,” such as security, avoidance, mental strength, self-confidence, identity, care, communication and death.
"Therapists who do not take these intentions into consideration are likely to elicit resistance and sooner or later fail in their treatment attempts," the study confirms. "We therefore emphasize the importance of encouraging patients to express their personal values and to explain how their eating disorder both fulfills and compromises their values."
The results were published in the November issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders.