Medical symptoms, such as digestive, kidney or heart problems, can offer a clue that eating disorders may be tagging along with these dilemmas. In many cases, getting a person back on a healthy diet may chase away some of the problems, such as depression or sluggish thinking, he said. But getting back on a healthy diet often isn't a simple affair, since psychological, biological, sociological and family influences can create a tangled web. A successful recovery, experts say, often takes a team of mental health professionals, doctors, therapists, nutritionists and a supportive cast of friends and family. One of the first steps is recognizing the problem.
Denial can linger even after the recovery process has begun.
However, her parents, who were in the audience and were asked to add their thoughts, said that she had dropped to 92 pounds and had to be hospitalized for 72 days. But she continued to talk about her predicament, which began when the athletically inclined student suffered a series of injuries. So she tried to at least look good on the outside. Adolescence is the time in your life when you do feel lost. People eager to please can be prone to developing eating disorders, said Barb Wolfe, a Durango psychotherapist, runner, and coach at the high school and middle school levels.