Without a Prescription, We'd Call It an Eating Disorder |
What Are Eating Disorders?
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Many reasons people start weight-loss medication are also core eating disorder warning signs.
The side effects of these medications can mimic and mask the medical signs of an eating disorder.
The drugs can quiet the hunger and fullness cues that eating disorder recovery works to rebuild.
A patient sits across from me and describes thinking about food all day. She eats very little. She has lost interest in meals she used to love. Her hair is thinning, and she is tired in a way sleep does not touch. These are all warning signs of an eating disorder. Any other time, I would start an assessment.
But she is not worried—and her doctor is pleased. The medication is working.
A Field Turned Upside Down
I am a psychotherapist who specializes in eating disorders, and lately, I have watched the field I know turn upside down. The things we are trained to notice—the preoccupation, the shrinking intake, the body breaking down its own muscle—get read as progress because a prescription is attached.
Why Are People Prescribed GLP-1 Medications?
Before discussing........