Why is it so difficult to access treatment for eating disorders? – breaking latest news

My 17 year old daughter fell ill with anorexia. I have read that some beds dedicated to patients with eating disorders have been dismantled: I am shocked and incredulous given the historical moment we are experiencing, with such an increase in sick children and young people. My daughter had to wait months before having access to treatment and this period aggravated her general condition. I wonder why such a decision. I really hope we change course, for the future of our children.

He answers Stefano Erzegovesinutritionist and psychiatrist, science popularizer (VAI AL FORUM)

Thanks to the efforts of people like her, things have changed: patients with eating disorders (Dca)their families and associations forcefully reported the critical situation to the competent hospitals and institutions, obtaining the restoration of beds dedicated to DCA. I take advantage of your letter to point out a general criticality in the treatment of these ailments, which goes well beyond the case of the single hospital and concerns the whole national territory: DCAs are complex pathologies, which involve immense suffering for patients and their families, require long and expensive treatments and are a far cry from the prejudice of wealthy teenage whims, in vogue up to a decade ago and which, even today, struggles to leave the minds of some people. For this reason I have been carrying on, for years, the comparison between DCA and oncological pathologies: in both cases we are dealing with complex diseases, with multifactorial causes, high care needs, high mortality and a huge impact on the quality of life of the people who suffer from them.

If the institutions, rightly, do not bat an eye when it comes to approving new, effective and expensive treatments for oncological diseases, the same should do when it comes to approve the long and complex treatment paths dedicated to DCA. What do we mean by long and complex treatment paths? These are routes, available to all citizens, with professional teams – at a minimum a doctor, a nutritionist and a psychologist – who, in a timely and coordinated manner, take care of people suffering from DCA and their families, right from the first symptoms. I deliberately mentioned the involvement of families because the fault of families as the cause of DCA is the other great prejudice which, even today, intoxicates the minds of many. Families are not only not a cause of DCA but represent, especially for younger people, a necessary resource for therapywho must be adequately informed and immediately involved in the treatment process.

I quote an excerpt from my consideration, which appeared in the Health Courier a few months ago (shortly after the Day of the lilac bow, dedicated precisely to DCA) about the need for a radical change of perspective in treatment: As we have repeatedly mentioned, DCAs require long, complex and expensive treatments, which entail a very high risk of mortality in young and otherwise healthy populations. Just like oncological diseases, the fact that DCAs are complex and expensive diseases cannot and should not be a reason to treat them insufficiently. It is needed, now more than ever, a network of treatments uniformly distributed throughout the country and which, in addition to multidisciplinary clinics, provides for places of treatment with greater intensity (day hospital, hospitalizations dedicated to DCA) for the most serious forms. a commitment is needed from all of usevery day, for eating disorders to stop being once and for all the Cinderella of health.