Disordered Eating Services

The CAPS Eating Disorder Team is comprised of clinicians with experience and interest in the complexities of eating disorders. Our team is multidisciplinary to provide evidence-based care for our students. Since eating disorders have serious medical complications, we coordinate care closely with medical providers and dieticians at UCLA Ashe Center or with outside treatment providers. For students who require more intensive or long-term eating disorder treatment, we help students connect to treatment in Los Angeles or near their homes. We welcome parent and family involvement in treatment planning as appropriate.

CAPS Eating Disorder Services

• Clinical assessment and treatment recommendations
• Short term individual therapy
• Psychiatry
• Group therapy
  • Disordered Eating I
  • Disordered Eating II
• Case management/treatment planning to help students connect with outside services.

Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center

• Primary and specialty medical care
• Nutritional counseling
• Laboratory
• Pharmacy

UCLA Health Nourished for Life Outpatient Program

• Interdisciplinary assessment and treatment recommendations
• Medical assessment and consultation
• Psychotherapy
• Nutritional counseling

UCLA Health Medical Stabilization Program for Disordered Eating, UCLA Santa Monica Hospital

Information on Eating Disorders

Eating disorders (EDs) are serious mental illnesses with significant, life-threatening physical and psychological complications.

Common Types of Eating Disorders:

• Anorexia Nervosa: characterized by food restriction, weight loss and intense fear of gaining weight and often a denial of the severity of weight loss or low weight.
• Bulimia Nervosa: characterized by a cycle of bingeing (a feeling of loss of control while eating large quantities of food) and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating.
• Binge Eating Disorder: characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and to the point of discomfort); a feeling of a loss of control during the binge; experiencing shame, distress or guilt afterwards
• Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED): a feeding or eating disorder characterized by some of the above symptoms, causes significant distress or impairment, but does not meet the criteria for another feeding or eating disorder.

For more information on eating or feeding disorders, visit https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/what-are-eating-disorders

Important Facts about Eating Disorders:

• EDs affect people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations and socioeconomic backgrounds; and people with a variety of body shapes, weights and sizes
• People who are normal weight can have EDs
• Anorexia Nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder
• The serious medical consequences of EDs can go unrecognized
• Some people struggling with EDs may not understand the severity of their condition

Signs & Symptoms of Eating Disorders:

Individuals with EDs may present in a variety of ways. An ED may occur without obvious physical signs & symptoms

Psychological symptoms:

• Preoccupation with thoughts about weight, shape, and food
• Self-esteem that is heavily influenced by perceptions of body weight and shape
• Excessive exercise or exercising despite being injured or sick
• Dieting, fasting, refusing to eat certain foods
• Periods of loss of control of eating
• Guilt, shame, and distress
• Denial of hunger
• Social withdrawal
• Denial of severity of low weight or other ED behaviors

Physical symptoms:

• Significant weight loss, gain or fluctuations
• Constantly feeling cold
• Weakness
• Fatigue or lethargy
• Dizziness
• Fainting
• Hot flashes, sweating
• Irregular heart beat
• Irregular periods for women
• Poor concentration/memory difficulties
• Acid reflux
• Dry hair and skin
• Hair loss or growth of fine, soft hair on the body
• Puffy cheeks

Treatment is available. Recovery is possible.

Ideal standard of care includes early recognition and timely intervention using an evidence-based, multidisciplinary team approach (medical, psychological, & nutritional). Treatment plans often are tailored to individual needs and may include on or more of the following:

• Individual group, and/or family psychotherapy
• Medical care and monitoring
• Nutritional counseling
• Medications
• Hospitalization for severe illness

Additional Resources

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/eating-disorders/index.shtml#part_145410

https://www.aedweb.org/home