Walton

As many who have suffered from eating disorders know, these illnesses can often go unnoticed for years. Family members and friends might not be the only ones who don’t catch the signs and symptoms of EDs; doctors, too, may not identify the presence of an eating disorder. Whether or not sufferers desire to get help, the symptoms associated with eating disorders often lead many to present at doctors’ offices and emergency departments, suffering from “mysterious ailments.”

In a study by Dooley-Hash, Lipson, Walton & Cunningham (2012, 2013), 16% of youth 14-20 presenting to the emergency department screened positive for eating disorders. The researchers describe their study in two articles published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders in 2012 and 2013. For this post, I’ll focus on the 2013 article, which highlights the patterns of emergency department use of those who present with eating disorders.

Tetyana has previously written … Continue reading →