How the Pandemic has Changed Eating Disorder Treatment

I have mentioned multiple times how the incidence of eating disorders increased significantly during the pandemic. Several posts also posited possible reasons for this purported increase based on the clinical literature, media and also from my own thoughts.

However, none of this data has taken into account confounding factors in the eating disorder treatment world. Three of these factors may be very pertinent.

First, there has been much more attention paid to people’s mental health during the pandemic. We were all cooped up during much of the first year of the pandemic which meant there were few places to hide. Regular life makes it easier for people with burgeoning eating disorders to hide the progress of the illness from others for a long time. That was not possible at the start of the pandemic.

Second, increased access to care, as described in recent posts, changes the cohort of new therapists. Many more clinicians will have had exposure to eating disorders after working in various treatment programs and thus be more able to diagnose an eating disorder and recommend treatment.

Third, during much of the pandemic, people sought out therapy much more than usual. Practices filled up very quickly. Finding an available therapist was very hard. Treatment programs had waitlists two to three times long as usual. Clinicians starting new practices filled shockingly fast.

So the conclusion that the incidence of eating disorders increased drastically may not be the entire or even the true picture.

The pandemic may have helped usher in a new chapter in mental health treatment in this country. People may seek more help, look for eating disorder treatment sooner and be diagnosed with eating disorders earlier in the illness.

Over time, the changes in diagnosis and treatment might become clearer and give us all a better sense of how the pandemic changed the eating disorder treatment world.