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ARFID is a health problem that affects many children and adults and typically requires Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder treatment to manage appropriately. In some cases, this condition requires a residential eating disorder treatment in Portland, Maine, to properly manage.
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder or ARFID is a psychological and dietary disorder that centers around a child or an adult being a very picky eater. This problem goes beyond merely disliking some food. People with ARFID limit their diet to the point that they experience nutritional deficiencies and other health problems. Anxiety around eating food is common with ARFID, as are other behaviors that make eating difficult.
For example, someone with ARFID may struggle to eat foods with certain textures or extreme smells. Nausea may occur when they try to eat these foods, which forces them to stop eating. Others with this disease eat at a slower pace than usual or may have little appetite. In studies, this problem has been found to affect nearly five percent of all children and around 3.2 percent of the general population.
ARFID will cause many health problems, including severe weight loss, complicated psychosocial functionality, struggles with eating proper levels of food, and even extreme fatigue. If you have ARFID, you probably don’t have a poor body image, which separates it from issues like anorexia and bulimia. This difference often complicates Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder treatment. Crossroads Maine bulimia treatment center and anorexia treatment center are available for your individual situation.
When considering treatment in Portland, Maine, or the surrounding area, it is critical to understand the symptoms associated with this disorder. Unfortunately, you may mistake this condition for bulimia or anorexia. As a result, you may get treatment for those problems. However, the symptoms are much different, and the causes often more complicated. Just a few indicators of ARFID include:
Although ARFID may cause some symptoms of anxiety and depression, it is typically not connected to other psychological eating disorders. As a result, Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder treatment is often harder to handle because the symptoms and the behaviors associated with it are so specific. That said, intensive outpatient eating disorder programs in Maine are available that can help manage this problematic disorder in your life.
Psychologists, dietitians, and behavioral therapists utilize many different Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder treatment options. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT can help teach you how to avoid problematic eating behaviors. Coping mechanisms for their dislike or disgust with certain foods will help improve your eating behaviors.
Other methods, such as food exposure therapy, force you to confront problematic foods to help you understand that there is nothing to fear. Often, this treatment option pairs with meal coaching, which requires a skilled expert to guide you or a child through eating problematic foods. In this way, you can better understand the foods that cause anxiety and grasp why that anxiety is unnecessary.
Beyond these methods, family-based education is also critical. Families of those with ARFID often struggle to understand what is happening. They may think that those with this condition are stubborn and may treat them as if they are misbehaving or just picky. Thankfully, family education can help your family better understand this situation. It is often a cornerstone of any ARFID treatment plan.
If you need Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder treatment in Portland, Maine, please call us at 877.978.1667 right way. Contact Crossroads Maine, we have years of experience working with people like you. We can provide the Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder treatment that you need to be happy and healthy again.