Every day, various men, women and children suffering from eating disorders reach out for help from professionals; however, only one in every ten will ever receive the treatment they need (“Eating” 3). Anna Westin was twenty-one years old when her long battle with anorexia took her life. At the age of sixteen, Westin was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, and her family felt relieved due to their good insurance policy and early detection; she was put into outpatient treatment, and made quick recovery.
It was not until years later Anna relapsed, and the Westin family was informed their “most-ample” insurance plan did not cover mental diseases such as anorexia nervosa, as insurers described the doctor’s requirement for treatment in her critical condition to be “not medically necessary”. After months of dealing with low blood pressure, kidney failure, dizziness and major health disabilities, Anna could no longer hold on, and passed away (Westin). People like Anna Westin exist everywhere, and her story is extremely prevalent around the world.
Anna is just one of the nine out of ten people who could not afford treatment or were altogether denied help by insurance companies. Treatment for eating disorders should be covered by all insurance companies due to the increasing research involving genetic factors, neurochemical imbalances, and proliferation of deaths in recent years due to economic situations. Genetic factor involvement in the development of eating disorders has been studied for decades, with great advancements. Most insurance companies refuse to fund treatment because they feel eating disorders are only a mindset, rather than a disease inherited.
However, doctors have noticed families with even just one person with an eating disorder make their children twelve times more susceptible to the same or similar eating disorders; twins are also shown to typically inherit eating disorders together due to a shared gene defect (Sohn). In fact, identical twins who are born to an anorexic patient are 60% more likely to develop eating disorders, and fraternal twins are around 14% more likely (Liu 21). Some also analyze the nature v. nurture aspect, where children who are already susceptible are raised in an environment which encourages unhealthy
eating habits, finding it is more likely than eating disorders originate from genetic predisposition. Eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are thought to be complex disease, meaning they are caused by many different genes and different elements in an environment (Johnson). Dr. David Collier, from Maudsley Hospital in London, studied the 5HT2A receptor, which typically adjusts serotonin levels to tell the brain when the body is hungry; he found the gene for this receptor was varied in patients with eating disorders, possibly causing the brain to convince itself there is no hunger within the body (Genetic).
Scientist think anorexia genes could also lie on chromosome 1, and bulimia genes on chromosome 10. Genes like these not only affect body weight, but also personality traits like perfectionism, anxiety, fear, and self-esteem (Johnson). In 2004, The National Institute of Mental Health found a gene mutation which actually connects anorexia nervosa, OCD, depression and obsessive-compulsive personality (OCP). This is why half of anorexics and more than one-fourth bulimics suffer from depression which typically becomes stronger during their eating disorder rather than after recovery (Liu 55).
More than two-thirds of anorexics and bulimics have a lifelong history with anxiety disorders; many times eating disorders are used as an escape. To flee the anxiety, sufferers purge their fears by vomiting in order to distract fear with obsession about the body (Liu 19,20). The difficulty in assessing an eating disorder is patients are said to have recovered when they can keep a healthy weight and are not obsessively assessing their bodies or purging—doctors commonly fail to assess, however, the high rates of anxiety, depression and obsessive perfectionism.
Michael Strober, director of the Eating Disorder Program at UCLA, described, “The solution is not to eliminate these traits but to learn to manage them. So in treatment we try to move patients to a new framework, to enable them to accept growth and change” (Liu 22). Unfortunately, these types of feelings contribute to the denial related to need for treatment, encouraging insurance companies to stop funding with consent from those suffering.
Many scientists feel those suffering from eating disorders should be able to receive treatment due to possible neurochemical imbalances. It has been speculated that anorexia may have a “biological adaptation” which allows them to stop feeling hungry and increase exercise input. Psychologist Shan Guisinger explained, “Anorexics are often told to stop dieting, to listen to their body and to give it what it wants, but the reality is that they are listening to their bodies, and their bodies are telling them not to eat” (Shell).
People with eating disorders, especially anorexia nervosa, have certain levels of chemicals in the body which tend to always be higher than normal, triggering the brain to send signals to the body, indicating a lack of desire for food (Shell). Without proper treatment, eating disorders frequently lead to depression and anxiety, which pushes serotonin levels to a new high, producing an un-escapable “vicious cycle where the behavior tries to compensate for the uncomfortable feeling of biochemical imbalance but can never catch up” (Sohn).
After being denied treatment for years, Anna Westin began saying, “See I’m not sick. The insurance company says I’m not sick. ” Instead of sticking up for her disorder, Westin denied the seriousness of her addiction due to high serotonin levels, causing her mind to “shut off” warning signs of falling health (Sohn). The low serotonin level also nail biting, tugging hair, and other nervous habits in those with eating disorders, in order to “chase the sense of comfort” caused by a nonexistent appetite (Liu 54). [Add more information which will support levels of certain chemicals are too high.]
[Go more in-depth with the inability to understand how serious a disorder is due to the instability caused by high serotonin. ] After various studies, science proves eating disorders are most likely caused by not only a gene carried throughout a family, but also an imbalance of chemicals which make recovery without professional help impossible; since those affected are unable to treat this imbalance without professional help, many let the imbalance of chemicals become so strong, they let them claim their lives in years following.
On September 26, 1996, President Bill Clinton passed the Mental Health Parity Act which required insurance plans to assist in the payment for mental health treatment and recovery (“Substance” 1). Before the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, insurance companies were not required to assist any mental disease; however, even after enactment, the act only enforces that insurance companies provide some sort of assistance, but only if they feel it is necessary (Litman).
Because of this act, insurance companies began assessing people with serious eating disorders, claiming they did not need treatment, or only supplied them with a few days’ worth of coverage, not nearly enough to allow a patient to recover, but to simply relapse into a stronger addiction. Doctors have also noticed the longer someone with an eating disorder waits to get help, the harder it is for them to be later treated (Litman).
Perfectionism and rigid personalities are very common in those with eating disorders, causing many cases to be treated incorrectly and never recover fully (Liu 22). When doctors feel an eating disorder case is hard to assess without full medical costs covered before research can progress, patients can no longer afford diagnosis, and therefore cannot prove a legitimate need for treatment. Whereas outpatient treatment can total to some $30,000, and inpatient treatment some $100,000 total, insurance will only provide on average some $10,000 for outpatient care and $40,000 (Litman).
Some treatment involves therapy, and others include various medications, especially anti-depressants and anti-anxiety (Sohn). [Include more information about when people have eating disorders, they also typically have to pay for depression/anxiety treatment. ]Most people decide to pay out of pocket until they find themselves bankrupt, or economically unstable, and turn to free support groups with can push them steps behind in relation to recovery, instead of propelling them to good health (Litman).
In fact, eating disorder treatment is sometimes lifelong; Tiffany Rush-Wilson, a PHD in psychology, said of bulimia, which she personally suffers from, “It’s in me still, dormant, but I have to watch for it, especially when I get stressed” (Liu 13). Once someone has developed anorexia or bulimia, they tend to feel it follow them throughout life with periods of activity and dormancy. A sufferer of various eating disorders, Kim Olensky explained, “Intervention (psychotherapy) made a big difference. I felt safe there to tell the truth.
” During her treatment, Olensky felt she was recovering swiftly; it was not until her family and insurance policy weaned her off of treatment she digressed into an even more serious addiction to binging (Liu 18). Since insurances feel eating disorders are caused by behavioral choices, they do not feel the need to supply any assistance in treatment. However, many bring to attention, “Smoking contributes to lung cancer, tanning contributes to skin cancer, and unprotected sex can lead to STDs, and yet insurance companies cover all of these diseases” (Litman).
For example, many insurance companies agree that people should get insurance coverage to help smokers wean off their addiction which led to their lung cancer (Havell). When it comes to eating disorders, however, there are few insurance companies who feel Anorexics or Bulimics should get treatment, even though eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental disease (Sohn). Eating disorders have developed in all parts of the world today and continue to spread to all of the population, from men and women to young and old.
Before extensive studies were done to prove eating disorders as mental diseases, insurance companies argued coverage, claiming it was a personal life choice, rather than a disorder which controls the mind of those suffering to the point of no individual power. However, with recent studies on genetic and chemical imbalances, insurance companies have no reason to deny coverage. With the increasing amount of people suffering from eating disorders, if insurance companies do not start covering treatment, the mental disease will continue to claim more lives than other mental epidemic to sweep nations across the world.
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Rpt.from “Brave New World: The Role of Genetics in the Prevention and Treatment of Eating Disorders. ” www. wpic. pitt. edu/research/pfanbn/genetics. html. 2002. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Litman, Leah. “Effective Treatment for Eating Disorders Depends on Increasing Insurance Coverage. ” Eating Disorders. Ed. Viqi Wagner. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from “Starving for Treatment. ” Harvard Perspective. 2002. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Liu, Aimee. Gaining: The Truth about Life after Eating Disorders. New York.