Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that are associated with high levels of medical and psychiatric comorbidity, poor quality of life, and high mortality, with mortality from anorexia nervosa being the second highest of all mental disorders. Eating disorders affect up to 30 million Americans at some point in their lives, including people of all genders, ages, body sizes, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic statuses. Depression is one of the most common comorbid diagnosis with eating disorder. In this presentation we will review eating disorders and depression DSM-5 criteria diagnosis, signs and prevalence. The presenter will discuss how body image dissatisfaction increases the risk of both depression and eating disorders. Finally, we provide an overview of evidence-base treatment options for both eating disorders and depression.
Objectives:
After completing this program, social workers, program administrators, and other participants will be able to:
Presenter:
Marie-Laure Firebaugh, LMSW completed her Master of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and is now a Clinical Research Coordinator at Washington University School of Medicine. In this role, she serves as coordinator of the Body U Program, an initiative of the Missouri Eating Disorders Council that offers online eating disorder screening and a suite of tailored online/mobile interventions aimed at promoting healthy behaviors and addressing eating disorders, founded in 2013. Ms. Firebaugh developed a passion for eating disorders awareness, prevention, and evidence-based treatment as a teenager, when she witnessed the devastating effects of these illnesses and their widespread misunderstanding. Ms. Firebaugh has harnessed this passion to fuel her work with the Body U Program. Under her leadership, the number of participating Missouri universities has doubled and the number of students screened for eating disorders by the program has increased by more than 350%. Ms. Firebaugh has made it her mission to integrate Body U into the campus culture on participating campuses and increase awareness of eating disorders through this work. Recently Ms. Firebaugh also became the coordinator of the Missouri Eating Disorders Council’s 360 Training program, she organizes workshops across the state to train clinicians in evidence-based practices for eating disorders and works with community mental health centers to establish eating disorder treatment teams.