Psychedelics in the treatment of eating disorders: Rationale and potential mechanisms.

Eating disorders are serious illnesses showing high rates of mortality and comorbidity with other mental health problems. Psychedelic-assisted therapy has recently shown potential in the treatment of several common comorbidities of eating disorders, including mood disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. The theorized therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelic-assisted therapy suggest that it could be beneficial in the treatment of eating disorders as well. In this review, we summarize preliminary data on the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy in people with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, which include studies and case reports of psychedelic-assisted therapy with ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin, and ayahuasca. We then discuss the potential therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelic-assisted therapy in these three eating disorders, including both general therapeutic mechanisms and those which are relatively specific to eating disorders. We find preliminary evidence that psychedelic-assisted therapy may be effective in the treatment of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, with very little data available on binge eating disorder. Regarding mechanisms, psychedelic-assisted therapy may be able to improve beliefs about body image, normalize reward processing, promote cognitive flexibility, and facilitate trauma processing. Just as importantly, it appears to promote general therapeutic factors relevant to both eating disorders and many of their common comorbidities. Lastly, we discuss potential safety concerns which may be associated with these treatments and present recommendations for future research.

Plasma concentrations of SSRI/SNRI after bariatric surgery and the effects on depressive symptoms.

Background: Depression and treatment with antidepressants SSRI/SNRI are common in people with morbid obesity who are candidates for bariatric surgery. There is few and inconsistent data about the postoperative plasma concentrations of SSRI/SNRI. The aims of our study were to provide comprehensive data about the postoperative bioavailability of SSRI/SNRI, and the clinical effects on depressive symptoms. Methods: Prospective multicenter study including 63 patients with morbid obesity and therapy with fixed doses of SSRI/SNRI: participants filled the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaire, and plasma levels of SSRI/SNRI were measured by HPLC, preoperatively (T0), and 4 weeks (T1) and 6 months (T2) postoperatively. Results: The plasma concentrations of SSRI/SNRI dropped significantly in the bariatric surgery group from T0 to T2 by 24.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], -36.8 to -16.6, p = 0.0027): from T0 to T1 by 10.5% (95% 17 CI, -22.7 to -2.3; p = 0.016), and from T1 to T2 by 12.8% (95% CI, -29.3 to 3.5, p = 0.123), respectively.There was no significant change in the BDI score during follow-up (-2.9, 95% CI, -7.4 to 1.0; p = 0.13).The clinical outcome with respect to SSRI/SNRI plasma concentrations, weight change, and change of BDI score were similar in the subgroups undergoing gastric bypass surgery and sleeve gastrectomy, respectively. In the conservative group the plasma concentrations of SSRI/SNRI remained unchanged throughout the 6 months follow-up (-14.7, 95% CI, -32.6 to 1.7; p = 0.076). Conclusion: In patients undergoing bariatric surgery plasma concentrations of SSRI/SNRI decrease significantly by about 25% mainly during the first 4 weeks postoperatively with wide individual variation, but without correlation to the severity of depression or weight loss.

Estimation of meal portions in bulimia nervosa compared to anorexia nervosa and healthy controls.

PURPOSE: Bulimia nervosa (BN) and anorexia nervosa (AN) are potentially life-threatening eating disorders (ED) that primarily affect young people, mostly women. The central common pathology is linked to the relationship with food and with abnormalities in food intake. A previous study indicated that individuals with AN tend to overestimate food portion sizes compared to healthy controls (HC), but no study has investigated these patterns in BN, which was the objective of this study. METHODS: Women with BN (27), AN (28), and HC (27) were asked to rate different meal portion sizes in two conditions: as if they were supposed to eat them (intent-to-eat condition) or in general (general condition). BN results were compared to HC and AN using mixed model analyses. RESULTS: BN showed larger estimations compared to HC, while smaller estimations compared to AN. These differences were found mostly for intermediate portion sizes. No difference for conditions (intent-to-eat; general) was found between groups. CONCLUSION: When estimating food portion sizes, individuals with BN seem to fall intermediately between HC and AN. ED symptoms in BN were most strongly associated with higher portion estimation. This might therefore reflect one aspect of the cognitive distortions typically seen also in AN. A therapeutic option could include the frequent visual exposure to increasing portions of food, what may serve to recalibrate visual perceptions of what a "normal-sized" portion of food looks like. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II: Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization.

[Systemic Treatment of Eating Disorders]. / Systemische Therapien bei Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen mit Essstörungen.

Systemic Treatment of Eating Disorders Abstract. Eating disorders (EDs) are deleterious illnesses that are associated with significant psychiatric and medical morbidity and mortality, considerable distress and impairment, marked caregiver burden, and high treatment costs. Because EDs commonly onset in adolescence and young adulthood, and with consistent evidence that early intervention results in the most promising treatment outcomes, an increasing amount of research has been devoted to the treatment of adolescent EDs. Although still less researched in adult presentations of EDs, the historical record of research on adolescent ED treatment over the last half-century principally supports family therapy. Current published clinical guidelines recommend an ED-specific family therapy as the first-line treatment of adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) and as a recommended treatment of adolescents with bulimia nervosa (BN). The number of treatment trials for adolescent AN has slowly grown over the last few decades and, more recently, family interventions include protocols extending to new populations and diagnoses, including BN. This narrative review summarizes existing family-based approaches to the treatment of adolescent EDs, integrating recent research findings. This article also includes discussion of methods, both current and proposed, that expand and adapt current family-based approaches in efforts to improve the breadth and scope of ED treatment in adolescence and young adulthood.