Cottonwood Tucson Announces Binge Eating Disorder (BED) Program

As Cottonwood Tucson launches our 30th year of providing innovative behavioral health treatment, using a dual-diagnosis treatment model and relying on the most recent research on the neurobiology of human development and the neuroscience of addiction and mood disorders to design cutting-edge, patient-responsive treatment programs, we are proud to introduce our Binge Eating Disorder (BED) Treatment program.

Cottonwood Tucson BED therapists’ goal is to help individuals (both men and women) change their bond with food from an addictive relationship to a healthy relationship. To achieve this goal the program begins with an extensive physical, nutritional and exercise evaluation and progresses to include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical behavioral therapy
• Interpersonal psychotherapy
• Medications
• EMDR
• Equine therapy
• Somatic Experiencing
• Acupuncture
• Yoga
• Massage
• Biofeedback
• Chi Nei Tsang

General eating disorder treatment program generates specific BED treatment

Some of our readers may wonder how Cottonwood Tucson came to provide our specific BED treatment program. The simple answer is, over the past 30 years, research has come to determine that Binge Eating Disorder should be recognized as a formal diagnosis. There was a time when BED was grouped together with all eating disorders and casually referred to as “food issues;” however, in 2013 the American Psychiatric Association published the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and formally changed BED from being listed as Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) to having an official codification to be significantly different from other eating disorders and unique enough to require specific treatment.

It was in June 2008 that Cottonwood Tucson first decided to publish our blog, and have regularly reported on binge eating research. Today we invite you to read or revisit a few such posts:

• Study: Alcohol Dependence, Binge Eating, And Compensatory Behaviors – Are There Common Genetic Factors?
• New Study: Eating Disorders are Gender Neutral
• A Compulsive Binge Eating Breakthrough

Scientists continue to study binge-eating…

Just this week, numerous news agencies [Medical Express, Reuters, Fox News, Medical Daily, The Scientist] reported on the outcome of a new study that looked to explore and help explain why binge drinking often leads to binge eating. The results of this latest study, Agrp Neuron Activity Is Required for Alcohol-Induced Overeating, were published on-line on January 10, 2017, in Nature Communications.

While this study focused on the brain cells in mice, this research contributes to the ongoing conversation. As Sarah Cains of University College London and one of the co-authors of the research stated to The Scientist:

“We were thinking about how alcohol is associated with eating in cultural situations in humans, and wanted to see if there’s something neurological underlying that behavior. So far, it’s only been an association—we didn’t know of a biological explanation for what could trigger eating in the presence of alcohol.”

Begin your journey, get help now…

It is important to understand Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is treatable and Cottonwood Tucson’s team of experts is here to work with you or your loved one to discover a healthier and better quality of life while improving your self-esteem and restoring your relationships with your family and friends. If you have questions about our new BED program, feel free to call our Admissions Department or complete our on-line contact form.