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A specially-created form of cognitive behavioural therapy could be the key to helping people with eating disorders, say UK researchers.

Experts believe four out of five of those who suffer from eating disorders could benefit from 'talking therapies' after a study by Oxford University discovered most sufferers achieved 'complete and lasting' improvement.

The treatment is currently only available for bulimia patients but with over a million Britons suffering with some kind of eating disorder, medical experts believe cognitive behavioural therapy should be available to all.

Around 40% of the million sufferers have bulimia, 20% anorexia and the remainder have 'atypical disorders', which can be a combination of both bulimia and anorexia-type symptoms.

Cognitive behavioural therapy is a form of counselling which helps the patient identify the link between their emotions and behaviour and assess ways to change what they are doing.

Professor Fairburn developed two versions of the therapy which involve 50-minute outpatient sessions, repeated once a week for 20 weeks.

The response was overwhelming and most maintained their improvement over the next year.

Professor Fairburn said: 'Now, for the first time, we have a single treatment which can be effective at treating the majority of cases, without the need for patients to be admitted into hospital.

'It is increasingly being used across the NHS, and has the potential to improve the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people living with eating disorders.'

Dr Alan Cohen, mental health spokesperson for the Royal College of GPs, welcomed the research.

He said: 'Access to this service and appropriate training for therapists to deliver this new form of treatment, is very important.'

Monday 15 December 2008

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I was treated for anorexia and bulimia over ten years ago and during three hospital admissions I was treated with many different therapies. CBT was just one of many. I recovered from my eating disorder and I am now a healthy mother of three. Until recently I never really questioned what therapies had helped, I was just so glad that I with support had managed to beat a life threatening disorder. Then I took part in the two part Horizon documentary 'How mad are you?' and within a few hours the panel of experts could see that I had experienced CBT therapy at some time in my life because of the way i dealt with challenges. For example when i was extremely nervous about doing stand up comedy in a pub i was able to calm myself and get out on stage by thinking that the worse that would happen was the audience would not laugh and realising this as an outcome that I could handle. I have now realised how frequently i use the skills i was taught in CBT sessions to overcome my negative feelings about many situations without turning to restricting food. I am very grateful i was one of the lucky ones that many years ago and was offered this treatment and i welcome the fact that with this studies positive results more people will be helped
Comment by Alexandra Hunter on December 15 20:09