Access to Treatment

I did a little more research. And found that only 1 in 10 people suffering from an Eating Disorder actually recieve the treatment required to make a full recovery. More than 80% of women leave treatment after only weeks of care. Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents. Up to 5% of all female adolescents are anorexic.

So if this is such a serious illness, why is it that treatment is so inefficient? Why are girls still killing themselves over numbers on a scale? If this illness is the third most chronic illness in America, shouldn't treatment have maybe improved?

This is a mental disorder. You can only change a person who wants to be changed, because they are killing themselves by their own will. Therefore, treatment of Anorexic patients is more difficult than just giving them medicine. It requires intensive therapy, and psychiatry and enviornmental change. This may be why treatment for eating disorders is only effective in 40 to 50% of patients.