Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions,primarily depression,PTSD and anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions and their associated behaviors to improve emotional regulation and develop personal coping strategies that target solving current problems. Though it was originally designed to treat depression,its uses have been expanded to include many issues and the treatment of many mental health and other conditions,including anxiety,substance use disorders,marital problems,ADHD,and eating disorders. CBT includes a number of cognitive or behavioral psychotherapies that treat defined psychopathologies using evidence-based techniques and strategies.
An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's physical or mental health. These behaviors include eating either too much or too little. Types of eating disorders include binge eating disorder,where the patient keeps eating large amounts in a short period of time typically while not being hungry;anorexia nervosa,where the person has an intense fear of gaining weight and restricts food or overexercises to manage this fear;bulimia nervosa,where individuals eat a large quantity (binging) then try to rid themselves of the food (purging);pica,where the patient eats non-food items;rumination syndrome,where the patient regurgitates undigested or minimally digested food;avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID),where people have a reduced or selective food intake due to some psychological reasons;and a group of other specified feeding or eating disorders. Anxiety disorders,depression and substance abuse are common among people with eating disorders. These disorders do not include obesity. People often experience comorbidity between an eating disorder and OCD. It is estimated 20–60% of patients with an ED have a history of OCD.
Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. Hypochondria is an old concept whose meaning has repeatedly changed over its lifespan. It has been claimed that this debilitating condition results from an inaccurate perception of the condition of body or mind despite the absence of an actual medical diagnosis. An individual with hypochondriasis is known as a hypochondriac. Hypochondriacs become unduly alarmed about any physical or psychological symptoms they detect,no matter how minor the symptom may be,and are convinced that they have,or are about to be diagnosed with,a serious illness.
Binge eating disorder (BED) is an eating disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent binge eating episodes with associated negative psychological and social problems,but without the compensatory behaviors common to bulimia nervosa,OSFED,or the binge-purge subtype of anorexia nervosa.
Weight loss,in the context of medicine,health,or physical fitness,refers to a reduction of the total body mass,by a mean loss of fluid,body fat,or lean mass. Weight loss can either occur unintentionally because of malnourishment or an underlying disease,or from a conscious effort to improve an actual or perceived overweight or obese state. "Unexplained" weight loss that is not caused by reduction in calorific intake or increase in exercise is called cachexia and may be a symptom of a serious medical condition.
Aaron Temkin Beck was an American psychiatrist who was a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is regarded as the father of cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). His pioneering methods are widely used in the treatment of clinical depression and various anxiety disorders. Beck also developed self-report measures for depression and anxiety,notably the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI),which became one of the most widely used instruments for measuring the severity of depression. In 1994 he and his daughter,psychologist Judith S. Beck,founded the nonprofit Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy,which provides CBT treatment and training,as well as research. Beck served as President Emeritus of the organization up until his death.
Biological psychiatry or biopsychiatry is an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the biological function of the nervous system. It is interdisciplinary in its approach and draws on sciences such as neuroscience,psychopharmacology,biochemistry,genetics,epigenetics and physiology to investigate the biological bases of behavior and psychopathology. Biopsychiatry is the branch of medicine which deals with the study of the biological function of the nervous system in mental disorders.
Behavioral medicine is concerned with the integration of knowledge in the biological,behavioral,psychological,and social sciences relevant to health and illness. These sciences include epidemiology,anthropology,sociology,psychology,physiology,pharmacology,nutrition,neuroanatomy,endocrinology,and immunology. The term is often used interchangeably,but incorrectly,with health psychology. The practice of behavioral medicine encompasses health psychology,but also includes applied psychophysiological therapies such as biofeedback,hypnosis,and bio-behavioral therapy of physical disorders,aspects of occupational therapy,rehabilitation medicine,and physiatry,as well as preventive medicine. In contrast,health psychology represents a stronger emphasis specifically on psychology's role in both behavioral medicine and behavioral health.
Kelly David Brownell is a clinical psychologist and scholar of public health and public policy at Duke University whose work focuses on obesity and food policy. He is a former dean of Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy. Noted for his research dealing primarily with obesity prevention,as well as the intersection of behavior,environment,and health with public policy,Brownell advised former First Lady Michelle Obama's initiatives to address childhood obesity and has testified before Congress. He is credited with coining the term "yo-yo dieting",and was named as one of "The World's 100 Most Influential People" by Time Magazine in 2006.
William Stewart Agras is an American psychiatrist and psychotherapist of British origin,research psychiatrist and Emeritus (Active) Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stanford University. He normally goes by Stewart Agras.
Marsha M. Linehan is an American psychologist and author. She is the creator of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT),a type of psychotherapy that combines cognitive restructuring with acceptance,mindfulness,and shaping.
Night eating syndrome(NES) is an eating disorder,characterized by a delayed circadian pattern of food intake. Although there is some degree of comorbidity with binge eating disorder,it differs from binge eating in that the amount of food consumed in the night is not necessarily objectively large nor is a loss of control over food intake required. It was originally described by Albert Stunkard in 1955 and is currently included in the other specified feeding or eating disorder category of the DSM-5. Research diagnostic criteria have been proposed and include evening hyperphagia and/or nocturnal awakening and ingestion of food two or more times per week. The person must have awareness of the night eating to differentiate it from the parasomnia sleep-related eating disorder (SRED). Three of five associated symptoms must also be present:lack of appetite in the morning,urges to eat at night,belief that one must eat in order to fall back to sleep at night,depressed mood,and/or difficulty sleeping.
The Eating Attitudes Test,created by David Garner,is a widely used 26-item,standardized self-reported questionnaire of symptoms and concerns characteristic of eating disorders. The EAT is useful in assessing "eating disorder risk" in high school,college and other special risk samples such as athletes. EAT has been extremely effective in screening for anorexia nervosa in many populations.
Judith S. Beck is an American psychologist who is best known for her work in cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Her father is Aaron Beck,the founder of cognitive therapy,with whom she has worked on many occasions. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982.
David B. Sarwer is an American clinical psychologist who serves as the Associate Dean for Research,Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education,and Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the College of Public Health at Temple University.
Other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED) is a subclinical DSM-5 category that,along with unspecified feeding or eating disorder (UFED),replaces the category formerly called eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) in the DSM-IV-TR. It captures feeding disorders and eating disorders of clinical severity that do not meet diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa (AN),bulimia nervosa (BN),binge eating disorder (BED),avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID),pica,or rumination disorder. OSFED includes five examples:
Augustus John Rush is an internationally renowned psychiatrist. He is a professor emeritus in Duke-NUS Medical School at the National University of Singapore (NUS),and adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. He has authored and edited more than 10 books,and over 600 scientific journal articles that are largely focused on the diagnosis and treatment of depressive and bipolar disorders.
Bernard Timothy Walsh is an American psychiatrist,academic,author,and editor who specializes in eating disorders. He is the William and Joy Ruane Professor of Pediatric Psychopharmacology in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University.
David H. Barlow is an American psychologist and Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Psychiatry at Boston University. He is board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology. Barlow is known for his research and publications on the etiology,nature,and treatment of anxiety disorders. The models and treatment methods that he developed for anxiety and related disorders are widely used in clinical training and practice. Barlow is one of the most frequently cited psychologists in the world.
Albert J. ("Mickey") Stunkard was an American psychiatrist. He is known for his first descriptions of binge eating disorder and night eating syndrome in the 1950s.
