Combining pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in the treatment of patients with eating disorders

Addressed herein is the idea of combining medication management and psychot herapy in the treatment of patients with eating disorders. Ln most cases of eating disorder treatment, psychotherapy is an essential part of good pati ent care, but pharmacotherapy has been playing an increasing role in recent years. In typical clinical settings in which patients with eating disorder s are seen, it is now common to find patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN) who are receiving combined therapy. Also, much has be en learned in recent years about such combined treatments for these conditi ons from the literature on randomized, controlled trials (RCTs). Therefore, informed recommendations can be made about such combinations, particularly in the case of BN. Discussed here is the treatment literature on AN regarding combined treatme nt and the treatment implications of this literature. The literature on BN then is reviewed, focusing on five trials that have systematically compared drugs with psychotherapy and with the combination treatment, and the impli cations from these findings discussed. General guidelines regarding the man agement of patients with eating disorders and the particular problems that may arise when the pharmacotherapy and the psychotherapy are provided by di fferent practitioners.