Care and Counseling of Anorexia Nervosa

Abstract

　This paper describes an 18-year old female anorexia nervosa patient who weighed 25kg (body length 150 cm) when admitted. During the first four months, her weight decreased to 21.8 kg and she developed severe complication such as liver malfunction, despite concentrated efforts on the part of the physicians (including a psychiatrist) and the nurses to increase her body weight. The patient recovered remarkably after a counselor also began treating her. Counseling and a therapeutic approach by staff succeeded, so that her weight recovered to 45 kg. It seemed that the most vital factors effecting her recovery were as follows. ①Coordination of the medical staff to develop therapeutic attitudes in the staff who took different treatment roles. ②Counseling to integrate the splitting of her personality structure.