Introduction to Suicidality and Eating Disorders, Volume 6, Issue 2
With the current issue of The Remuda Review, we continue our series of articles on common co-occurring problems faced by eating disorder patients. Throughout this series, we are considering the assessment, conceptualization, and treatment of self injurious behavior, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, substance use, trauma, personality disorders, and other co-occurring issues within Remuda’s bio-psycho-social-spiritual model. In each article, we consider how these co-occurring issues relate to eating disorder development, symptoms, and maintenance, and, where relevant, variable manifestations based on age, development, and culture.
The present issue focuses in depth on our seventh topic: suicidality and eating disorders. Patients with eating disorders have the highest suicide risk of all psychiatric disorders, including disorders of established high suicide risk such as major depression, sedative abuse, mixed drug abuse, and bipolar disorder. As such, there is a clear need to understand this co-occurrence and the best, evidence-based methods for addressing it. Toward this end, we hope the article and case study in this issue of The Remuda Review will serve as a short primer on best practices for understanding, assessing, and treating this potentially dangerous co-occurrence.
