Patients with eating disorders in the time of COVID-19

Abstract

The article presents the issues of mental functioning of people with eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, referring to the selected foreign studies in which researchers are looking for data on risk factors for eating disorders during a pandemic. COVID-19 spread rapidly around the world, forcing people to take immediate action and change their lifestyle. There have been radical changes in social life for which society was not ready. Isolation and the need to maintain social distance, limited access to health care, which had a significant impact on the mental functioning of people with mental disorders, including people with eating disorders. Numerous studies are undertaken around the world to determine this impact, and the results obtained so far indicate a deterioration in the functioning of people with eating disorders. Therapists and clinicians are looking for the possibility of implementing modifications in the treatment programs in order to adapt them best to the restrictions, but also to the needs and goals of the patient. During the lock-down period, it was recommended to use a remote form of meetings, but not every patient and therapist / physician was able to find their way around it, as a result of which some patients remained without specialist care. As a result, the risk of complete withdrawal from treatment or its irregularity was increased and the mental functioning of patients deteriorated.