This smartphone app could change the way we treat eating disorders

The study showed the failure of traditional treatment methods, most of which treated anorexia as a mental disorder rather than as a disorder of the diet. The standard treatment to date is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which uses targeted counseling to brainwash the brain to prevent harmful behaviors, such as treating phobias and fighting other disorders. like PTSD.

The remission rate of this form of therapy, according to Soderstein, is, however, "at most 25%" after one year. Long-term results are unknown.

Soderstein advocates targeting food behaviors rather than the cognitive process. "This new perspective is not new: almost 40 years ago, it was found that anorexia was characterized by intense and normal physical activity, that is to say an evolutionary response that is conserved – i.e. . "

To combat this, Soderstein and his team have developed a machine that provides feedback on eating habits of anorexics. A scale connected to a smartphone weighs a plate during a meal and an application creates a curve of food consumption, duration of the meal and individual consumption rate. At regular intervals, a scoring system appears on the screen, asking the subject to evaluate its saturation rate.

Using a reference curve for sensation of fullness, anorexic individuals can slowly cause their body to eat normal portions again by visualizing what it looks like based on a number of custom data points.

The method has already been used to treat over 1500 patients, with a remission rate of 75% over one year. In other words, three out of four people find a healthy diet in a year and only 10% of them find their old eating habits over a period of five years.

Currently, the device and the application are only available for Soderstein and his team. This breakthrough could, however, have broad implications for the world of mental health, especially how they treat eating disorders in the future.