Do I have to be underweight to have an eating disorder?

No. Binge eating disorder and bulimia often occur at any weight, and anorexia is only one of several eating disorders. Eating disorders are about your relationship with food, weight, and body image, not a number on a scale. If eating feels out of control or full of fear, it is worth an evaluation.

Which eating disorders do you treat?

We evaluate and treat anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and other specified feeding and eating disorders (OSFED), including the depression, anxiety, or OCD that so often accompany them. Care is provided for ages 6 and up.

Can I get eating-disorder treatment online?

Yes, evaluation, therapy, and medication management are available by secure telepsychiatry anywhere in Maryland. If your care also requires medical monitoring, we coordinate that alongside the telehealth treatment.

What if there is a crisis?

For emotional crisis or thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline). For signs of medical danger, fainting, chest pain, an irregular heartbeat, call 911. Oasis of Hope provides scheduled care and is not an emergency service.

Condition

Eating Disorder Treatment in Waldorf, MD and Across Maryland

Q: Can you treat an eating disorder and depression or anxiety together?

Yes. Eating disorders very often occur with depression, anxiety, OCD, or trauma. Because we provide psychiatry and therapy under one practice, we treat the eating disorder and the conditions underneath it on one plan, with one team.

Q: Do you provide medical monitoring or a dietitian?

We provide the psychiatric evaluation, therapy, and medication side of eating-disorder care. When recovery also needs medical monitoring, a dietitian, or a higher level of care, we coordinate with those providers and refer when it is needed for safety, we do not treat beyond what is safe in an outpatient setting.

Eating disorders are serious, treatable medical and mental health conditions, not a choice, a phase, or vanity. At Oasis of Hope we evaluate and treat eating disorders in patients ages 6 and up, in person in Waldorf or by telepsychiatry across Maryland.

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Insurance plans we accept

Overview

What Eating Disorders is , and what it is not.

Eating disorders are illnesses marked by a persistent disturbance in eating and in the thoughts and emotions around food, weight, and body image. They are not about willpower or attention-seeking, and they affect people of every gender, age, body size, and background.

The most recognized are anorexia nervosa (restriction and an intense fear of weight gain), bulimia nervosa (cycles of bingeing and compensating), and binge eating disorder (recurrent, distressing overeating without compensation, the most common of the three). Many people do not fit one label neatly, and that does not make the condition any less real or less treatable.

Eating disorders carry real medical risk, anorexia has one of the highest mortality rates of any mental illness, and they very often travel with depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma, or substance use. That is why they need genuine clinical care, not a diet plan.

With an accurate assessment and a coordinated plan, people recover. Early help improves the odds, and reaching out is the first clinical step.

Signs & symptoms

What it can look like.

Eating disorders are often hidden, and only a comprehensive evaluation can diagnose one, but these are common signs across the different types.

Preoccupation with food, weight, calories, or body shape
Skipping meals, rigid food rules, or dramatic restriction
Eating large amounts, often in secret, with a sense of loss of control
Purging behaviors, vomiting, laxatives, or excessive exercise
Intense fear of gaining weight, or a distorted view of one's body
Withdrawal from meals, friends, or activities that involve food
Frequent weight changes, or staying very low despite concern from others
Physical signs, fatigue, dizziness, feeling cold, hair loss, dental problems, or menstrual changes
Anxiety, guilt, or shame around eating

How we help

How we treat Eating Disorders at Oasis of Hope.

Care begins with a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation to understand what you are experiencing, screen for the medical and psychiatric risks that accompany eating disorders, and build a plan with you. We treat patients ages 6 and up.

Treatment centers on psychotherapy, evidence-based approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy for the thoughts and behaviors around food and body image, together with medication management where a co-occurring condition like depression, anxiety, or OCD is driving or worsening the disorder. Because we provide psychiatry and therapy under one practice, both are handled by one team.

Eating disorders often need more than one kind of professional. When your care calls for medical monitoring, a dietitian, or a higher level of care, we coordinate with those services and refer when medical stability requires it, we do not treat beyond what is safe in an outpatient setting.

The main types of eating disorders

You do not need to be underweight, or to fit a single diagnosis, to have an eating disorder that deserves care.

Anorexia nervosa, restriction of food, intense fear of weight gain, and a distorted body image
Bulimia nervosa, cycles of binge eating followed by purging or other compensating behavior
Binge eating disorder, recurrent episodes of eating large amounts with loss of control and distress, without regular purging; the most common eating disorder
Other specified feeding and eating disorders (OSFED), serious patterns that do not fit one category but still need treatment

Eating disorders rarely travel alone

Depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma, and substance use frequently sit alongside an eating disorder, each reinforcing the other. Treating the eating disorder without treating what is underneath tends to fail.

Because Oasis of Hope offers evaluation, medication management, and therapy together, we can address the eating disorder and the conditions that fuel it on one coordinated plan.

When an eating disorder becomes a medical emergency

Eating disorders can cause dangerous changes in heart rhythm, blood pressure, blood sugar, and electrolytes. If you or someone you love has fainting, chest pain, a very low or irregular heartbeat, confusion, or is unable to keep any food or fluids down, treat it as a medical emergency and call 911.

What to expect

Starting care is one phone call.

Your first visit is a comprehensive, compassionate evaluation, a conversation, not a judgment about how you eat or what you weigh. We build a plan with you and, where needed, coordinate the medical and nutritional care that recovery requires. You can be seen in person in Waldorf or by telepsychiatry across Maryland.

We accept a wide range of Maryland plans, including Medicaid and Priority Partners, and verify your coverage before the first visit.

If you are in emotional crisis, call or text 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline). If there are signs of medical danger, call 911. Oasis of Hope provides scheduled care and is not an emergency service.

More conditions we treat

FAQ

Eating Disorders questions

Common questions about eating disorders and how we treat it at Oasis of Hope.

Still have a question? Reach out, we'll answer honestly.

Take the next step

Your first step is a single phone call.

Book a consultation online or call us directly. We answer Monday through Saturday, 8:30am–6pm.