Eating Disorder Treatment
Eating Disorder Treatment
Conventional treatments for eating disorders often focus more on the management of symptoms, and, while effective for some, can often fall short in addressing the real causes behind eating disorders. This is why alternative methods such as ibogaine treatment for eating disorders can provide a new solution.
Ibogaine Treatment for Eating Disorders
Ibogaine, a psychoactive alkaloid extracted from the root bark of the Tabernanthe iboga shrub native to equatorial West Africa, has been making strides not just in addiction treatment, but also in the treatment of trauma and mental health issues, earning itself the moniker of personal renaissance within ancestral plant medicine therapies.
While not being a “magic cure,” it is more accurately the architect of a “window of opportunity.”
Ibogaine cleanses the neural pathways rewired by afflictions such as emotional trauma while chemically rebalancing the brain, with baseline levels of neurotransmitters such as dopamine being recalibrated.
During an ibogaine treatment, individuals are taken through the folds of their subconscious for 24-36 hours, experiencing visions related to trauma points or key life events, and engaging in long periods of objective self-reflection.
In revisiting the past from a safe space in the present, individuals gain deep insights into the root causes of their afflictions. While not everyone may experience intense visions, the balm of ibogaine also works on a physical and neurological level, resetting and harmonizing the mind and soul.
Here at Iboga Root Sanctuary (Ibogaine Treatment UK), we offer coaching in several holistic practices such as breathwork, mindfulness and meditation, bodywork, and cold exposure therapy as holistic practices designed to tone the vagus nerve, which is responsible for regulating our nervous system.
After leaving our center, our clients are better equipped to integrate what they have learned about themselves, their bodies, and their nervous systems to have a better chance of sustained recovery from their behavioral addictions.
The Origins and Causes of Eating Disorders
In his book “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction,” Dr. Maté reframes addiction as a pervasive phantom whose grip is felt across a wide demographic.
This revelation dramatically clashes with the myopic portrayal of addiction as a burden borne exclusively by society’s marginalized. He also clarifies that the concept of “addiction” does not always have to entail the consumption of drugs or alcohol, but is essentially behavioral.
Addiction can be any type of behavior we repeatedly engage in despite the negative consequences it brings us.
With other forms of addiction such as gambling, work, sex, technology, drugs, or alcohol, addiction to food in relation to one’s body image is simply another manifestation of seeking external ways to make ourselves feel better internally.
Conventional dialogue around eating disorders primarily revolves around body image and aesthetics, bolstered by profit-driven corporate interests targeting weight loss, but that is only half the story.
The compulsion to change our body shape often stems from feelings of unworthiness, inadequacy, and self-loathing – emotions cultivated in the fertile soil of early childhood or the disarray of a dysfunctional household.
Studies have shown a correlation: the more childhood adversity one undergoes, the higher the risk of chronic ailments, mental illnesses, and addictions that mark their adulthood.
As children, we are at the mercy of our primary caregivers. Our hearts, naive and open, grasp at straws for safety, love, and support.
However, when these vital internal components are not present, or are denied to us by emotionally immature parents, the subconscious seeks to fill the void with external alternatives – narcotics, liquor, or food. Our nervous system and subconscious forge ironclad survival patterns, seeking nurture outside ourselves.
In the realm of eating disorders, the act of eating turns from a basic physical need rooted in survival to an elusive quest for euphoria or relief from internal torment.
Chemical imbalances and traumatic events sow the seeds of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, body dysmorphia, and binge eating.
In such cases, what starts as an emotional trauma response soon becomes a behavioural addiction, an attempt to exert control, an attempt to regulate what the body and mind cannot adequately handle.
Our brain, however, boasts astonishing resilience; a canvas that can be repainted at any stage of life through neuroplasticity—its ability to adapt and create new neural pathways.
Through its unique properties, ibogaine treatment for eating disorders can harness this potential, rebalancing the brain’s reward pathways, dispelling illusions, and helping to reclaim one’s life.