nna Rocco was just 12 years old when an eating disorder took over her young life . What started as a fixation on limiting calories and food portions progressed until the once-promising student athlete was barely eating at all , too weak to stand up , and unable to combat overwhelming feelings of depression , anxiety , body dysmorphia , and self-harm . Rocco ’ s family was at a loss . She was in and out of treatment programs , but nothing seemed to click .
It wasn ’ t until age 17 , when she was admitted to the Medical Behavioral Unit at Rady Children ’ s Hospital-San Diego , that Rocco began to see her eating disorder as something she could beat .
“ At that point , I had been dealing with five years of an eating disorder . I felt like people treated me like I was doomed ,” Rocco says . “ At Rady Children ’ s , the doctors and nurses made me feel like my goals were possible . They wanted me to experience life .”
Rocco credits Rady Children ’ s with helping her find ways to effectively cope with her mental health issues . Now 20 years old and a pre-nursing student at the University of Nevada , Reno , Rocco volunteers as an advocate for other young people with eating disorders , coordinates fundraisers for eating disorder nonprofits , and serves as a body image ambassador for her Tri Delta sorority at the national level .
“ I ’ m able to focus on how to help others ,” she says . “ I ’ m not completely better all the time , but I ’ ve learned you have to keep checking up on yourself and work through it .”
Kerri Boutelle , PhD helps lead Rady Children ’ s eating disorders treatment team as the senior supervising psychologist for the eating disorder program and the director of the Center for Healthy Eating and Activity Research . She says childhood eating disorders and obesity are increasingly recognized as complex , brain-based behaviors that benefit from a family-based approach to treatment . Boutelle says there are specific neurobiological differences in the brains of people with eating disorders .
“ You can ’ t get anorexia or other eating disorders if you try . A child ’ s brain needs to be predisposed to these kinds of disorders to develop them ,” she explains .
Specialized eating disorder treatment programs are part of a spectrum of mental and behavioral health services that Rady Children ’ s offers young patients and their families . The pediatric medical center — sometimes in partnership with the UC San Diego School of Medicine and San Diego ’ s leading research institutions — is helping children and adolescents manage conditions including depression , anxiety , attention deficit and developmental disorders , behavior problems , psychiatric illnesses , and trauma related to domestic violence and sexual abuse .
It can be tough for families to know where to begin to get help for a child in need of mental health services . Barent Mynderse , LCSW , director of Rady Children ’ s behavioral health services , says families can be deterred by complicated admissions criteria , medical reimbursement issues , and gaps in some service areas within our region .
“ It ’ s important for them to know there ’ s no wrong door . If they call one of our programs and it ’ s not a right fit , we ’ ll work with them to find the right one ,” Mynderse says . “ We ’ ll be able to make sure they don ’ t get lost .”
Recent research has shown a crucial need for early intervention on mental
“ We ’ re in the business of treating the whole child , which reaches beyond treating physical ailments , and includes caring for their emotional and psychosocial needs .”
Kerri Boutelle , PhD