Eating Disorders
Psychiatric evaluation and collaborative medication management for eating disorders in children, adolescents, and adults at our Jupiter, Florida practice.
Eating disorders are among the most complex and most dangerous psychiatric conditions, and they are almost never just about food. Anorexia nervosa in particular carries medical risks that place it among the highest-mortality conditions in psychiatry, which is one of the reasons that early intervention matters as much as it does. Behind the disordered eating there is usually depression, anxiety, OCD, body dysmorphia, or some combination of all of them. Those co-occurring conditions drive much of the suffering, and they are often what brought the person into psychiatric care in the first place.
Dr. Teitelbaum's role in eating disorder treatment is specific: psychiatric evaluation and treatment for the conditions that accompany and fuel the eating disorder. He works alongside your treatment team, which typically includes a therapist, a nutritionist, and in some cases an eating disorder program. Signed authorizations allow him to coordinate directly with your clinicians so that the psychiatric care and the broader treatment plan stay aligned.
This is collaborative care, and it works best when everyone involved is communicating. Family dynamics often complicate eating disorders in ways that are distinct from the clinical treatment itself, and those dynamics become part of the picture that the treatment team needs to understand. The psychiatric side of eating disorder treatment, addressing the depression, the anxiety, the obsessive patterns, the mood instability, is one piece of a larger effort. It is not the whole picture, but it is a piece that often makes the rest of the treatment more effective.
Eating disorder treatment works best when everyone involved is communicating. The psychiatric piece, addressing the depression, the anxiety, the obsessive patterns, is distinct from the nutritional and therapeutic work, but it often makes the rest of the treatment more effective.
Co-Occurring Psychiatric Conditions
Eating disorders frequently co-occur with other psychiatric conditions, and those conditions are what Dr. Teitelbaum evaluates and treats as part of the collaborative care team.
Depression is one of the most common companions. It can precede the eating disorder, develop alongside it, or emerge during recovery as the person begins to process what they have been through. Anxiety, particularly around food, body image, and social situations, is equally prevalent and can persist even as the eating disorder itself improves.
OCD overlaps with eating disorders more often than most families realize. The rigid rules around food, the rituals, the need for control, these patterns share a clinical root with obsessive-compulsive disorder and often respond to the same medications. Body dysmorphia, a distorted perception of one's own appearance, can drive disordered eating and persist independently of weight or nutritional status.
Mood instability, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and sleep disruption are also common. Some of these symptoms are direct effects of malnutrition and resolve as nutritional status improves. Others reflect underlying psychiatric conditions that require their own treatment. Part of the evaluation is sorting out which is which, because the approach differs depending on the cause.
How We Approach Psychiatric Care for Eating Disorders
Dr. Teitelbaum's focus is the psychiatric and medication side of eating disorder care. The evaluation covers your psychiatric history, current symptoms, what medications you have tried before, and what other treatment you are currently receiving. We need to understand the full clinical picture, not just the eating disorder, because the co-occurring conditions often determine which medications are appropriate and which ones are not.
Medication decisions in the context of eating disorders require particular care. Nutritional status, weight, and medical stability all affect how medications are metabolized and tolerated. We coordinate with your treatment team through signed authorizations so that prescribing decisions account for what is happening on their end as well. That communication is not optional. It is how collaborative care is supposed to work.
Dr. Teitelbaum is a member of the Eating Disorder Alliance of Palm Beach County, and his practice has years of experience working alongside treatment teams in the area. If you do not yet have a therapist or nutritionist and need a referral, we can help point you in the right direction.
What to Expect
Your first appointment is an in-office psychiatric evaluation. Dr. Teitelbaum will review your history, ask about your symptoms, and take the time to understand what is going on before recommending a treatment plan. For children and adolescents, a parent or guardian is part of that conversation.
Follow-up visits are scheduled based on your individual needs. When starting or adjusting medication, more frequent check-ins help us monitor your response. Once treatment is stable, visits are typically less frequent.
After your first in-office visit, telehealth appointments are available for patients located in Florida. An in-office visit is required at least every six months.
When to Seek Help
If you or someone in your family is dealing with an eating disorder and also struggling with depression, anxiety, OCD, or mood instability, psychiatric evaluation can help address those conditions alongside your broader treatment. If you are already in a treatment program and need a psychiatrist to handle the medication side, that is exactly what this practice does. You do not need to have a diagnosis to call.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911 or the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988). For non-emergency questions about scheduling or whether our practice is a good fit, call us at (561) 630-8530.