A pioneering study by researchers at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has made significant progress with a novel technique to treat anorexia nervosa (AN), an eating disorder characterized by body weight loss, abnormalities of body image and anxiety. The study, " The impact of floatation therapy on body image and anxiety in anorexia nervosa: a randomized clinical efficacy trial ," appears in the peer-reviewed scientific journal eClinicalMedicine , part of The Lancet Discovery Science initiative .
Researchers identified several immediate and sustained effects of floatation-REST (reduced environmental stimulation therapy) in hospitalized patients with anorexia nervosa. Also known as “floatation therapy ,” Floatation-REST is a non-drug treatment that involves floating effortlessly in a shallow pool of warm water saturated with Epsom salt, in a light, sound, humidity, and temperature-proof environment. controlled, and is increasingly used by the general public as a tool to reduce stress. In the study, hospitalized patients with anorexia nervosa randomly assigned to receive float-REST reported immediate and repeated reductions in body image dissatisfaction and improved anxiety relative to a comparison group of randomly assigned hospitalized patients with anorexia nervosa. to receive usual care, whose symptoms remained unchanged. Additionally, improvements in body image in the float-REST group were maintained after treatment and lasted up to six months.
| Editor’s Note : Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) is a relatively unexplored mind-body intervention to naturally reduce physiological stress by attenuating exteroceptive sensory input to the nervous system through the act of floating in a supine position in water saturated with Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate). |
"This advance offers a new therapeutic direction in the treatment of anorexia nervosa, a psychiatric disorder known for its challenging prognosis and high mortality rate," said psychiatrist Sahib Khalsa, MD, PhD, director of Clinical Operations at LIBR and author. main of the study. "Anxiety is a common co-occurrence in anorexia nervosa that does not respond well to standard anti-anxiety medications such as benzodiazepines," he added. “The large reductions in anxiety induced by flotation therapy in these patients suggest that this tool presents a powerful opportunity to treat anxiety by non-pharmacological means in anorexia nervosa. “Additional research is needed to examine the anxiolytic effects of flotation therapy in other eating disorders.”
"These findings also open the way to new forms of treatment for eating disorders that, along with traditional treatments, may help alleviate more difficult-to-treat diagnostic features of AN, such as body image," said co-author Emily Choquette, PhD, clinical psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at LIBR. "The reliable and sustained effect of float-REST on body image dissatisfaction suggests that it can be studied as a tool to increase the effectiveness of traditional psychotherapies."
Since anorexia nervosa is a serious and persistent psychiatric disorder, the search for effective treatments continues. "This study underscores the importance of continually seeking innovative approaches and expanding the horizons of existing therapeutic options," added Scott Moseman, MD, CEDS, medical director of the Laureate Eating Disorders Program. "These findings may pave the way for new forms of treatment, such as float-assisted psychotherapy , which aim to further improve body image and anxiety improvements obtained through existing evidence-based interventions."
| In conclusion , this study provides evidence that float-REST led to sustained reductions in body dissatisfaction and acute anxiolysis in women and girls hospitalized with AN. Therefore, Floatation-REST has potential as an effective tool for the treatment of body image disturbance and anxiety in AN. |
The research team was led by lead author Sahib Khalsa, MD, PhD, director of clinical operations at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, director of the LIBR Float Clinic and Research Centre, associate professor at the Oxley Faculty of Health Sciences from the University of Tulsa, and was conducted in close collaboration with psychiatrist Scott Moseman, MD, CEDS, medical director of the Laureate Eating Disorders Program from which participants were recruited. Co-authors of the study were Emily Choquette PhD, postdoctoral research associate at LIBR, and Michael Flux PhD, former laboratory volunteer and LIBR collaborator. Other collaborators included clinical neuropsychologist Justin Feinstein, PhD, president and director of the nonprofit Float Research Collective.
The research was supported by the Laureate Institute for Brain Research and was carried out at LIBR between March 2018 and February 2021.
