"Target weights support other targets in a bureaucratized healthcare system (whose dangerous drabness I explored in a previous miniseries, here). If you want your therapeutic method to look good to journal reviewers and funders, or your clinic to look good to prospective clients and investors, then target weights are an excellent tool. And the lower the target is, the quicker it'll be reached, generating a positive data point."
"The paradoxical net result is not only masses of avoidable suffering, but also a huge amount of avoidable expense, as individuals rotate in and out of treatment facilities that are not helping them get fully well. In the US, hospital or residential treatment for an eating disorder may cost between $1200 and $2000 per day, intensive outpatient around $1500 per week, and an average "episode""
Low target weights arise from converging institutional and financial pressures that favor measurable, quick outcomes over comprehensive recovery. Clinicians and programs often use arbitrary, damagingly low weight or BMI thresholds as proxies for recovery, producing perverse incentives to reach targets rapidly. Emphasis on target weights diverts attention from the behavioral, psychological, and physiological processes required for lasting change and misunderstands causality, preventing true recovery. The result is increased likelihood of relapse, widespread avoidable suffering, and significant financial waste as individuals cycle through treatment without achieving full wellbeing. Treatment costs in the US can reach $1,200–$2,000 per day or about $1,500 per week.
Read at Psychology Today
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