Sources: Reuters | SPACE.com | AP

Friday July 13 7:02 AM ET

E-Mail Therapy Can Ease Eating Disorder Blues -MD

LONDON (Reuters) -

Binge eaters and bulimics who are too embarrassed to see a doctor about their problem can now get help discreetly through e-mail therapy, a British doctor said on Friday.

Dr. Paul Robinson, the head of the Eating Disorders Service at London's Royal Free Hospital, has developed a three-month e-mail therapy program for people who can't control their eating and those with bulimia nervosa, the binge and purge illness.

Actress Jane Fonda and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell have spoken publicly about their battle with eating problems but many people have difficulty confronting bulimia and binge eating.

Robinson said e-mail therapy can be an effective and easily available treatment to reach people who would otherwise not seek professional help.

``It's a promising new technique with huge potential that really needs to be evaluated properly,'' Robinson told a psychiatry conference.

``Only a minority of people with eating disorders ever turn up for any sort of therapy -- only because they are too embarrassed to come and see us.''

The program is designed to break the obsession with eating and weight and to treat depression which often accompanies eating disorders.

After contacting 20,000 university students by e-mail and inviting any of them with an eating disorder to contact him, Robinson and his team selected and treated 23 people suffering from bulimia and binge eating.

Patients e-mailed a daily diary of their eating habits and feelings to the doctors who responded with advice and comments. ``Patients addressed me as Doc, e-doc and all sorts of things they wouldn't have done face-to-face,'' said Robinson.

The psychiatrists said responding to the e-mails was less time consuming than face-to-face therapy. Instead of seeing a patient for an hourly session, it took them about 10 minutes to respond to the e-mails.

``At the end of the three-month study there was a significant reduction in depression and fewer symptoms and almost all wanted some sort of therapy. We are seeing quite a few of them,'' Robinson added.

Most sufferers from bulimia are women aged 18 to mid-30s. Many have the condition for years before seeing a doctor. Experts estimate it affects up to three percent of women in industrialized countries.

Robinson, who called for further studies to assess the effectiveness of e-mail therapy, presented his findings to the Royal College of Psychiatrists Annual Conference in London.