July 14, 2025

Eating Disorders for Psychiatrists: Part 1

Show Notes

This is Part 1 of our two-part deep dive into eating disorders—and we’re starting at the beginning. Margaret and I sit down with psychiatrist and eating disorder specialist Helen Sanon, MD to walk through the basics: What are the major types of eating disorders? What do they actually look like in real life? And how do we treat something that’s rooted in both biology and culture? We cover everything med school skipped—then try to practice what we’ve learned in a fake (but emotionally real) therapy session with Dr. Helen as the patient. Spoiler: it got uncomfortable in all the right ways.

Takeaways:

Eating disorders don’t come with a single look—or a single diagnosis. We break down the ones you’ve heard of and the ones you haven’t.
Every med student should hear this conversation. Because we weren’t taught how to spot this stuff—let alone treat it.
Practicing therapy with an expert in the “patient” seat is more terrifying than it sounds.
This isn’t just about food. It’s about fear, shame, and survival strategies.
We’re not pretending to know everything. We’re starting with the basics—so we can learn to do better.