The 12 types of eating disordersAnorexia Nervosa. Other specified eating or eating disorder (OSFED).
Eating disorders
are a group of related conditions that involve extreme eating and weight problems, but each disorder has unique symptoms and diagnostic criteria. Here are six of the most common eating disorders and their symptoms.There is a commonly accepted misconception that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice. Eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses that are associated with severe alterations in people's eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions. Concern about food, body weight, and shape may also indicate an eating disorder. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.
Anorexia nervosa is a condition in which people avoid food, severely restrict food, or eat very small amounts of only certain foods. They can also be weighed several times. Even when they are dangerously underweight, they may see themselves overweight. It has an extremely high mortality rate (mortality) compared to other mental disorders.
People with anorexia are at risk of dying from medical complications associated with starvation. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in people diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. Bulimia nervosa is a condition in which people have recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food and feel a lack of control over these episodes. This is followed by behavior that compensates for overeating, such as forced vomiting, overuse of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, excessive exercise, or a combination of these behaviors.
People with bulimia nervosa may be slightly underweight, normal or overweight. Binge eating disorder is a condition in which people lose control over their diet and have recurrent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food. Unlike bulimia nervosa, periods of binge eating are not followed by purging, excessive exercise, or fasting. As a result, people with binge eating disorder are often overweight or obese.
Binge eating disorder is the most common eating disorder in the U.S. UU. Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), formerly known as selective eating disorder, is a condition in which people limit the amount or type of food eaten. Unlike anorexia nervosa, people with ARFID don't have a distorted body image or extreme fear of gaining weight.
ARFID is more common in middle childhood and usually has an earlier onset than other eating disorders. Many children go through demanding feeding phases, but a child with ARFID does not eat enough calories to grow and develop properly, and an adult with ARFID does not eat enough calories to maintain basic body function. Family therapy, a type of psychotherapy in which parents of teens with anorexia nervosa take responsibility for feeding their children, seems to be very effective in helping people gain weight and improve eating habits and mood. The only problem that all eating disorders have in common, besides the lack of control over eating habits, is that they can progress and cause serious, even permanent, damage to mental and physical health.
Not surprisingly, with all the physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of eating disorders, that the long-term consequences can be serious. As with any other disease, the sooner a person with an eating disorder is treated, the greater the chance of recovery. While eating disorders can occur over a wide age range, they often develop in adolescence and early 20s. Finally, gastrointestinal, eating disorders affect stomach emptying and nutrient absorption, which can lead to serious stomach problems.
It can also be more difficult for friends, family, and other acquaintances, as well as health professionals, to detect an eating disorder if they have misconceptions about who is likely to have it. Sometimes, these may play a role in the development of the eating disorder, or they may develop along with or because of the eating disorder. If you think someone in your life has an eating disorder, the best thing to do is to support them and encourage them to seek the help of a health professional. Only a doctor or mental health professional can give an accurate diagnosis, but here are some signs you can watch for if you or any of your loved ones have problems with disordered eating habits.
binge eating episodes related to eating much faster than usual, eating until you feel uncomfortably full, eating large amounts of food when you don't feel physically hungry, eating only because you feel embarrassed about how much you eat or feel disgusted with yourself, depression or guilt after an episode. To be diagnosed as suffering from OSFED, a person must have eating or eating behaviors that cause clinically significant distress and deterioration in areas of functioning, but that do not meet all criteria for any of the other eating and eating disorders. Researchers are discovering that eating disorders are caused by a complex interplay of genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological and social factors. Eating disorders manifest themselves in various ways, since they are complicated disorders that affect psychological, physical and sociological health.
An essential diagnostic feature of ARFID is “to avoid or restrict food intake, which is manifested by clinically significant non-compliance with nutritional requirements or insufficient energy intake through oral food intake. Eating disorders are serious conditions related to persistent eating behaviors that adversely affect your health, emotions, and ability to function in important areas of life. . .
