Eating disorders are psychological conditions characterized by unhealthy, obsessive, or disordered eating habits. Eating disorders come with both emotional and physical symptoms and include anorexia nervosa (voluntary starvation), bulimia nervosa (binge-eating followed by purging), binge-eating disorder (binge-eating without purging), and other or unspecified eating disorders (disordered eating patterns that do not fit into another category).
What Is Binge Eating Disorder?
Binge-eating disorder is marked by recurrent episodes of extreme overeating not accompanied by compensatory behavior; as a result, those with the disorder are often overweight or obese.
People with this disorder tend to eat much more rapidly than normal and don't stop until feeling uncomfortably full. They may consume large amounts of food even when they're not hungry. They often eat alone because of shame or embarrassment about their eating behaviors.
Many people experience occasional instances of overeating and may even "binge" from time to time. To be considered a disorder, then, these behaviors must occur at least two days a week for six months or more.
For more, see Binge-Eating Disorder.
What Is ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder)?
Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder is characterized by the avoidance or restriction of food. People with the condition may be uninterested in food—perhaps trying to avoid a negative experience they had in the past, or because they are unsettled by particular sensory characteristics of food, such as its smell or texture.
As a result, people with ARFID do not consume enough food or receive adequate nutrition. In contrast to anorexia, ARFID food constraints are not due to fears related to weight or body image.
For more, see ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder).
Orthorexia is an eating disorder characterized by an obsession with healthy eating. People with orthorexia fixate on the purity of food and the ingredients within the food they prepare and consume, perhaps cutting out certain food groups or adhering to a strict diet. Orthorexia often involves rigid routines and the removal of pleasure and fulfillment from the experience of eating.
What Are Other Eating Disorders?
Though anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder are the most well known, eating disorders encompass a number of other conditions, too. These include rumination disorder, pica, and others.
Rumination disorder is characterized by repeated regurgitation of food after eating, bringing previously swallowed food up into the mouth without displaying nausea, involuntary retching, or disgust. The food is typically then re-chewed and spit out or swallowed again.
Pica is a condition characterized by the eating of one or more nonnutritive, nonfood substances on a regular basis, such as paper, soap, or hair. Those with the disorder typically do not have an aversion to food in general.
Other eating disorders, such as night eating syndrome or atypical anorexia, may be classified under "other specified feeding and eating disorders" in the DSM-5.
Signs and Symptoms of Eating Disorders
Eating disorders involve disturbances in how individuals eat and perceive their body and weight. But those disturbances can manifest in very different ways. In some cases they can be obvious, such as dramatic weight loss or refusing to eat. In other cases they can be subtle, such as developing rigid routines around meals—only eating specific foods or at specific times—or beginning to exercise obsessively. Still in others, signs of the disorder can be hidden, such as going to the restroom after meals in the case of bulimia or eating in private in the case of binge-eating disorder.
Mental health symptoms can also emerge from or be exacerbated by the condition. People with eating disorders may become more withdrawn, avoiding people or activities they previously enjoyed, or they may struggle with mood swings and anxiety. Although it can be difficult to discuss, recognizing an eating disorder early on can help the person seek the help they need to recover.
For more, see Signs and Symptoms of Eating Disorders .
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