Eating disorders are more than just about food, even if the name might make you think otherwise. Mental health problems usually influence such disorders requiring help from psychological and medical experts. These experts consider them to be psychological conditions that lead to the development of unhealthy eating habits. In several cases, they can cause major health problems and even death. These disorders may be caused by affected brain biology, repressive cultural ideals, certain personality traits, or genetics. In this blog we'll discuss about common types of eating disorders, tests & their treatment.
An NHS report warned of a dramatic negative change in young people's body image in recent years. The report found that many agreed that their body image had a negative impact on their mental health. It also found that around 1.25 million individuals in the UK have an eating disorder, with a significant increase in the number of young people suffering.
Globally about 10 % of people will experience an eating disorder during their lifetime. Still, eating disorders are extremely misunderstood. Misunderstandings about everything from warning signs of Anorexia to treatment make it difficult to diagnose an eating disorder. In the United States, about 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from eating disorders including bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, OSFED, or binge eating disorder.
What is an Eating Disorder (Anorexia Nervosa)?
Eating disorders are a wide range of psychiatric conditions followed by these main conditions of behavior, bingeing, restricting food intake, or rapidly consuming large amounts of food and then ejecting calories by laxatives, vomiting, excessive exercise or other in other harmful ways. You can't tell whether someone has an eating disorder from their weight alone. People who weigh what medical professional considers healthy range can have an eating disorder, including severe ones that damage their long-term health in multiple ways including amenia, heart, and kidney failure.
What are the Different Types of Eating Disorders?
Let's look at the following six different types of eating disorders.
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is perhaps the most common eating disorder that occurs in adolescence and young adulthood. It is often influenced by obsessive-compulsive tendencies and affects more women than men. People with this condition usually think of themselves as overweight, although they may be the opposite and restrict their diets because of it.
Bulimia nervosa
Bulimia is another common eating disorder that occurs during adolescence and young adulthood. It is characterized by eating large amounts at once (so-called binging) until you are so full that you cannot keep food down. This is followed by "flushing" to eliminate the poorly digested food. excessive exercise, diuretics, fasting, or laxatives.
Binge eating disorders
Binge eating disorder is quite common and affects many teenagers and young adults. People who struggle with this end up going on regular binges without worrying about calorie restriction. Symptoms caused by binge eating disorder are similar to anorexia and bulimia.
Pica
Pica is an eating disorder that involves eating things that are not considered food. These include soil, chalk, ice, paper, hair, dirt, wool, pebbles, clothing, detergent, and cornstarch. It occurs in people of all ages, who are susceptible to increased risk of nutritional deficiencies, poisoning, intestinal injury, and infection.
Rumination disorder
This is a newly recognized type of eating disorder that causes a person to regurgitate already chewed and swallowed food within 30 minutes of eating. He either chews the food and swallows it again or spits it out. it develops between 3 and 12 months of age and can cause malnutrition and severe weight loss in infants if left untreated.
The difference between anorexia and bulimia
Here's a highlighting the key difference between anorexia and bulimia nervosa:
| Characteristics | Anorexia Nervosa | Bulimia Nervosa |
| Primary Behavior | Severe restriction of food intake, leading to significant weight loss | Episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors (e.g., vomiting, excessive exercise, fasting) |
| Weight Control | Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat | Preoccupation with body weight and shape, but weight may remain within a relatively normal range. |
| Body Image Distortion | Distorted body image, perceiving oneself as overweight despite being underweight | Distorted body image, with an intense fear of gaining weight and dissatisfaction with body shape. |
| Eating Patterns | Avoidance of certain foods and rigid eating habits | Binge eating episodes, often followed by purging or other compensatory behaviors. |
| Physical Consequences | Extreme thinness, nutritional deficiencies, amenorrhea (loss of menstrual periods), brittle nails, and hair loss | Fluctuating weight, electrolyte imbalances, dental problems, gastrointestinal issues, and potential weight fluctuations. |
| Psychological Features | Anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, perfectionism | Impulsivity, feelings of guilt or shame, low self-esteem, mood swings. |
| Health Risks | Cardiovascular issues, osteoporosis, organ failure, and in severe cases, death | Gastrointestinal problems, electrolyte imbalances, dental issues, and potential long-term health consequences. |
| Treatment Approach | Multidisciplinary, including medical, nutritional, and psychological interventions | Psychotherapy, nutritional counseling, and, in some cases, medication for associated mental health conditions. |
| Onset Age | Typically begins in adolescence or early adulthood | Can start in adolescence, but often appear in late adolescence or early adulthood. |
Types of eating disorders test
Here is a brief overview of the main types of eating disorders test / assessments:
- Screening questionnaires like the EAT-26 and SCOFF help identify potential eating disorder risk and symptoms.
- Diagnostic tools like the EDE-Q and BULIT-R evaluate the core attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that characterize specific eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder.
- Severity assessments like the Binge Eating Scale measure the frequency and intensity of symptoms to determine illness severity.
- Supplementary tests can examine medical complications, mental health comorbidities, and nutritional status for a comprehensive evaluation.
- Interviews conducted by a professional allow for an in-depth clinical assessment in conjunction with self-report tests.
- The right combination of these assessments facilitates an accurate eating disorder diagnosis and treatment plan to address the individual's specific symptoms. Selecting suitable eating disorder tools is an important part of the evaluation process.
Eating Disorder Treatment
Just as we can't tell whether someone has an eating disorder based on their weight alone, we can't get rid of these eating disorders by eating differently. That's because eating disorders are, at their core, psychiatric illnesses. From what we understand, they involve a disruption to someone's self-perception. Treatment for feeding and any types of eating disorders may include medical and nutritional support, CBT-E or IPT, and medications for eating disorders and bulimia.
The main emphasis of eating disorder treatment center is on meeting the needs of the individual through education, therapy, and medication. Treatment of eating disorders depends on your particular disorder. It is necessary to consult a psychologist for the treatment of the eating disorder. As the cases of eating disorders in America are surging, therefore the number of eating disorder charities and organization are also increasing. Eating disorders are more prevalent than many people think.
If you and your loved one are suffering from this anorexia nervosa disease, then help is available through the eating disorder treatment center. These treatment centers provide a wide range of treatment for disorders like mood, substance, and eating. they have separate programs for adults and teens. They pledge to provide the best possible care in a collaborative and integrated way. In addition to this, they also work with the families of patients for the preferable interest of the patient.
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