Types Of Eating Disorders
Anorexia Nervosa
A serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.
Symptoms
Food restriction leading to significantly low body weight in the context of age, sex, development, and physical health
Intense fear of weight gain or becoming fat
Persistent behavior interfering with weight gain despite low weight, such as fasting or excessive exercise
Disturbed experience of one’s body weight or shape, influenced by self-evaluation or persistent lack of recognizing the seriousness of current low body weight
Restricting behavior or binge eating and purging behaviors
Medical Complications and Associated Features
Signs of depression, such as depressed mood, social withdrawal, irritability, insomnia, and diminished interest in sex
Obsessive-compulsive features, both related and unrelated to food
- Elevated suicide risk
Impaired cognitive functioning
Compromised height and stature
Low body weight
Delayed puberty, lack of development
Hormonal imbalance
Amenorrhea (menstrual irregularity)
Gastrointestinal complications such as stomach aches, bloating, constipation, and acid reflux
Vital sign disturbances, such as dangerously low blood pressure
Loss of and/or weakened heart muscle
Heart palpitations and chest pain
Bradycardia (abnormally slow heart rate) or tachycardia (abnormally elevated heart rate)
Heart failure
Edema
Bulimia Nervosa
A serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by a cycle of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-induced vomiting, designed to undo or compensate for the effects of the binge eating.
Symptoms
Regular binge eating behavior, or intake of large amounts of food accompanied by a sense of loss of control over eating behavior
Regular purging behavior, or recurrent use of inappropriate compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or other medications, fasting, or excessive exercise
Cycles of binge eating and purging occurring at least once a week
Disturbed experience of one’s body weight or shape, potentially influenced by self-evaluation
May be in normal weight or overweight range for BMI
Medical Complications and Associated Features
Elevated suicide risk
Impaired cognitive function
Cycles of binge eating and purging occurring at least once a week
Diminished gag reflex and difficulty swallowing
Esophageal tears
Gastrointestinal complications such as constipation, loss of bowel function, GI bleeding, acid reflux, gastric rupture, and rectal prolapse
Amenorrhea (menstrual irregularity)
Infertility
Premature and/or low-weight births
Dental complications such as cavities, extreme tooth sensitivity and enamel loss, and bleeding gums
Callused or scarred fingers
Ophthalmologic complications such as ruptured blood vessels or retinal detachment
Chronic dehydration and electrolyte imbalance
Pancreatitis
Cardiac arrhythmias (abnormal heart rate)
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
A serious eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating without the use of inappropriate compensatory weight control behaviors.
Symptoms
Regular binge eating behavior, or intake of large amounts of food accompanied by a sense of loss of control over eating behavior
Binge eating episodes associated with eating much more rapidly than usual, eating until feeling uncomfortably full, eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry, eating alone because of feeling embarrassed by how much one is eating, or feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty after an episode
Marked distress regarding binge eating behaviors
Episodes occurring regularly, around once a week
Binge eating not associated with recurrent use of inappropriate compensatory behavior such as those presented in bulimia nervosa
Medical Complications and Associated Features
Impaired health-related quality of life and life satisfaction
Weight gain or obesity
High blood pressure
High cholesterol levels
Heart disease
Type II diabetes mellitus
Gallbladder disease
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
A serious eating disorder characterized by eating and feeding disturbances resulting in significant weight loss and other medical complications.
Symptoms
Eating or feeding disturbance, such as an apparent lack of interest in eating or food, avoiding food based on its sensory characteristics, or concern about aversive consequences of eating, not better explained by lack of available food or an associated culturally sanctioned practice
Persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional and energy needs
Significant weight loss, significant nutritional deficiency, dependence on enteral feeding or oral supplements, and/or marked interference with psychosocial functioning
Lack of disturbed perception and experience of one’s own body weight or shape
Behavior described as restrictive, selective, choosy, or perseverant eating
Presence of a conditioned negative response associated with food intake such as choking or repeated vomiting
Medical Complications and Associated Features
Weight loss or faltering growth
Generalized emotional difficulties, sometimes referred to as “food avoidance emotional disorder”
Mirroring of medical complications and associated features of anorexia nervosa
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED)
The majority of those with eating disorders do not fall within the guidelines for anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder and are classified as OSFED. To be diagnosed as having OSFED a person must present with a feeding or eating behaviors that cause clinically significant distress and impairment in areas of functioning, but do not meet the full criteria for any of the other feeding and eating disorders.
A diagnosis might then be allocated that specifies a specific reason why the presentation does not meet the specifics of another disorder (e.g. Bulimia Nervosa- low frequency). The following are further examples for OSFED:
Atypical Anorexia Nervosa: All criteria are met, except despite significant weight loss, the individual’s weight is within or above the normal range.
Binge Eating Disorder (of low frequency and/or limited duration): All of the criteria for BED are met, except at a lower frequency and/or for less than three months.
Bulimia Nervosa (of low frequency and/or limited duration): All of the criteria for Bulimia Nervosa are met, except that the binge eating and inappropriate compensatory behavior occurs at a lower frequency and/or for less than three months.
Purging Disorder: Recurrent purging behavior to influence weight or shape in the absence of binge eating
Night Eating Syndrome: Recurrent episodes of night eating. Eating after awakening from sleep, or by excessive food consumption after the evening meal. There is an awareness and recall of the eating.The behavior is not better explained by environmental influences or social norms. The behavior causes significant distress/impairment, and is not better explained by another mental health disorder (e.g. BED).
Medical Complications and Associated Features
Weight loss or faltering growth
Generalized emotional difficulties, sometimes referred to as “food avoidance emotional disorder”
Mirroring of medical complications and associated features of anorexia nervosa
Unspecified Feeding or Eating Disorder (UFED)
This category applies to where behaviors cause clinically significant distress/impairment of functioning, but do not meet the full criteria of any of the Feeding or Eating Disorder criteria. This category may be used by clinicians where a clinician chooses not to specify why criteria are not met, including presentations where there may be insufficient information to make a more specific diagnosis (e.g. in emergency room settings).
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