Eating Disorders

Understanding Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders involve extreme attitudes, feelings and behaviors related to food consumption, weight and body size. Eating disorders are found among people of any age group or race/ethnic background and can cause extreme distress.

Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder are the three primary eating disorders; other conditions include pica, rumination syndrome and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessions, also known as intrusive thoughts or urges that continue to surface and cause anxiety and distress for those living with OCD, can become uncontrollable and disruptive, prompting them to perform rituals known as compulsions in an effort to neutralize or get rid of their obsessions or make them go away altogether.

Compulsive behaviors are repetitive actions undertaken in an attempt to relieve anxiety caused by obsessions, such as washing hands or counting locks or appliances. Unfortunately, such actions often consume significant time and disrupt relationships and daily activities despite knowledge that their rituals don’t work; sometimes medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) help; psychotherapy methods like cognitive-behavioral therapy or exposure and response prevention may also prove useful in managing compulsive behaviors.

Anorexia Nervosa Eating Disorders

Anorexia nervosa is an extreme and potentially life-threatening eating disorder, capable of leading to malnutrition, dehydration, and other medical complications that may ultimately result in death. It affects people of any age; although its onset usually begins during puberty. Triggers for the disorder could include life changes like moving or starting a job or trauma such as divorce or abuse – it also may run in families.

Anorexia Nervosa begins as regular dieting but over time becomes unhealthy, leading to severe restriction of calories and weight loss as well as binge eating and purging behaviors. Individuals suffering from anorexia nervosa often have an unrealistic understanding of their bodies and weights.

Treatment includes both medical attention to restore normal weight and nutritional health and cognitive behavioral therapy-based psychotherapy; family-based anorexia nervosa therapy appears particularly successful.

Bulimia Nervosa

People suffering from bulimia have episodes of binge eating (binge eating). After these binges, they take steps to avoid weight gain by purging (making themselves vomit), using diuretics or laxatives, fasting excessively or exercising excessively – activities they might keep secret from family, friends and healthcare providers.

Binge-purge cycles may occur multiple times daily and cause serious physical issues as a result of not receiving enough nutrition and misuse of laxatives. Binge-purge disorders affect people of all ages, although most commonly those designated female at birth (and therefore more frequently female assigned birth mothers than male) become vulnerable to developing binge-purge disorders in early adulthood; it also tends to affect overweight individuals more frequently than people at a healthy weight.

Pica

Pica is the habitual eating of substances which provide no nutritional benefit and have no place in our diets. While the disorder affects individuals of any age, children and pregnant women may be particularly vulnerable.

Consuming nonfood substances can lead to serious health risks, including anemia and poisoning, as well as mental health conditions such as schizophrenia.

Pica is often resolved naturally among young children and pregnant women when taught how to distinguish edible from non-edible objects and items. However, in cases involving mental retardation and developmental disabilities, pica may continue for extended periods. Treatment here aims at preventing complications related to pica rather than curing it directly; behavioral therapy often includes teaching individuals how to avoid pica behaviors using mild aversion techniques and positive reinforcement.

Rumination Syndrome

Rumination syndrome refers to the repetitive regurgitation of food into one’s mouth after eating, for rechowing and swallowing or spat out. It typically happens soon after, and can often be mistaken for acid reflux (even though the regurgitated food does not contain acidic ingredients), unexplained vomiting or bulimia nervosa.

Rumination can be diagnosed based on an individual’s history and physical exam. Rumination must recur over at least a one month period to be classified as an official diagnosis, without occurring simultaneously with other eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder or avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.

Rumination syndrome is more likely to affect infants and developmental disabled than it does adults of average intelligence. While no specific tests exist to diagnose rumination syndrome, blood tests and upper endoscopie may be performed to rule out other possible conditions.