This week is ‘Eating Disorder Week’. Let’s bring awareness to this situation. Many people around the world battle with an eating disorder. It is important to provide a safe space for them. Even if you don’t understand, allow those with an eating problem to express themselves without judgement. In the following pictures I have provided a brief explanation of each. Let’s help by spreading the word.
Pica is an eating disorder that occurs when a person eats non-food substances.
There is no single cause. Some doctors believe it can be caused by certain nutritional deficiencies and others think it can be a coping mechanism.
This disorder occurs when an individual repeatedly regurgitates food over a period of at least 1 month. The regurgitated food may be re-chewed, re-swallowed, or spit out.
The regurgitation is NOT caused by gastrointestinal problems or other medical situations.
This eating disorder is more common in young children and can cause:
🔹Bad breath and tooth decay
🔹Repeated stomachaches and indigestion
Psychologist don’t know the exact cause of this disorder, but most children outgrow it.
This type of eating disturbance occurs when there is a lack of interest in eating food based on the sensory characteristics of food. Such as:
This disorder has terrible consequences because the person does not meet the appropriate nutritional and/or energy needs. There will be:
🔹Significant nutritional deficiency
🔹Dependence on enteral feeding or oral nutritional supplements.
🔹Menstrual irregularities
🔹Difficulties concentrating
🔹Abnormal laboratory findings (anemia, low thyroid and hormone levels, low potassium, low blood cell counts, slow heart rate)
🔹Feeling cold all the time
🔹Impaired immune functioning
The difference between this disorder and anorexia is that ARFID does not involve any distress about body shape or size, or fears of fatness.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by weight loss; difficulties maintaining an appropriate body weight for height, age, and stature. Individuals also have an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight. People with anorexia generally restrict the number of calories and the types of food they eat.
It is important to note: A person does not need to be emaciated or underweight to be struggling.
Emotional and behavioral symptoms:
🔹Dresses in layers to hide weight loss or stay warm
🔹Is preoccupied with calories, fat grams, and dieting
🔹Refuses to eat certain foods, progressing to restrictions against whole categories of food
🔹Develops food rituals (e.g., eating foods in certain orders, excessive chewing, rearranging food on a plate)
🔹Consistently makes excuses to avoid mealtimes or situations involving food
Maintains an excessive, rigid exercise regimen
🔹Has disturbed experience of body weight or shape
🔹gastrointestinal complaints
🔹Difficulties concentrating
🔹Abnormal laboratory findings
🔹Menstrual irregularities
🔹Swelling around area of salivary glands
🔹Impaired immune functioning
People with bulimia may secretly binge. Eating large amounts of food with a loss of control over the eating and then purge, trying to get rid of the extra calories. To get rid of calories and prevent weight gain, people will regularly self-induce vomiting or misuse laxatives, weight-loss supplements, diuretics or enemas after bingeing.
Individuals are preoccupied with their weight and body shape. Some symptoms are:
🔹Living in fear of gaining weight
🔹Repeated episodes of eating abnormally large amounts of food in one sitting
🔹Feeling a loss of control during bingeing — like you can’t stop eating or can’t control what you eat
🔹Forcing yourself to vomit or exercising too much to keep from gaining weight after bingeing
🔹Using laxatives, diuretics or enemas after eating when they’re not needed
🔹Fasting, restricting calories or avoiding certain foods between binges
🔹Using dietary supplements or herbal products excessively for weight loss
🔹Dehydration, which can lead to major medical problems, such as kidney failure
🔹Heart problems, such as an irregular heartbeat or heart failure
🔹Severe tooth decay and gum disease
🔹Absent or irregular periods in females
Binge eating disorder (BED) is characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and to the point of discomfort); a feeling of a loss of control during the binge; experiencing shame, distress or guilt afterwards; and NOT regularly using unhealthy compensatory measures (e.g., purging) to counter the binge eating.
Emotional and behavioral symptoms:
🔹 Disappearance of large amounts of food in short periods of time or lots of empty wrappers and containers indicating consumption of large amounts of food.
🔹Appears uncomfortable eating around others.
🔹Steals or hoards food in strange places
🔹Creates lifestyle schedules or rituals to make time for binge sessions
🔹Shows extreme concern with body weight and shape
🔹Eating alone out of embarrassment at the quantity of food being eaten
🔹 Feelings of disgust, depression, or guilt after overeating
Diabulimia is a media-coined term that refers to an eating disorder in a person with diabetes, typically type I diabetes, wherein the person purposefully restricts insulin in order to lose weight. Sometimes it begins with body image issues or a desire to lose weight, and sometimes it begins as diabetes burnout.
This disorder is not part of the DSM-V, but nonetheless it’s important to recognize it.
Emotional and behavioral symptoms:
🔹Increasing neglect of diabetes management
🔹Secrecy about diabetes management
🔹Avoiding diabetes related appointments
🔹Fear of low blood sugars
🔹Fear that “insulin makes me fat”
🔹Extreme increase or decrease in diet
🔹Extreme anxiety about body image
🔹Restricting certain food or food groups to lower insulin dosages
🔹Avoids eating with family or in public
🔹Discomfort testing/injecting in front of others
🔹Depression and/or anxiety
🔹Infrequently filled prescriptions
🔹A1c of 9.0 or higher on a continuous basis
🔹A1c inconsistent with meter readings
🔹Constant bouts of nausea and/or vomiting
🔹Persistent thirst and frequent urination
🔹Multiple DKA or near DKA episodes
🔹Low sodium and/or potassium
🔹Frequent bladder and/or yeast infections
🔹Irregular or lack of menstruation
🔹Deteriorating or blurry vision
Although not formally recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, awareness about orthorexia is on the rise. Although being aware of and concerned with the nutritional quality of the food you eat isn’t a problem in and of itself, people with orthorexia become so fixated on so-called ‘healthy eating’ that they actually damage their own well-being.
🔹Compulsive checking of ingredient lists and nutritional labels
🔹Cutting out an increasing number of food groups (all sugar, all carbs, all dairy, all meat, all animal products)
🔹An inability to eat anything but a narrow group of foods that are deemed ‘healthy’ or ‘pure’
🔹Unusual interest in the health of what others are eating
🔹Spending hours per day thinking about what food might be served at upcoming events
🔹Showing high levels of distress when ‘safe’ or ‘healthy’ foods aren’t available
🔹Obsessive following of food and ‘healthy lifestyle’ blogs on Twitter and Instagram
🔹Body image concerns may or may not be present
