#arfid

Because while ARFID certainly can present that way, by definition it's just any clinically significant restrictive eating or feeding disturbance that isn't body image based. It also commonly presents as:

Lack of interest in food or eating—such as a result of major depressive disorder, schizoid personality disorder, the negative symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, dissociative disorders, etc

Avoidance of specific foods that are PTSD triggers, or of eating as a whole due to traumatic events that happened around mealtimes or in kitchens or dining rooms

Avoiding food due to phobias surrounding vomiting, choking, allergic reactions, etc

Avoiding food due to OCD surrounding due to magical thinking around the consequences of eating (i.e. fearing that a loved one will die if you eat a specific food), obsessions surrounding poisoning or allergic reactions, or food restriction as a compulsion

Avoiding food as a result of delusions or paranoia in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, paranoid personality disorder, etc

frankly i think a LOT of "picky eaters" have some kind of sensory problems– autistic or allistic– and shame is never useful. i don't fucking care how annoying you think we are. if you've never lived through the humiliation of being the only one not eating at a dinner table, or having to choke down something disgusting you already know you hate because other people insist you don't know your own body, or getting a hunger migraine in a house full of food because none of its edible to you? you don't understand how awful it is to have food issues.

whenever i see people draw this distinction between being "just a picky eater" and "having a real problem" all i think is, who does this serve? most people don't even know ARFID exists. there are so many undiagnosed autistics, or just people with a variety of issues that aren't officially diagnosed. why do we need a medical label in order to be treated with respect and compassion? why did i need to be diagnosed as autistic for my family to realize the abuse they put me through for years because of my eating habits?

it's such an easy habit for neglected groups to fall into– the idea that a medical diagnosis can save us. that by appealing to the medical/psychiatric industry, we can be protected from abuse and given basic respect and resources. but the truth is that it should never have come to this in the first place. dignity doesn't come from an abled doctor telling you that there's a medical reason for your symptoms. it comes from being a person. once you accept that you need a Good Reason to have your needs respected, you doom yourself to neglecting and abusing those who have your same struggles because they aren't lucky enough to access medical recognition.

but then I want them to hang out too. just spend time with each other. get close to each other the way siblings do and I want Jason to be in Tim's room when he sees a snack pile and takes a couple that look nice

and I want Tim to freak. he doesn't talk to Jason for a week. snaps at him on patrol. and the next time Jason's hanging out with Tim--a whole fucking month later, he notices the snacks aren't there anymore

he asks Tim about it and Tim says that he hid them and Jason makes fun of him in the moment--because seriously, all that for a couple bags of chips?--but he thinks back on it later and realizes that Tim is food and reacted defensively to someone taking it

but that doesn't make any sense because Tim grew up rich. he had all the money he could want to buy all the food he could need so why the hell did he have that big of a reaction?

I want Jason to start paying attention to Tim's eating habits. notice how little to boy ate and how long he spent starting at his food as if he was trying to convince himself to eat it. the way he always went back up to his room after dinner and, whenever Jason visited after, there were always a few more wrappers in the trash

I want Jason to notice all of this and think it's weird but not think too much of it until he's helping a kid on patrol. a kid who hoarded food. a kid who was starving but refused to eat a burger because of the texture, of all things. I want the kid's mother to find them and thank Jason before apologizing and saying that her son has something that makes it hard for him to eat

and I want that something to be ARFID

I want Jason to get home from patrol and look it up and, when he thinks about Tim, i want him to realize that the boy checks all the boxes

I want Jason to realize that the reason Tim hoards foods is because he needs safe food and he didn't always have those growing up

I want Jason to wonder how to bring it up to Tim. the way the boy acts, he knows his eating habits are weird, but doesn't seem to know what they are. I want Jason to try to explain to Tim that he has an ED and I want him to try not to freak out about someone in his family not being able to eat right