Anorexia Nervosa

What is Anorexia Nervosa?

People with Anorexia limit their food intake significantly in order to lose weight. They might also engage in compensatory behaviour including excessive exercise or using purging techniques. Anorexia Nervosa can affect people of any age, background or gender.

What are common symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa?

  • Not being fully honest when saying how much weight they’ve lost or how much food they are eating.
  • Strict dieting and avoiding food with high calories and/or carbs.
  • Skipping meals.
  • Counting the calories in food excessively.
  • Developing strict rules concerning food and exercise.
  • Avoiding eating with other people.
  • Hiding food.
  • Excessive focus on body weight and shape.
  • Weight loss.
  • Difficulty sleeping.
  • Tiredness.
  • In people that can menstruate their periods may become less frequent or stop completely.
  • Lack of sexual interest.

What is Anorexia Nervosa?

Anorexia Nervosa is commonly simply known as anorexia, is one of the most known eating disorders. Sufferers are usually underweight but perceive themselves as overweight. They limit their food intake drastically in order to lose weight. They might also engage in a lot of exercise to get rid of food they have eaten. Anorexia Nervosa can affect people of any age, background or gender.

What are common symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa?

  • Saying they have eaten earlier or will eat later, or that they have eaten more than they have
  • Not being truthful about how much weight they have lost
  • Strict dieting and avoiding food they think is fattening
  • Counting the calories in food excessively
  • Eating only low-calorie food, or otherwise limiting the type of food they will eat
  • Missing meals (fasting)
  • Avoiding eating with other people
  • Hiding food
  • Fear of fatness or pursuit of thinness
  • Excessive focus on body weight
  • Weight loss
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Tiredness
  • Irregular periods, or periods stopping altogether
  • Lack of sexual interest

Bulimia Nervosa

What is Bulimia Nervosa?

People with bulimia go through periods in which they eat a significant amount of food (binges) and then engage in purging techniques to compensate for the food they have eaten. Purging can include being sick or using laxatives. The amount of food eaten in a binge varies from person to person and sometimes would even be considered a ‘normal’ amount of food by other people.

What are common symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa?

  • Excessive focus on body weight and/or shape.
  • Eating large amounts of food (bingeing)
  • Engaging in purging techniques.
  • Organising life around shopping, eating and purging behaviour
  • Avoiding eating with other people.
  • Spending a lot or most of their time thinking about food.
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Low confidence and self-esteem
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Tiredness

What is Bulimia Nervosa?

Bulimia (or bulimia nervosa) is a serious mental illness. It can affect anyone of any age, gender, or background. People with bulimia are caught in a cycle of eating large quantities of food (called bingeing), and then trying to compensate for that overeating by vomiting, taking laxatives or diuretics, fasting, or exercising excessively (called purging). Treatment at the earliest possible opportunity gives the best chance for a rapid and sustained recovery from bulimia.

What are common symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa?

  • Either frequently checking body shape or weight or avoiding looking at their body or checking their weight.
  • Comparing their body with those of others
  • Eating large amounts of food (bingeing)
  • Purging after bingeing by vomiting, over-exercising, using laxatives or diuretics, fasting
  • Organising life around shopping, eating and purging behaviour
  • Secrecy, especially about eating
  • Spending a lot or most of their time thinking about food
  • Feeling anxious and tense, especially around meal times or when eating in front of others
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Low confidence and self-esteem
  • Vomiting
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Tiredness

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)

What is ARFID?

People with Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) avoid certain foods or types of food and also may have an overall restricted intake of food.

What are common symptoms of ARFID?

  • Being sensitive to the taste, texture, smell, or appearance of certain types of food, or only able to eat foods at a certain temperature.
  • Avoiding specific types of food or eating entirely due to a past experience of choking or vomiting, or significant abdominal pain.
  • Only eating ‘safe foods’ and finding in hard to explain or articulate why these foods are considered safe.
  • Having little or no appetite.
  • Eating feeling like a chore.

What is ARFID?

Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, more commonly known as ARFID, is a condition characterised by the person avoiding certain foods or types of food, having restricted intake in terms of overall amount eaten, or both.

What are common symptoms of ARFID?

  • Sensory-based avoidance/restriction of intake: a person might be very sensitive to the taste, texture, smell, or appearance of certain types of food, or only able to eat foods at a certain temperature.
  • Distressing experience with food: past experience of choking or vomiting, or experiencing significant abdominal pain might cause a person to develop feelings of fear and anxiety around food or eating, and lead to them to avoiding certain foods or textures.
  • Concern about the consequences of eating: some people may experience more general worries about the consequences of eating that they find hard to put into words, and restrict their intake to what they regard as ‘safe’ foods.
  • Low interest in eating: a person may not recognise that they are hungry in the way that others would, or they may generally have a poor appetite. For them, eating might seem a chore and not something that is enjoyed, resulting in them struggling to eat enough.

Binge Eating Disorder

What is Binge Eating Disorder?

People with Binge Eating Disorder eat large amount of food due to experiencing the feeling of losing control around food intake. Binge eating disorder can affect people of any age, background or gender.

What are common symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder?

  • Buying lots of food
  • Organising life around bingeing episodes
  • Always having a lot of food in your home, often hiding it from others.
  • Eating very rapidly
  • Eating when not hungry
  • Eating until uncomfortably full
  • Spending a lot or most of their time thinking about food
  • A sense of being out of control around food, or a loss of control over eating.
  • Avoiding eating with other people.
  • Low confidence and self-esteem.
  • Feelings of shame and guilt after bingeing.
  • Tiredness.
  • Difficulty sleeping.
  • Weight gain.
  • Bloating.

What is Binge Eating Disorder?

This is a serious mental illness whereby the affected person eats large amounts of food due an experienced loss of control. Bing eating disorder can affect people of any age, background or gender.

What are common symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder?

  • Buying lots of food
  • Organising life around bingeing episodes
  • Hoarding food
  • Eating very rapidly
  • Eating when not hungry
  • Eating until uncomfortably full
  • Spending a lot or most of their time thinking about food
  • A sense of being out of control around food, or a loss of control over eating
  • Feeling anxious and tense, especially over eating in front of others
  • Low confidence and self-esteem
  • Feelings of shame and guilt after bingeing
  • Tiredness
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Weight gain
  • Bloating

OSFED

What is OSFED?

Sometimes a person’s symptoms don’t exactly fit the diagnostic criteria for a specific eating disorder. In such situations, they might be diagnosed with an ‘other specified feeding or eating disorder’ (OSFED). OSFED accounts for a large percentage of eating disorders and is just as serious as specific conditions.

What comes under 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.
  • Night Eating Syndrome: Recurrent episodes of night eating. Eating after awakening from sleep, or by excessive food consumption after the evening meal. The behavior is not better explained by environmental influences or social norms. The behavior causes significant distress/impairment. The behavior is not better explained by another mental health disorder (e.g. BED).
  • Purging Disorder: Recurrent purging behavior to influence weight or shape in the absence of binge eating.

What is OSFED?

Anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder are diagnosed according to a list of expected behavioural, psychological, and physical symptoms. Sometimes a person’s symptoms don’t exactly fit the expected symptoms for any of these three specific eating disorders. In that case, they might be diagnosed with an ‘other specified feeding or eating disorder’ (OSFED). OSFED accounts for a large percentage of eating disorders.

What are common symptoms of OSFED?

  • Preoccupation with and/or secretive behaviour around food
  • Self-consciousness when eating in front of others
  • Low confidence and self-esteem
  • Poor body image
  • Irritability and mood swings
  • Tiredness
  • Social withdrawal
  • Feelings of shame, guilt, and anxiety
  • Difficulty concentrating