What Are The Different Types of Eating Disorders?

Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening medical illnesses marked by severe disturbances to one’s eating behaviors. People become fixated or obsessed with weight loss, body weight or shape, and controlling their food intake. Eating disorders are not a choice, they affect a person’s physical and mental health.

The exact cause of eating disorders is not fully understood, but research suggests a combination of genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors that can raise a person’s risk.

The most common eating disorders are: 

• Anorexia nervosa: a condition where people avoid food, severely restrict food intakes, or eat very small quantities of only certain foods. Even when dangerously underweight, they may see themselves as overweight. There are two subtypes of anorexia nervosa: a restrictive subtype and a binge-purge subtype.
• Bulimia nervosa: a condition where people have recurrent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food with a lack of control over their eating, followed by behaviors that compensate for the overeating such as forced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, and excessive exercising.
• Binge-eating disorder: a condition where people lose control of their eating habits and have recurring episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food.
• Other types of eating disorders include rumination disorder and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.

Eating disorders are the second most lethal psychiatric disorder, followed by opioid use disorder. They are diagnosed by healthcare providers, such as physicians and mental health professionals, and are based on signs, symptoms and eating habits.

Assessments and tests generally include:

• Physical examination & Lab tests to rule out other medical causes for your eating issues (general appearance, vital signs, skin, abdomen…)
• Psychological evaluation done by a psychologist or psychiatrist:  asking questions about your thoughts, feelings, eating habits & psychological self-assessment questionnaires.

An untreated eating disorder places you at risk for serious problems. Therefore, is it very important to diagnose it early and choose the right treatment. The treatment usually includes a team approach, consisting of primary care providers, mental health professionals and dietitians.

Treatments include:

• Nutrition education by a dietitian: designing a meal plan to help you achieve healthy eating habits.
• Patient and family education on the nature, course, and treatment of eating disorders
• Psychotherapy: it helps replacing unhealthy habits by healthy ones:
  • Family-based therapy (FBT): The family is involved in making sure that the child or other family member follows healthy-eating patterns and maintains a healthy weight.
  • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Monitor and improve your eating habits and your moods, develop problem-solving skills, change distorted thinking patterns that drive behaviors and emotions.
• Medications to control urges to binge or purge or to manage excessive preoccupations with food and diet.
  • Antidepressants and anxiolytics may help with symptoms of depression or anxiety, which are frequently associated with eating disorders.
  • Hospitalization: if you have serious health problems, such as anorexia that has resulted in severe malnutrition.