Eating Disorders: Definition, Symptoms, And Effects
A wide range of eating disorders can negatively affect health and well-being, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and others. However, to understand each condition, exploring the definition of eating disorders and how they can appear may be helpful. You may also look at the treatments available and the causes of common mental health conditions. Being informed about eating disorders can open the doors to faster, more effective treatment and early intervention.
Understanding eating disorders
Before exploring individual eating disorders, defining eating disorders more broadly may be helpful. Eating disorders are patterns of unhealthy habits, thoughts, and feelings related to food and eating. According to the eating disorders definition used by the APA, eating disorders are mental illnesses that have serious impacts and can affect someone’s social, physical, and cognitive function. People with eating disorders might become preoccupied with their body weight, develop unhealthy attitudes about certain foods, or use unhealthy eating behaviors to cope with feelings and challenges.
What causes eating disorders?
The exact cause of eating disorders is still being studied. Still, research shows that several factors, including genetics and social environment, may play a role in development. Eating disorders can affect people of any gender or age, and not everyone shows obvious symptoms. That said, women, teenagers, and young adults may be at a higher risk of developing eating disorders than other groups. Other possible risk factors for eating disorders include the following:
- Having a family history of eating disorders
- Participating in certain hobbies or professions, like sports or modeling
- Mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Stressful relationships and life situations
How common are eating disorders?
The cause of the rise in eating disorders is still being studied. However, higher levels of social media use may raise the risk of disordered eating. The stress and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic may have also led to a spike in eating disorders.
What are the consequences of eating disorders?
Eating disorders can negatively affect physical and mental well-being. Extreme weight loss, weight gain, or malnutrition due to an eating disorder may impact brain health, heart health, and hormonal balance. These effects can lead to a weakened immune system, kidney failure, or death. People with eating disorders may also experience mental health symptoms like depression, irritability, social withdrawal, and feelings of guilt or shame.
The most common eating disorders: Anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder
After gaining a broad definition of eating disorders, you might wonder how specific eating disorders are defined. Below, explore the most common eating disorders, their symptoms, and how to tell them apart.
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is a disorder that causes people to severely restrict their eating. People with anorexia often have an extreme fear of gaining weight, even if they claim not to. As a result, they may engage in behaviors like the following:
- Eating little to nothing at all
- Obsessing over food
- Skipping meals
- Using appetite suppressants, laxatives, or other medicines to lose weight
- Excessively exercising to “burn off” the calories they’ve eaten
- Lying about their weight or what foods they’ve been eating
Bulimia nervosa
Like anorexia, bulimia nervosa is often due to a desire to lose weight or control one’s weight. People with bulimia tend to alternate between binging (eating extreme amounts of food in a short period) and “purging” (trying to compensate for what they’ve eaten to avoid gaining weight). A person with bulimia may:
- Binge on excessive amounts of food at once
- Struggle to stop eating during binges
- Use laxatives, take water pills, or try to make themselves throw up to counteract the effects of binges
- Excessively exercise
- Experience dental problems or digestive issues
Binge eating disorder
Binge eating disorder (BED) is another common eating disorder. Like bulimia, BED causes people to “binge,” which means eating excessive amounts of food at once. However, people with BED do not use behaviors like vomiting to compensate for their binges. Someone with binge eating disorder might:
- Eat large amounts of food at one time
- Eat extremely quickly
- Keep eating even when full
- Eat in secret
- Experience feelings of guilt or shame related to their eating habits
- Gain weight or develop high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease
Overeating once in a while—for example, on holidays or special occasions—can be normal. However, people with BED typically binge at least once a week for several months or more. Binge eating disorder also tends to be more disruptive to a person’s daily life than overeating and can cause significant feelings of shame and negative self-beliefs.
Understanding avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)
Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (also known as ARFID) is a rarer eating disorder that causes extreme pickiness. People with ARFID tend to severely restrict the types of food they eat—for example, by only eating foods like potatoes, pasta, or plain bread. As a result, they may:
- Only eat normal amounts of particular foods
- Struggle to get enough essential nutrients
- Show an ongoing lack of interest in food
- Have trouble eating around other people
- Experience texture aversions that may cause gagging or regurgitation
How is ARFID different from anorexia?
ARFID and anorexia can both make people severely restrict their food choices but for different reasons. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), people with ARFID do not experience issues with weight or body image. Instead, they may restrict their eating out of fear of choking, food poisoning, or vomiting or due to a negative experience related to food or smell. Some people with ARFID might forget to eat or not experience the urges to eat that others do.
Other eating disorders
Not all disordered eating revolves around the amount of food a person eats. For example, pica is a disorder that involves eating substances that are not food, such as rocks, chalk, or paper. Rumination syndrome is another disorder that consists in bringing food back up after swallowing it. Awareness of these behaviors may make them easier to notice in yourself and others.
What if an eating disorder doesn’t fit into one of these categories?
People can sometimes experience disordered eating without meeting the official criteria for an eating disorder. For example, someone might seem preoccupied with food, restrict their eating, or exercise excessively without losing enough weight to meet the criteria for anorexia. In this case, a doctor might diagnose them with “atypical anorexia” or “other specified feeding and eating disorder.”
How are eating disorders treated?
Although eating disorders can have adverse effects, they can often be treated when caught early. A study published in 2022 followed 228 participants diagnosed with anorexia or bulimia for over two decades, checking on their progress at multiple follow-ups. After 22 years, around two-thirds of the study participants had recovered from their eating disorders.
Treatment options for eating disorders
While healing from an eating disorder is possible, the outcome may depend on getting professional help. If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, talking to your doctor may be the first step toward healing. Your healthcare provider may be able to recommend an appropriate treatment plan. Treating an eating disorder may involve:
- Working with a medical professional to improve nutrition
- Managing behaviors like binging and purging
- Addressing social or emotional factors that might be contributing to the eating disorder
- Getting social support through support groups or other programs
- Identifying situations that prompt disordered eating and making a plan to manage them
- Using medications to manage underlying mental health conditions
The BetterHelp platform is not intended to provide any information regarding which drugs, medication, or medical treatment may be appropriate for you. The content provides generalized information that is not specific to one individual. You should not take any action without consulting a qualified medical professional.
Finding a therapist
Certain types of talk therapy may also be effective at treating eating disorders. In particular, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may help clients change their thought patterns and beliefs about food that may contribute to their behaviors. Your doctor may recommend starting therapy to improve your relationship with food as part of your treatment plan.
Thoughts and feelings about eating can be a highly personal topic to discuss with a counselor. For this reason, if you’re starting treatment for an eating disorder, you may benefit from having a therapist you are comfortable with. Online therapy platforms like BetterHelp can match you with a licensed therapist based on your needs and let you change therapists at any time. This flexibility may make it easier to find a therapist you connect with.
Studies show that online therapy may effectively improve symptoms of eating disorders. In a 2022 study, 41 patients with either bulimia or binge eating disorder participated in an internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy program. They experienced significant improvements in their symptoms and daily functioning.
Takeaway
What is the meaning of “eating disorder”?
According to the American Psychological Association, an eating disorder is “any disorder characterized primarily by a pathological disturbance of attitudes and behaviors related to food.” There are several different mental illnesses in this category, including but not limited to anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.
What is the most likely description of eating disorders?
Research on eating disorders is ongoing, but the current description given by the National Institute of Mental health is “serious and often fatal illnesses that are associated with severe disturbances in people’s eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions.”
That said, eating disorders can take many different forms. For example, anorexia nervosa involves an intense fear of gaining weight, a distorted body image, and related anxiety that can lead to excessive exercise, restrictive eating, and significant weight loss. Bulimia nervosa also relates to too much focus on body shape and weight. It involves a tendency to binge eat and then engage in purging behaviors like forced vomiting of food eaten in order to try and prevent weight gain. This can lead to damaged tooth enamel, digestive problems, and other serious complications that require medical care.
What is already known about eating disorders?
Extensive research has already been done on eating disorders, though it’s ongoing. So far, researchers have learned that eating disorders affect people of all ages, genders, races, and body sizes. Findings indicate that they can cause serious and life-threatening medical complications, particularly if they’re not professionally treated, which is why recognizing the signs can be so important. Research has also confirmed that an eating disorder is a mental illness, not simply a preference or a phase, and that some risk factors for developing one may include genetics and a family history of this type of condition, as eating disorders run in families.
What age do eating disorders start?
An eating disorder can start at virtually any age, but the average age of onset for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa is 18 years old. Having eating disorders diagnosed at that age is common, but they may also not be diagnosed until later in life—which may increase the risk of serious health complications and the development of other mental health conditions. In other words, seeking proper medical care, the support of mental health professionals, and nutrition counseling as soon as possible for signs of an eating disorder can be important.
What is it called when you don't like eating?
A type of eating disorder known as avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) may be diagnosed in a person who appears to not like eating. This condition causes a person to severely restrict food, which can lead to low body weight and an unhealthy body mass index. However, this type of eating behavior isn’t due to body image concerns as with some other eating disorders; instead, it’s often caused by sensory sensitivities or fears related to choking or vomiting.
To avoid health complications caused by food restriction, it’s usually recommended that an individual with ARFID seek the support of health care providers who can provide individual and family therapy, nutrition counseling, and healthy eating training to improve eating habits, help address underlying factors, and improve health overall.
How do you identify an eating disorder?
Only a licensed mental health professional or a doctor is qualified to diagnose an eating disorder or any other mental disorders. They’ll typically use diagnostic criteria included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) to determine whether a person may be experiencing this type of illness. If a person doesn’t yet show signs of a diagnosable disorder but is at increased risk due to genetics or other factors, the provider may suggest interventions designed to prevent eating disorders and foster healthy eating habits. All that said, it can be helpful for people to become familiar with key warning signs of eating disorders so they can seek professional support as soon as possible if they notice any.
Is picky eating an eating disorder?
Picky eating in and of itself is not considered an eating disorder, but there is a diagnosable mental illness that can look like severe picky eating. It’s called avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), and it’s characterized by an eating pattern that involves eating a very restricted variety of foods one will eat. This can lead to the individual dipping below the normal weight or average weight that’s healthy for them, often resulting in serious health complications.
What is disordered eating called?
Disordered eating may be referred to as a lack of healthy eating habits or warning signs of an eating disorder, in some cases. Disordered eating may or may not represent criteria for a diagnosable eating disorder; only a mental health professional can determine this. If you’re concerned about your eating habits, feel you have a distorted body image, or are experiencing symptoms of an eating disorder, anxiety disorders, or another condition or challenge, it's generally recommended that you seek the support of a therapist.
What triggers binge eating?
What causes one person to binge eat may be different from what causes another person to binge eat. Common triggers include stress and anxiety. The presence of certain foods (such as a favorite dessert) or certain types of eating situations (such as a buffet restaurant or eating alone) could also trigger a binge eating episode.
What medication is used to stop binge eating disorder?
There is currently only one FDA-approved medication for treating binge-eating disorder, which is a type of stimulant. However, because it can be habit-forming, it’s not always recommended. Newer clinical trials suggest that a type of anti-obesity medication known as semaglutide shows promise for certain cases. Be sure to consult with a doctor before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.
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