Types of Eating Disorders l anorexia & bulimia & binge eating disorder | NE (2024)

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of weight gain. It involves an ongoing pattern of self-starvation and a preoccupation with food and losing weight.

Signs and symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa are:

Weight below 85% of expected weight.
Amenorrhea (loss of menstrual period).
Disturbed by body image and denial of thinness.
Hyperactivity and excessive exercise.
Loss of hair (and possible growth of body hair – lanugo).
Low pulse rate.
Sensitivity to cold.
Nervousness at meal times.
Playing with or cutting food into small pieces.
Increased isolation from family and friends.
Perfectionism, tendency to be highly self-critical.
Compulsive exercise and compulsive cleaning.
May have alternating episodes of binge eating and purging.

Bulimia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting or purging through excessive exercise, or use of laxatives or diuretics.

Signs and symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa are:

Fear of inability to stop eating voluntarily.
Frequent vomiting.
Menstrual irregularities.
Swollen glands.
Weight fluctuation due to alternate binging and fasting.
Secretive behavior and inconspicuous binge eating.
Puffiness in face (below cheeks), bursting blood vessels in the eyes,
Enamel erosion and tooth decay, esophagus damage, and internal bleeding.
Perfectionism, tendency to be highly self-critical.
Repeated attempts to reduce weight by excessive measures.
Petty stealing of money to buy food for binges.

An eating or feeding disturbance (e.g., apparent lack of interest in eating or food; avoidance based on the sensory characteristics of food; concern about aversive consequences of eating) as manifested by persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional and/or energy needs associated with one (or more) of the following:

Significant weight loss (or failure to achieve expected weight gain or faltering growth in children).
Significant nutritional deficiency.
Dependence on enteral feeding or oral nutritional supplements.
Marked interference with psychosocial functioning.
The disturbance is not better explained by lack of available food or by an associated culturally sanctioned practice.
The eating disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, and there is no evidence of a disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced.
The eating disturbance is not attributable to a concurrent medical condition or not better explained by another mental disorder. When the eating disturbance occurs in the context of another condition or disorder, the severity of the eating disturbance exceeds that routinely associated with the condition or disorder and warrants additional clinical attention.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating and the absence of inappropriate compensatory behaviors that are characterized by Bulimia Nervosa.

Signs and symptoms of BED are:

A sense of lack of control over eating while binging.
Eating large amounts of food when not hungry.
Eating alone due to embarrassment over how much one is eating.
Feeling guilty or depressed after binging.
A possible history of marked weight fluctuations.
Depression, anxiety, self-loathing, and interpersonal sensitivity.