4 Common Types of Eating Disorders

Have you noticed differences in how your teenager is—or isn’t eating? Perhaps they do little more than move food around on their plate, always having an excuse not to join the family for dinner, or maybe you find evidence that they’re binging in secret. 

These are just a few signs of an eating disorder, and it’s critical to pay attention to what’s going on and not look the other way. 

While female teenagers are the group most affected by eating disorders — people of all ages and genders are impacted by the ravages of disordered eating. In fact, it’s estimated that 30 million individuals experience an eating disorder at some point. 

Fortunately, Dr. Amy Carnall, Cristina Sertway, CNP, PMHNP-BC, and Rachael Kolodziejczak, CNP, PMHNP-BC, have extensive experience treating people with eating disorders, which are complex and call for highly customized treatment. Getting treatment is critical to restore comfort and normalcy to your life. 

What is disordered eating?

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), an eating disorder is when a person’s eating habits change in an extreme and persistent way, with symptoms like:

• Preoccupation with eating and food in general, calorie counts, etc.
• Inaccurate body image
• Abnormal focus on body weight or stopping at nothing to wear a certain size of clothing
• Extreme food restriction
• Too much exercise
• Binging followed by self-induced vomiting

Eating disorders don’t occur in a vacuum. Instead, they affect your physical health and frequently co-occur with mental health disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, and anxiety. 

It’s shocking, but eating disorders cause the highest number of mental health disorder-related deaths than any other condition. 

There’s a range of eating disorders

There are eight types of eating disorders, according to the DSM-5. We’re going to summarize four in this blog post. 

1. Anorexia nervosa

The hallmark of anorexia is an irrational fear of gaining weight. People with anorexia severely restrict calories, become malnourished, and consider themselves “fat” even when emaciated.

Medical intervention is essential, and the longer someone goes untreated, the more devastating and deadly the outcome can be. Symptoms include: 

• Circulation issues
• Digestive problems
• Irregular periods if you’re female
• Emergence of lanugo — a coating of downy hair on the body
• Low blood pressure
• Feeling cold frequently 
• Disorientation 

Severe undereating is linked to osteoporosis and infertility. Unfortunately, anorexia, in its final stages, can lead to organ failure and death. 

2. Bulimia nervosa

People living with bulimia nervosa have a consistent pattern of binge eating and purging. That means that they make themselves vomit, exercise excessively, or misuse diuretics or laxatives. 

People with bulimia feel great shame from the binge-purge cycle and a loss of control. They may eat secretly and make frequent bathroom visits. 

Because of repeated vomiting, they develop worn teeth, tooth decay, discoloration, and gum disease. Acid reflux (heartburn), frequent sore throats and enlarged neck glands, ulcers, and dehydration are also side effects. Life-threatening health problems, like cardiac arrest and kidney and liver damage, can also strike.

3. Binge eating

This is when a person eats great quantities of food over brief periods — even when they’re not hungry — and feels shame afterward. It’s similar to bulimia but without the purging. If a binge eater typically eats ultra-processed foods (UPS), they become more at risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

4. Avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder (ARVID)

People with ARVID often don’t want to eat or are repulsed by certain sensory elements, including tastes, smells, colors, and temperature.

ARVID can make people avoid social situations, and they may be deficient in nutrients or need to be tube-fed. ARVID is persistent and more than just “pickiness.”

Promising eating disorder treatments

Therapy is key to recovery from an eating disorder. 

Because our Clarity Psychiatric Care team creates highly personalized treatment plans after thorough evaluations, we might recommend individual therapy, family therapy, or a type of therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). 

CBT is a form of therapy that helps substitute faulty ways of thinking with healthier, more realistic ones to better cope with a challenge like an eating disorder.

Group therapy can also be helpful, especially because a patient can connect with others dealing with the same challenges. 

In fact, we offer an innovative program for teens called the Together Youth Mentoring Program. It matches young people with eating disorders and other conditions like anxiety and depression with peers who can identify because they have been through similar experiences. 

Psychiatric medications may also be called for to complement therapy.

Call our Cherry Hill, New Jersey, office to schedule an appointment if you’re worried that you or someone you love has an eating disorder. Or, book an appointment online.