Eating disorder is a complex mental health condition that affects people of all genders, ages, races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, and body types.

According to a national survey, approximately 10 million men and 20 million women in America suffer from this illness at some or other point of their lives. Over 9% of the world population is affected by this condition, 10% of those suffering from eating disorders can lose their lives.

There are different kinds of eating disorders, but one thing that is common amongst all of them besides the lack of control over eating habits is that they can progress and cause permanent damage to an individual’s mental and physical health. Therefore, it is important to identify if you or someone else you know show the symptoms of the disorder, and seek help.

Today, in this piece we’re going to discuss the different kinds of eating disorders and their symptoms.

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How many different types of Eating Disorders are there?

Eating disorders are of many types, however, in the latest edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-5), only four types of eating disorders are listed-

1. Binge Eating Disorder
2. Anorexia Nervosa
3. Bulimia Nervosa
4. Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

Any two individuals suffering from similar disorders can experience different symptoms, however below we have enlisted the most commonly observed signs and symptoms.

1. Binge Eating Disorder

A disorder characterized by episodes of binging excessive amounts of food. A bing is described as when someone consumes a large amount of food within a period of two hours.

Signs & Symptoms-

• Happens at least once a week for 3 months
• Feeling of distress regarding the behavior.
• Feeling out of control over the amount of food eating and the behavior
• Eating until uncomfortably full
• Eating very fastly than normal behavior
• Consuming a large amount of foods even though not feeling hungry
• Accompanied by a sense of loss of control over the eating behavior.
• Eating in secret or alone out of shame.

• Experience disgust, guilt, depression after the binge-eating episode.

  2. Anorexia Nervosa

A life-threatening disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive loss of weights.

Signs & Symptoms-

• Consume very less amounts of food, leading to low body weight in the context of sex, age, and physical development.
• Fear of weight gain, and take preventive measures to reduce fats even though the individual is already underweight.

• Denies the problem of underweight, have issues regarding body image.

  3. Bulimia Nervosa

A life-threatening eating disorder marked by a cycle of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors to undo the effects of binge eating, such as self-induced vomiting.

• Eating frequently and consuming large amounts of food.
• Feeling out of control over eating behavior.
• Overly concerned with body shape

• Frequently purging to prevent weight gain via different methods like laxatives, diuretics, routine fasting, self-induced vomiting, overexercising, etc.

  4. Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

  A disorder characterized by eating disturbances which result in weight loss and other medical issues.

• Lack of interest in eating due to sensory characteristics of food like textures and colors.
• Avoidance of food results in significant weight loss, or lack of physical development, nutrient deficiency.
• At times, the individual starts depending on nutritional supplements, disruption of psycho-social functioning, or oral feeding.
• Avoidance is not associated with bulimia, anorexia, or any other body image issues.
• Persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional and energy needs.

Are there any other Types of Eating Disorder?

There are many types of eating disorders, however, they are less common than the above four. These include Orthorexia, a kind of extreme clean-eating and Food Addiction when the person is unable to control the intake of specific kinds of ingredients and of foods. Another one is

Rumination Disorder, when someone continuously regurgitates food after eating; These kinds of behaviors that relate to diet or body image are conditions often require treatment to prevent the worsening of the situation.

Final Words

We have brought you a series of articles catering to this issue, and our first one enlists the different types of eating disorders and their symptoms.

In the next bunch of write-ups, we shall discuss the treatment of this complex condition via evidence-based therapies. So stay tuned!