Other Ed:s

Compulsive Overeating or Binge Eating Disorder

Compulsive Overeating or Binge Eating Disorder is not all that unlike Bulimia. The main difference between the two disorders is that individuals who engage in compulsive overeating do not find a means to purge their food afterward.

Compulsive Overeating can be a dangerous eating disorder, however. Generally, when an individual with this disorder eats, the nutritional value of the foods is not good. Usually it is an excess of fats and sugars. The person may begin gaining excess weight to the point that it is detrimental to their health and the lack of proper nutrition can also take it's toll on the body. These two factors combined can lead to many overall health problems.

There is help available for this eating disorder, including counseling services, medication and a group called Overeaters Anonymous.

Orthorexia Nervosa

Orthorexia Nervosa, or an obsession with healthy food and exercise, is not officially a diagnosis. Orthorexia was proposed by Steven Bratman, M.D., to describe an unhealthy fixation on healthy practices such as consuming health foods and exercising.

Orthorexia Nervosa may develop before or after an eating disorder. However, there may be an element of anxiety disorder intertwined with Orthorexia. Obsessive-compulsive behaviors, often like those seen in anorexia, are present in this disorder. A person with Orthorexia may not be obsessed with losing weight or counting calories such as in Anorexia, or ridding oneself of food following a binge as in Bulimia, but instead, they take healthy to extremes.

An individual with Orthorexia Nervosa may become so intensely fixated on health regimens that they neglect other important things in their lives. Healthy eating and exercising rituals may interfere with their ability to perform at work, at home, in school, or within social situations. Individuals with Orthorexia are often very critical of what others eat, as well.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

While Body Dysmorphic Disorder is becoming more well-known as eating and body image disorders are researched more deeply, it is still widely unknown. Body Dysmorphic Disorder may effect men more frequently than women, though the statistics vary and are relatively uncertain at present. As with any eating/image type disorder, statistics can be difficult to accurately portray.

Though BDD can have similar characteristics to eating disorders, and may evolve into disordered eating due to inaccurate or distorted image of the self or body, BDD is not an eating disorder in and of itself. Body Dysmorphic Disorder may be more closely linked to obsessive-compulsive behavior and poor self-esteem/self-image, though the control element may still be present as in eating disorders.

Most cases of Body Dysmorphic Disorder begin before the age of 18. Despite reassurances from family, friends, husbands, wives, or anyone else that is important to the person suffering from BDD, they continue to have these intense feelings of inferiority and anxiety about their appearance. In fact, even comments made in good nature or out of complete kindness and sincerity, can be interpreted as "compensating" for their "bad" appearance. For example, a wife may say to her husband who has BDD, "Honey, you have such a nice body." And, as nice and sincere as it may be, the husband may be silently thinking to himself, She is only saying that to make me feel better...because she must have noticed how ugly I am.

Social phobias may be present with Body Dysmorphic Disorder as well. Due to low self-esteem, feelings of uncertainty about the self, and fear of not being accepted, a person with BDD may withdraw from social interaction, or avoid situations in which they may become a center of attention. They may fear and/or avoid going new places, meeting new people, or trying new things. Individuals suffering from BDD may go so far as to choose careers, places to live, leisure activities, and other things that will assure them little interaction with other people. This self-imposed isolation often leads to further social phobias, as the person's ability to interact becomes impaired through time. And, even though they may have intentionally isolated themselves, they may use their lack of social interaction as yet another confirmation that they are "unworthy" or "inept" socially.

Individuals suffering from Body Dysmorphic Disorder may even spend unreasonable amounts of money pursuing multiple cosmetic surgeries or purchasing "beauty aids" to enhance or change their looks. These things may "help" temporarily, but generally lead to more feelings of desperation and despair as the old feelings remain or recur. Depression and suicide are serious risks of BDD, and should be addressed immediately.

EDNOS

Many people wonder, because they do not fit exactly into a category for Anorexia, Bulimia, or Binge Eating Disorder, if they may still have an eating disorder, or if their eating habits would be considered disordered. The answer to the question is YES. Even though you might not be specifically anorexic or bulimic, and you don't compulsively overeat on a regular basis, you can still have disordered eating. Furthermore, you may be on the path to one of these dangerous disorders.

EDNOS, or (E)ating (D)isorder (N)ot (O)therwise (S)pecified, is an official diagnosis in the DSM-IV. This diagnosis is accepted by all those who treat eating disorders. EDNOS, while it may not be as well known as other eating disorders, is just as dangerous, and poses the same amount, if not more, health risks. An individual with EDNOS may exhibit characteristics of both Anorexia and Bulimia, as well as some characteristics of Binge Eating Disorder. Or, they may exhibit any combination at any time of any eating disorders.

EDNOS may develop from a specific eating disorder, such as one of the previously mentioned. It may also develop after recovery or partial recovery from one eating disorder. And furthermore, it may also develop as a person wishes to recover from the grips of one eating disorder, and finds equally negative means of maintaining the false sense of control and security from their previous disorder, occasionally rverting back to the original one.