Eating Disorders and Related Conditions

An eating disorder is a treatable mental illness that includes a number of different symptoms, including extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues.

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by an obsessive fear of weight gain and a refusal to maintain a healthy body weight.

You can’t tell if someone has an eating disorder just by looking at them. See how atypical anorexia affects people in a variety of body shapes and sizes.

ARFID is a lesser known eating disorder that frequently begins as early as infancy or childhood, but adults can also suffer.

Binge eating disorder is characterized by frequent overeating – at least once a week for three months – combined with a lack of control, intense feelings of distress and several other characteristic behaviors.

Bulimia is characterized by patterns of bingeing and purging.

Compulsive overeating can involve binge eating and weight gain, but it can also involve other behaviors.

The term diabulimia is used to describe the diagnosis of an eating disorder in an individual with type 1 diabetes. These patients intentionally misuse insulin for weight control.

Some eating disorders do not meet all of the diagnostic criteria for specific diagnoses like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Some people go to extremes to “eat clean” at all times. This may lead to a disordered eating pattern known as orthorexia.