ED Brochure
[[ED brochure.canvas]]
Types of Eating Disorder - Beat
````col-md
flexGrow=1
===
### What is disordered eating?
Disordered eating is more of a descriptive term, and not an official psychiatric diagnosis described in the DSM-5
### Thoughts you might not realize are disordered:
Put simply, eating disorder thoughts are thoughts that align with and contribute to the eating disorder mindset. They’re thoughts that arise not from your own mind, but from the logic of the illness, thoughts that fuel the values, choices, and actions desired by the eating disorder.
*"I shouldn't eat all day so I can eat freely at the restaurant with my friends tonight."*
Minimizing or completely eliminating food during the day in an effort to “earn” an evening meal isn’t healthy or sustainable.
*"I can't eat in front of people because they might judge what or how much I'm eating."*
Because eating disorders thrive in isolation, opting out of social situations that involve food can be a slippery slope.
*"I can't eat it if I don't know the calories or can't log the calories."*
This desire to control every bite of food can spiral into an obsession and ultimately manifest in an eating disorder.
*"I need to be a certain weight and definitely don't want to be a certain number."*
Striving for an arbitrary number can provoke unnecessary and detrimental stress, anxiety, and compulsive behaviors.
````
````col-md
flexGrow=1
===
### What is an eating disorder?
As opposed to disordered eating, eating disorders are mental illnesses with specific, narrow diagnostic criteria.
### Common eating disorders:
Anorexia: extreme food restriction and an intense fear of gaining weight.
Ortorexia: obsession with the healthyness of food.
Bulimia: recurrent episodes of binge eating and then recurrent episodes of purging to prevent weight gain, which may look like self induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or excessive exercise.
BED (Binge eating disorder): recurrent episodes of eating a large amount of food quickly with a sense of lack of control while eating, often accompanied by a feeling of guilt and shame.
ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder): a person struggles to eat certain foods, enough foods or both. It can be caused by sensory sensitivities, fears around eating, or a lack of interest in food.
OSFED (Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorder): is a more general term to describe eating disorders that don’t fit into other diagnoses. Some sub-categories of OSFED include atypical anorexia (meets all of the criteria of anorexia nervosa except for significant low body weight), purging disorder and night eating syndrome.
````
````col-md
flexGrow=1
===
### Diets vs eating disorders:
How long it lasts:
Generally, people go on diets for a finite amount of time, and go back to more normal eating afterward. Eating disorders have no natural end; people may continue to engage in their disordered behaviors until they get treatment.
How it impacts other areas of a person’s life:
Dieting becomes an eating disorder when it hurts relationships, negatively affects performance at school or work, or makes it impossible to keep up with daily responsibilities.
How much mental real estate it occupies:
When compulsive thoughts about food, exercise, or body size and shape begin to take up most of a person's brain space, it’s time to be concerned.
How important it is:
Diets are pretty straightforward: they’re about following food rules and achieving a certain weight. But for someone with an eating disorder, there are extremely high stakes attached to the rules of their disease. If they “slip up” they feel intense distress.
Whether or not it feels like a choice:
In general, going on a diet is a choice someone makes, and they can choose to stop when it no longer serves them. An eating disorder is not a choice, and someone can’t just decide to stop having an eating disorder.
````
````col-md
flexGrow=1
===
````
````col-md
flexGrow=1
===
### Red flags that may suggest an eating disorder include:
1. Skipping meals or snacks or making excuses for not eating.
2. Having a very limited diet that hasn't been prescribed by a trained medical professional.
3. Too much focus on food or healthy eating, especially if it means not participating in usual events, such as sports banquets, eating birthday cake or dining out.
4. Making own meals rather than eating what the family eats.
5. Withdrawing from usual social activities.
6. Frequent and ongoing worry or complaints about being unhealthy or overweight and talk of losing weight.
7. Frequent checking in the mirror for what are thought to be flaws.
8. Repeatedly eating large amounts of foods.
9. Using dietary supplements, laxatives or herbal products for weight loss.
10. Exercising much more than the average person. This includes not taking rest days or days off for injury or illness or refusing to attend social events or other life events because of wanting to exercise.
11. Calluses on the knuckles from reaching fingers into the mouth to cause vomiting.
12. Problems with loss of tooth enamel that may be a sign of repeated vomiting.
13. Leaving during meals or right after a meal to use the toilet.
14. Talk of depression, disgust, shame or guilt about eating habits.
15. Eating in secret.
````
````col-md
flexGrow=1
===
### What to Do and NOT do if you think someone has an eating disorder
For many sufferers, an eating disorder starts from not feeling good enough and trying to handle their emotions by under or overeating. What you say might make them feel not good enough and that there’s something wrong with them. It might push them further into their unhealthy habits.
- [§] Don't
Comment on their appearance
- [7] Do
Tell them that you care about them
- [§] Don't
Comment on their eating habits
- [7] Do
Rise concerns directly in a non-judgmental way
- [§] Don't
Make assumptions about what they're dealing with
- [7] Do
Research about different eating disorders and their treatment
- [§] Don't
Express your thoughts without thinking them through
- [7] Do
Empathise with their situation
- [§] Don't
Oversimplify, suggesting "just eat more / don't overeat" or "just stop dieting"
- [7] Do
Push past discomfort and provide space, compassion, and support
- [§] Don't
Do nothing
- [7] Do
Help them see their worth
````