By David L. Podos
Approximately 24 million people in the United States suffer from an eating disorder, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
The nonprofit states that eating disorders are among the deadliest mental illnesses, second only to opioid addiction, resulting in approximately 10,200 deaths each year.”
According to the National Alliance of Eating Disorders, there are five types of eating disorders.
1. Anorexia Nervosa
It is characterized by an obsessive fear of gaining weight, which often leads to distorted body image and difficulty maintaining healthy body weight. It carries a lifetime prevalence of up to 4% among females and 0.3% among males.
2. Bulimia Nervosa
It manifests as recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors, affecting up to 3% of females and over 1% of males over their lifetimes. The cycle of bingeing and purging can have a profound toll on both physical and mental well-being, necessitating comprehensive treatment approaches.
3. Binge Eating Disorder
It affects an estimated 3.5% of women and 2% of men and affects 30% to 40% of those seeking weight loss treatment. Characterized by recurring episodes of overeating in a short period, BED is the most common eating disorder among U.S. adults, affecting three times the number of those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa combined.
4. Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
Also known as selective eating disorder, ARFID is characterized by an eating or feeding disturbance, such as an apparent lack of interest in eating or food, avoidance based on the sensory characteristics of food or concern about aversive consequences of eating.
5. Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders
It encompasses a spectrum of eating disorders that fall outside the criteria for AN, BN or BED, yet still have significant health ramifications that can be just as severe as others. This category includes “atypical” anorexia nervosa, purging disorder, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder (of low frequency or duration) and night eating syndrome.
Many causes trigger disorders
Jim Davis, executive director of the Samaritan Counseling Center of the Mohawk Valley in Utica, has worked with clients experiencing eating disorders. And as a former high school counselor, he worked with a number of students having eating disorder issues.
“Eating disorders are often thought of as a person who for whatever reason overeats and needs to lose weight. It is pretty evident that we have an obesity problem in this country. However, eating disorders aren’t just about people overeating. Eating disorders can be people who have issues with both overeating as well as undereating. For instance, there may be someone who is eating less. They view their body in a different way. It is called body dysmorphic disorder. So, when you or I look into the mirror we see ourselves as we are supposed to be. But with someone who’s dealing with body dysmorphic disorders they see themselves as a flawed person.”
There are many reasons why people suffer from eating disorders.
“For example, in the case of someone who is experiencing depression, when we see someone for the first time it’s part of our assessment to look at things like the persons sleep patterns and eating behaviors. Some people who are dealing with depression will not eat or eat very little. They are not motivated. They have difficulty getting out of bed in the morning and doing their normal routines. So a person who is experiencing depression certainly can manifest an eating disorder,” Davis said. “Anxiety is another factor that can illicit an eating disorder. As mentioned earlier, the person can come pretty close to not eating much at all and or the opposite, they can overeat.”
These disorders can be caused by many factors like peer pressure for younger adults or any other life alternating situation such as death of a loved one or dealing with PTSD.
In helping someone with an eating disorder Davis said a team approach is the best.
“In a team approach we use a therapist, a medical doctor and a nutritionist. From my experience as a therapist, I tend to use cognitive behavioral therapy. This is a type of therapy we are looking at a couple of things. How people think and the associated behaviors that come from that thinking and work on changing a distorted and or negative thinking pattern to a more positive logical thinking pattern,” he said.