| Trigger warning: The following article discusses the symptoms and causes of eating disorders. Proceed to read with caution. If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms of an eating disorder or another mental health issue, seek professional help. |
How many eating disorders are there is an easy to answer question if you want a short answer. But we don’t do that here. We’ll give you a detailed account of the different types of eating disorders that exist.
Eating disorders are common in the US and worldwide due to various reasons, most of it is due to psychological reasons. Nearly 5% of the population in the US is affected by eating disorders and these are more common in women than men.
There are different aspects to this which will require a different article of their own. The following sections will dive into the causes and various types of eating disorders, and their symptoms.
What Are Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders are characterized by persistent and severe disturbances in eating habits. This is associated with distressing emotions and thoughts, including very serious conditions. Eating disorders can lead to a disruption in the normal physical, social and psychological functioning of the individual.
There are several types of eating disorders which have a characteristic of their own. Most often eating disorders are seen in adolescents, teenagers and young adults. However, there are different ages and gender that can get affected with the disorder.
In addition, there are different psychological disorders that can cause eating disorders to creep in. There are different causes of the condition as well, not necessarily an underlying mental health condition causes eating disorder.
Causes Of Eating Disorders
There are different reasons why an individual can develop an eating disorder, these are as follows:
1. Psychological factors
Psychological factors such as low self-esteem, depression or anxiety can predispose an individual to developing eating disorders. At the backseat are the societal norms that force an individual to become too conscious about their bodies and how they look.
This leads to body image issues, such as body dysmorphia, which can force an individual to make extreme changes. This can include not eating certain food groups, or not eating anything at all.
This is most prevalent in individuals in their teens and young adults. Due to the extreme pressure that comes from such norms, their impressionable minds cannot differentiate. This makes them more vulnerable to fad diets that can condition them to be in a poor eating habit. This can build up into their lifestyle which can cause a lot of complications later in life.
2. Biological factors
There are biological factors that predispose an individual to developing an eating disorder. This can be due to the following reasons:
- Genetic predisposition to the disorder. If there is a family history of the disorder, this makes it more likely for the individual to develop this condition.
- Hormonal imbalance can also cause an eating disorder in the individual. This becomes more of an effect than a cause as eating disorders can lead to a significant regulation of hormones in the body.
- Hormones like serotonin can contribute to the development of eating disorders. This can also cause issues such as binge eating and eating disorders.
- Similarly, hormones such as leptin can lead to excessive eating or anorexia. Thus, an appropriate level of leptin can help improve the chances of an eating disorder.
- A history of trauma or abuse can also lead to eating disorder development in an individual.
- Disordered eating behavior in close relations such as peers or family that influences one to ‘try’ it.
3. Cultural or social influences
This is a common factor that can lead to the development of an eating disorder due to societal pressure. There is no direct pressure that one can see being exerted. However, there is a certain pressure that young individuals can feel which carries over to their later years in life.
Similarly, cultural influences can have a negative impact on the way an individual perceives themselves. Cultural ideals make it difficult for some people to have a positive body image. This can cause them to feel inadequate in their own bodies.
Moreover, there can be socio-cultural pressure from media, one’s family and peers which can lead to the internalization of lean, thin or muscular body as a social norm.
The three influences can put a significant pressure on the individual to fit that ideal which is directly adopted from culture.
This is one of the most dangerous factors that leads to the development of an eating disorder. The constant exposure to media including models that look a certain way which is labelled to be beautiful or perfect, is the culprit.
4. Stressful lifestyle
Stress is one of the major reasons why humans develop most of the illnesses. Stress is a state when the mind is not at peace and is in constant worry. This can lead to the rise in several inter-related hormones that can make the eating disorder worse.
Stress eating is something all human beings indulge in. It concerns when eating or not eating can become severe.
When you are leading a stressful life, you are more likely to expose yourself to events that put you on edge. Moreover, as evidenced earlier, an imbalance in the levels of hormones can greatly influence eating habits.
Furthermore, eating patterns can change with increasing stress. When you are unable to control stress, you can trigger neurobiological adaptations to be off. This can lead to an increase in compulsive behavior in the consumption of or dismissing consumption. Which leads to different eating disorder types.
5. Medical conditions
This is a not well-known cause of eating disorders, but they are quite responsible for the rise in eating disorders. Mostly, individuals with a medical condition can find it difficult to consume food. Due to this they may have to ingest food in a form that is not normal, which can be frustrating for them as they may feel incapable or ‘less’ of a person.
A medical condition causes an eating disorder due to the various symptoms that one experiences, they can develop unhealthy relationship with food.
How Many Eating Disorders Are There? Answered
There are mainly eight types of eating disorders that have been noted in humans. The causes of these eating disorders are mainly similar, and some cases may even see them co-existing. Look at the different types of eating disorders:
1. Bulimia Nervosa
One of the most common eating disorders, bulimia nervosa or as commonly known, bulimia is characterized by a cycle. In this eating disorder, the individual known as a bulimic person compulsively binges on large amount of food and then throws up.
They can develop a repeated cycle where they are consuming copious amounts of food and then purging it. Both activities are harmful for the person as they can show dangerous physical signs. Here are a few symptoms:
- Eating a large amount of food in a short time.
- Unable to control the amount or type of food they are consuming.
- Engaging in compensatory behavior such as excessive exercising, vomiting and the use of laxative.
- Feeling guilty after overeating
2. Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa, or anorexia, is another eating disorder with the highest mortality rate. For this reason alone, this is the most dangerous type of eating disorder. The condition affects people around the world.
Following are the symptoms:
- Intense fear of gaining weight
- Alarming decrease in weight. Consistently low weight, pressure to stay underweight
- Refuse to accept that such a low weight can lead to harmful consequences on the body
- Poor reproductive health
- Development of life-threatening heart conditions
3. Pica
In this eating disorder, people can develop a liking for things that are not generally consumed. This can be a compulsive craving for items such as chalk, paper, dirt, ice chips or hair.
A characteristic trait of the disorder is the continuous consumption of such substances for a whole month. This is a concern as people can develop malnourishment. Following are the symptoms:
- Persistently craving or desiring non-food substances that are not edible
- Eating unusual substances like buttons, pieces of paper or cardboard, ice cubes or other objects.
- Stomach pain, nausea, and constipation
- Weight loss or gain due to consistent intake of food
- Irritation and oral damage due to ingestion of hard substances
4. Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
Binge eating disorder is characterized by periods of binge eating on large amounts of food. When an individual consumes excess food within a short time period. There is a trance-like state, feeling ashamed, guilty, and gaining weight.
Symptoms are:
- Feeling out of control while eating
- Body dysmorphia
- Avoiding social situation due to binge eating
5. Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is an eating disorder where the individual has severe restriction and avoidance of certain food or food groups. The condition is quite common. Following are the symptoms:
- Fear of choking or gagging
- Extreme sensitivity to food tastes, smell, texture or temperatures
- Eating only certain food types due to sensory issues
- Low self-esteem due to poor weight management
6. Rumination disorder
This is an eating disorder where a person brings up previously swallowed food, chewing it repeatedly, regurgitating and re-chewing the partially digested food. This continues for several minutes. Symptoms are:
- Repeated regurgitating and re-chewing of partially digested food
- Difficulty swallowing, or gagging while eating
- Vomiting undigested food multiple times
- Eating large meals at night to avoid rumination episodes during day
7. Other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED)
Those who do not meet the diagnostic criteria for other types of eating disorder are classified under this category. The symptoms are:
- Individual displaying signs of anorexia but it is atypical
- Binge eating disorder signs but with low frequency/limited duration
- Night eating syndrome where the individual eats a large amount of food at night
8. Unspecified feeding or eating disorder (UFED)
The individuals with UFED do not fit into any other specific eating behavior. This can lead to:
- Excessive dieting
- Distorted body image
- Guilt after eating certain food
- Extreme worry about weight gain or food intake.
These were the eight types of eating disorders that can be diagnosed in an individual. The list contains information through independent research which may change.
Conclusion
This article answers How many eating disorders are there and dives into the symptoms that can help in identifying the disorders. This article also helps in identifying the underlying causes of eating disorders. This helps break down the stigma.
If you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms, seek professional help. Want to know about the treatments? Let us know in the comments!
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