Eating disorders can be emotionally and physically depleting conditions. According to eating disorder charity Beat, at least 1.25 million people in the UK suffer from these, with up to 6.4% of the population showing signs of developing the conditions.
Much more attention is given to eating disorders than has historically been the case, meaning more work is being done to help cure those who suffer from the problems.
However, there are a variety of different eating disorders, and each affects its victims differently. This article takes a brief look at the symptoms of some of the most common eating disorders.
Before going further, it is worth mentioning some of the avenues of support available if you (or someone you know) wishes to get help with an eating disorder. It is recommended that you speak with a GP about the problem so that you can be referred to the appropriate specialists.
The ability to speak to an adviser in confidence is also a possibility. Beat, a charity that specialises in eating disorders, has helplines available which can be accessed here.
The four most common eating disorders in the UK, in descending order, are:
While these are the most common types of eating disorders, various other types do exist. For example, pica is an eating disorder characterised by consumption of non-nutritious matter such as ice or hair, and diabulimia is an eating disorder that can only affect people with Type 1 diabetes.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder where people try and keep their weight as low as possible. This is normally achieved by not eating enough food or exercising far too much.
Many victims of anorexia tend to think they are overweight or even obese despite being hugely
underweight. It is most common in younger women, normally onsetting during their mid-teens.
Symptoms of anorexia nervosa can include an unusually low BMI in adults, lower than expected weight and height in under-18s, and frequent use of appetite suppressants. Missing meals, describing yourself as overweight when you objectively aren’t, and physical problems (normally hair loss, dry skin, or lightheadedness) are also associated symptoms.
Very frequently, victims of anorexia will induce vomiting in an attempt to reduce their weight. This can lead to a serious worsening of side effects, exacerbating conditions like malnutrition and dehydration.
Bulimia and anorexia often get conflated or confused with one another, because both involve a fear of gaining weight and deliberate inducing of vomit.
However, the two are different disorders entirely. Bulimia is characterised as a disorder where people go through periods of out of control binge-eating, followed by periods of intense fear over the thought of gaining weight, ending with attempts to try and lose weight through methods such as vomiting or excessive exercise.
These three things are the main symptoms, but people with bulimia often also have mood changes. The fear that bulimic people experience over the thought of being overweight is an important difference between bulimia and anorexia, since fixing a fear is a much different process to correcting misconceptions someone has with the way they perceive themselves in the world.
Binge eating is a symptom of bulimia, but binge eating disorder is a category of its own. BED, as it is also known, doesn't involve fear of being overweight, misperceptions about one’s actual weight, or any extreme attempts to fix the problem such as excessive exercise.
Rather, people with BED eat large portions of food at one time regularly until they are uncomfortably full or feel ill. This often results in feelings of intense guilt or upset. Binges are typically planned, food stockpiled for them, and are often done very quickly in secret when someone isn’t physically hungry.
It is particularly prevalent in the late teens and early twenties.
The largest individual category of eating disorders is other specified feeding or eating
disorders (OSFED). These are also serious eating disorders but present in different ways to standard disorders like anorexia nervosa. Some of the most common OSFED diagnoses are:
It is sometimes more difficult to assess if someone is suffering from an OSFED. While something like purging disorder can clearly be identified as a problem, things such as night eating syndrome can sometimes be written off as quirky behaviours.
If episodes of bulimia are short, they could be viewed as ‘phases’ that someone will grow out of, or someone with concerns about being anorexic might be written off as attention-seeking because they are in a normal weight range.
This is why it is important to seek medical advice as soon as possible if you think you might be suffering from an eating disorder.
Flexebee offers a range of E-learning courses relating to Mental Health. These include: Mental Health Awareness, covering mental health work-related and life balance issues such as Stress Awareness and Self-Harm. Our Diet and Nutrition Awareness training teaches learners about diet variety, malnutrition, screening tools and more.