Eating disorders are a group of illnesses, sometimes very severe, which concern an individual’s attitude towards eating.
What is an eating disorder?
Of course, lots of us think about our weight occasionally and resolve to lose a little weight or increase our exercise levels to become a bit healthier. Unfortunately, some people can become fixated or even obsessed with their weight and body image, until their diet or behaviours around eating become restricted or dangerous.
Some eating disorders cause people to eat more than they need, even when they know their weight is creeping upwards. We’ll have a look at the different types of eating disorders below.
What are the different types of eating disorders?
Many of us have heard of anorexia, or anorexia nervosa to give it the full name. This condition causes people to excessively reduce and restrict their food intake in order to lose weight, often well beyond a healthy level. Sufferers may still consider themselves to be overweight even if they are underweight.
Bulimia nervosa also affects the way that people view their own weight. In this instance, sufferers consume lots of food in one go (also known as binge eating) and then purge (make themselves sick or take laxatives) to rid the body of the calories they’ve consumed. This is very risky behaviour as it takes a toll on the body, teeth and mental health.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, binge eating disorder may see sufferers consume unhealthy amounts of food, becoming overweight or even obese.
ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder) is perhaps less well-known. According to the charity Beat Eating Disorders , it is largely characterised by someone avoiding certain groups of foods rather than being focused on losing or gaining weight.
There are mental health training courses Plymouth and other locations, such as www.tidaltraining.co.uk/mental-health-training-courses/plymouth, which can equip you with more in-depth knowledge and skills to support people living with or recovering from an eating disorder.
Fortunately, there is help out there for sufferers of all types of eating disorders, both online and in person.