Most Frequent Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are psychological alterations that lead to a change in the patient’s diet. There is great concern about physical appearance that can change their behavior drastically.

All these disorders are related to advertising and the model of society that we have today. Patients perceive themselves altered and often have low self-esteem.

On the other hand, there is a great variety of disorders but we can highlight some of those that appear more frequently.

Eating Disorders Everyone Should Know About

Experts from The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) explain that: “Eating disorders are extreme manifestations of a variety of weight and food concerns experienced by women and men.” They mainly stand out:

• Anorexia nervosa.
• Bulimia nervosa
• Binge eating

Let’s see more about these issues below.

Anorexy

During this psychological alteration the patient wants to lose weight (to very harmful levels) and they fear gaining weight. They also perceive themselves abnormally, seeing themselves with excessive body mass.

Therefore, they avoid eating, voluntarily cause vomiting and may even use laxatives to reduce caloric intake. Likewise, they can become obese in intense physical activity.

Although it is thought that it can only affect adolescents or young people, it can also appear in women and men during adulthood. In fact, when it occurs in males, it is called “manorexia.” Thus, in addition to extreme thinness, patients can also suffer:

• Dizziness and fainting

• Feeling of weakness, fatigue or general tiredness.

• Trouble sleeping or insomnia.

• Dehydration and malnutrition.

• Bluish color on the fingertips.

• Brittle hair and soft hair growth all over the skin.

Bulimia

It is an alteration in which the subjects alternate binge eating or heavy food intake with provoked vomiting. In this way the person tries to avoid gaining weight since it is associated with a feeling of guilt.

On the other hand, they usually maintain a normalized weight and can also resort to physical activity and the use of chemical compounds to lose weight.

Vigorexia or muscle dysmorphia

It is a psychological illness in which people perceive themselves as weak and puny. Therefore, they become obsessed with intense physical activity and the diet they consume to achieve more body mass.

Normally the diet includes a large amount of protein. They can also use anabolic steroids and other compounds to achieve this goal.

Pregorexia

Pregorexia is one of the eating disorders that  only affects pregnant women, who want to avoid gaining weight at all costs. It is comparable to anorexia but during the development of pregnancy. To do this, they reduce the amount of calories in their diet, perform intense physical exercise, and may even use induced vomiting to maintain their shape.

On the other hand, this problem has consequences for both the mother and the fetus. In women it can cause nutritional deficits, a feeling of cold, skin problems and in the production of lactation. Instead, the fetus can suffer malformations, neurological diseases and can die inside the cavity of the uterus.

Drunkorexia or drunkenness

In drunkorexia adolescents decide to reduce or cancel food consumption to replace it with alcoholism. Although it has characteristics similar to anorexia, drunkenness can lead to more serious damage from the consumption of a toxic substance in a practically malnourished body.

In this way it is possible to maintain and even reduce weight while continuing to practice this unhealthy habit.

Orthorexia

It is an obsession or excessive interest in the consumption of foods that the patient considers healthy or beneficial. However, the practice of this behavior can make the subject feel socially isolated (they do not want to eat in restaurants or similar places) and even suffer from nutritional deficiencies.

Permarexia

It is one of the little known eating disorders. In this, people strictly control their diet and the amount of calories ingested. Likewise, they continuously or permanently follow the diet that they consider most appropriate or correct.

All these disorders are serious diseases that must be treated and evaluated by a specialist team.

The most common is that the patient is followed up in the mental health unit, with the possibility of requesting interconsultations with endocrinology to assess the nutritional status of each person and cover nutritional deficits. In addition, it can be combined with the use of psychotropic drugs.