Anorexia Nervosa

(Taken from NIMH) People with anorexia nervosa may see themselves as overweight, even when they are dangerously underweight. People with anorexia nervosa typically weigh themselves repeatedly, severely restrict the amount of food they eat, often exercise excessively, and/or may force themselves to vomit or use laxatives to lose weight. Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder. While many people with this disorder die from complications associated with starvation, others die of suicide.

Symptoms include:

• Extremely restricted eating

• Extreme thinness (emaciation)

• A relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight

• Intense fear of gaining weight

• Distorted body image, a self-esteem that is heavily influenced by perceptions of body weight and shape, or a denial of the seriousness of low body weight

Other symptoms may develop over time, including:

• Thinning of the bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis)

• Mild anemia and muscle wasting and weakness

• Brittle hair and nails

• Dry and yellowish skin

• Growth of fine hair all over the body (lanugo)

• Severe constipation

• Low blood pressure slowed breathing and pulse

• Damage to the structure and function of the heart

• Brain damage

• Multiorgan failure

• Drop in internal body temperature, causing a person to feel cold all the time

• Lethargy, sluggishness, or feeling tired all the time

• Infertility

Bulimia nervosa

(Taken from NIMH) People with bulimia nervosa have recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food and feeling a lack of control over these episodes. This binge-eating is followed by behavior that compensates for the overeating such as forced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, excessive exercise, or a combination of these behaviors. People with bulimia nervosa may be slightly underweight, normal weight, or over overweight.

Symptoms include:

• Chronically inflamed and sore throat

• Swollen salivary glands in the neck and jaw area

• Worn tooth enamel and increasingly sensitive and decaying teeth as a result of exposure to stomach acid

• Acid reflux disorder and other gastrointestinal problems

• Intestinal distress and irritation from laxative abuse

• Severe dehydration from purging of fluids

• Electrolyte imbalance (too low or too high levels of sodium, calcium, potassium, and other minerals) which can lead to stroke or heart attack

Binge-eating disorder

(Taken from NIMH) People with binge-eating disorder lose control over his or her eating. Unlike bulimia nervosa, periods of binge-eating are not followed by purging, excessive exercise, or fasting. As a result, people with binge-eating disorder often are overweight or obese. Binge-eating disorder is the most common eating disorder in the U.S.

Symptoms include:

• Eating unusually large amounts of food in a specific amount of time, such as a 2-hour period

• Eating even when you're full or not hungry

• Eating fast during binge episodes

• Eating until you're uncomfortably full

• Eating alone or in secret to avoid embarrassment

• Feeling distressed, ashamed, or guilty about your eating

• Frequently dieting, possibly without weight loss

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

(Taken from KidsHealth) People with ARFID don't eat because they are turned off by the smell, taste, texture, or color of food. They may be afraid that they will choke or vomit. They don't have anorexia, bulimia, or another medical problem that would explain their eating behaviors. People with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID):

• are not interested in food or avoid foods

• lose weight, or don't gain expected amount of weight

• are not afraid of gaining weight

• don't have a poor body image

Rumination disorder

(Taken from Mayo Clinic) Rumination disorder is repeatedly and persistently regurgitating food after eating, but it's not due to a medical condition or another eating disorder such as anorexia, bulimia, or binge-eating disorder. Food is brought back up into the mouth without nausea or gagging, and regurgitation may not be intentional. Sometimes regurgitated food is rechewed and reswallowed or spit out.

The disorder may result in malnutrition if the food is spit out or if the person eats significantly less to prevent the behavior. The occurrence of rumination disorder may be more common in infancy or in people who have an intellectual disability.

Pica

(Taken from Kids Health) Pica is an eating disorder in which a person eats things not usually considered food. Young kids often put non-food items, like grass or toys, in their mouths because they're curious about the world around them. But kids with pica (PIE-kuh) go beyond that. Sometimes they eat things that can lead to health problems.

Signs and Symptoms

People with pica crave and eat non-food items such as:

• dirt

• clay

• rocks

• paper

• ice

• crayons

• hair

• paint chips

• chalk

• feces (poop)

Health problems can happen in kids with pica, depending on what they eat. These can include:

• iron-deficiency anemia

• lead poisoning, from eating dirt or paint chips with lead

• constipation or diarrhea, from eating things the body can't digest (like hair)

• intestinal infections, from eating soil or poop that has parasites or worms

• intestinal obstruction, from eating things that block the intestines

• mouth or teeth injuries

Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED)

(Taken from McCallum Place) According to the DSM-5, the category of other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED) is applicable to individuals who are experiencing significant distress due to symptoms that are similar to disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder, but who do not meet the full criteria for a diagnosis of one of these disorders.