Eating disorders are health problems that require the best eating disorder recovery services. While anorexia and bulimia are the two most common, people can develop many types of eating disorders. However, doctors may not officially diagnose some of the lesser-known conditions.
Less Common Types of Eating Disorders
According to the National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders, millions of Americans develop eating disorders. The official guidance for diagnosing these conditions is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, it doesn’t officially recognize some of the rarer or more poorly documented conditions. Despite that, knowing some of these less common eating disorders could save someone’s life.
Orthorexia
This eating disorder has only recently developed with the increase in health obsessive eaters. Orthorexia usually starts with people intending to take better care of their bodies by eating healthy.
Instead, their quest for healthy nutrition turns into a dangerous obsession. It consumes most of their thoughts and time, and the effects are similar to bulimia and anorexia. Because of that, people with this problem need help from an eating disorder treatment center.
Drunkorexia
Actually a slang term, drunkorexia is the combination of alcohol abuse and eating disorder behaviors. Despite the name, most of these cases occur among young women in college who have bulimia. They starve themselves during the day, avoiding calories so that they can binge on alcohol at night.
Because of that, the large amount of alcohol that they drink facilitates their purging behavior. Afterward, they often drink more to maintain their intoxication.
Diabulimia
This condition is specific to people with type 1 diabetes. Since they have a fixation on controlling their weight, they manipulate their insulin doses. This behavior allows them to achieve the desired weight without excessive exercise, going on a diet, or starving.
However, using too little insulin forces the body to eliminate sugar via urination. This combination is not only unhealthy but also deadly, so it requires treatment.
Pregorexia
This eating problem is what the name suggests. It involves an obsession with gaining weight during pregnancy.
Women should gain around 35 pounds for a healthy pregnancy. However, those with pregorexia try to diet and exercise to gain as little as possible. As a result, their unborn children suffer. In order to prevent that, they need womens eating disorder treatment programs.
Rumination
As one of the least appetizing disorders, rumination involves purging consumed food and then re-chewing it, re-swallowing it, or spitting it out. They usually do this process within the first half hour of eating.
Rumination can develop at any point in people’s lives. It causes severe malnutrition and weight loss. Whether it develops during childhood or adulthood, therapy is necessary to solve the problem.
Pica
Although it has a strange name, pica is one of the more common types of eating disorders on this list. It involves consuming non-food items with no nutritional value, such as dirt, chalk, or paint. It’s most common in children and pregnant women. In some cultures, however, eating clay is a form of pica that is socially acceptable.
Treatment Is Available Now
If you have any form of an eating disorder, it’s important for your health that you get help. Numerous treatments are available, including:
- Nutrition education
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Group counseling
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Holistic services
Learn more about the types of eating disorders to determine if you need treatment. Call an eating disorder treatment facility for quality care today.