Other Disorders
Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified: This diagnosis is used to describe disorders of eating that do not meet the full criteria for a specific eating disorder (Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder). It is important to note that this diagnosis does not mean that the problem is less serious.
Examples of EDNOS include:
- For females, all of the criteria for Anorexia Nervosa are met with the exception that the individual has regular menses.
- All of the criteria for Anorexia Nervosa are met except that, despite significant weight loss, the individual’s weight is in the normal range.
- All of the criteria for Bulimia Nervosa are met except that the binge eating and inappropriate compensatory mechanisms occur less frequently or for a period of shorter duration.
- Regular use of compensatory behaviors occurs after eating a small amount of food.
- Repeatedly chewing and spitting out but not swallowing food.
Compulsive Exercise/Obligatory Exercise: This is not an official diagnosis as are Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder. However, many people who are preoccupied with food and weight use exercise as a method of weight control. Issues of control and self respect are often what drive the person to exercise excessively rather than to manage weight or improve performance. Below are some characteristics of someone who engages in compulsive exercise.
- May be preoccupied or obsessed with weight and diet.
- Plans and organizes the day around exercise which often can negatively impact work, school and relationships.
- Defines self-worth in terms of performance.
- Physical activity is not enjoyable but experienced by the individual as a must rather than activity of choice.
- Is rarely, if ever, satisfied with athletic achievements.
- Justifies excessive exercise by defining self as a “special” athlete.
Orthorexia: This is not an official eating disorder diagnosis. The name was coined by Steven Bratman, M.D. to describe the concept of “a pathological fixation on eating ‘proper’ or ‘pure’ or ‘superior’ food. Some characteristics of individuals with orthorexia are listed below.
- Feeling superior to others who eat “improper” food which could include non-organic or foods found in regular grocery stores as opposed to health food stores.
- Obsess over what to eat, how much to eat, how to prepare foods “properly”, and where to obtain “pure” foods.
- Eating the “right” food becomes an important focus. Individual worth is seen in terms of what is eaten or not eaten.
Chewing and Spitting: It is not a separate eating disorder but a strategy often seen in anorexia and bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified.
- The person puts food in his/her mouth, tastes it, chews it and then spits it out.
- Strategy to control calories.
- Essential nutrients are not incorporated into the body. Chewing and spitting can be just as harmful to health as starvation dieting and binge eating followed by purging.
Night-eating syndrome: This is not a diagnosis of an eating disorder.
- Most of the day’s calories are eaten late in the day or at night, and a significant portion of the calories consumed are in the form of carbohydrates.
- The behavior is not like binge eating but rather involves continual eating throughout the evening.
- The individual has little or no appetite for breakfast and is upset about how much was eaten the night before.
- The person may wake up several times per night to snack and may not be aware at the time of what is happening.
- The person feels tense, anxious and guilty while eating and experiences shame about the behavior.
- This syndrome is thought to be stress related and is often accompanied by depression.
- This syndrome effects 1-2% of the general population; 6% of population who seek treatment for obesity.
Information adapted from DSM-IV and ANRED
