Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders and can be particularly disabling. Essentially, an eating disorder is a severe mental health condition characterised by extreme overvaluation regarding weight, shape, eating and/or body image. Unfortunately, these overvaluations may result in disordered and unhealthy patterns of behaviour such as food restriction, calorie counting, fasting, self-induced vomiting, bingeing, diet pills, diuretics, laxatives, and compulsive or excessive exercise. Consequently, such behaviours may vastly affect an individual’s physical, psychological, and social wellbeing.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5), the tool used to diagnose mental disorders, five types of common eating disorders exist:

1. Bulimia Nervosa – characterised by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviour (i.e., vomiting, laxative misuse, abuse of diet pills, diuretics, insulin or prescriptive medications for purpose of weight control, fasting, or compulsive exercise).

2. Anorexia Nervosa – characterised by persistent restricted nutritional intake resulting in significantly low body weight. Such behaviour is usually accompanied by an intense fear of weight gain or participation in behaviour interfering with necessary weight gain.

3. Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OFSED) – Characterised by several of the symptoms of other eating disorders (i.e., Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder), but which does not quite meet the full criteria. That being said, it should be noted that OFSED is no less serious than the other eating disorders and is actually one of the most commonly diagnosed eating disorders within the UK.

4. Binge Eating Disorder – Characterised by regular episodes of binge eating without engagement in compensatory strategies (i.e., vomiting, laxatives, diet pills, compulsive exercise), as demonstrated in Bulimia Nervosa. People with Binge Eating Disorder will frequently eat alone or in secret due to the intense feelings of shame and guilt that they are likely to experience. Likewise, many people with a binge eating disorder are overweight or obese.

5. Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) – Characterised when an individual struggles to acquire adequate nutrition (i.e., due to lack of appetite, sensory-based avoidance such as certain textures or temperatures or tastes, or feared consequences of eating such as vomiting or choking), in the absence of the fear of weight gain and/or preoccupation weight and shape which is present in Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, or OFSED.