Less-Known Eating Disorders You Should Be Aware Of

Anorexia nervosa, morbid obesity, and bulimia nervosa are not the only documented types of eating disorders. There are other illnesses that need as much attention as these in the face of an overabundance of food and the hundreds of diet and lifestyle fads on the Internet.

• Compulsive Exercising. Known to doctors in Singapore as anorexia athletica, hypergymnasia, and exercise bulimia, this eating disorder is marked by an obsession with keeping fit through excessively exercising. Patients with this illness get to the point when they even injure themselves from working out too much because they no longer allow their bodies enough time to recover in between exercises. If not treated, the person could suffer from various injuries, loss of bone mass, osteoporosis, and other complications.

• Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Most individuals who have an eating disorder may also likely be suffering from body dysmorphic disorder. Some psychologists do not think this is an eating disorder, but is more of a compulsive disorder. A person with this condition also has one of these symptoms: has an imagined or real physical defect, impairment or feeling of distress due to the physical defect or appearance, and the condition cannot be explained by other health problems.

• Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder. Also called bigorexia, this is the opposite of anorexia nervosa because the person is not obsessed about being slim, and instead, is worried about being small and frail. They focus on getting good muscle mass to become bigger, though not necessarily fat, so they would not look skinny.

• Night-Eating Syndrome. While this might not be as bad as other eating disorders, this can cause a lot of health problems because of the unusual practice of eating late in the day or night and skipping breakfast for lack of appetite. However, the person also feels guilty about eating too much the night before.

• Rumination Syndrome. An individual with this condition tends to regurgitate the food back into the mouth, then tries to chew and swallow it again. This act may be involuntary of voluntary, but the person should get help as soon as possible because the lack of nutrients can cause a lot of complications.

• Pica. Most of the patients who suffer from this eating disorder are very young children and some pregnant women. Pica is characterized by the need to consume or a craving for objects that have no nutritional value such as dirt, chalk, clay, and others.

• Orthorexia Nervosa. Psychologists believe that this disorder is becoming more common nowadays due to the rise of diet and lifestyle fads that promise a healthier body. It is not yet officially recognized as an eating disorder, but the lack of knowledge about one’s body, the desire to follow health trends, and the need to show off in social media, has led some people to focus on losing weight by consuming only “healthy” food. While this might not sound alarming, there are people who go to the extreme of avoiding sugar, gluten, and fat altogether even in small amounts.