The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual names three eating disorders: Bulimia, anorexia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. While patients often move from disorder to disorder, each one has unique symptoms and treatments.
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia is often a disease of control and disassociation. Patients may use it to defocus from the challenges of everyday life, but many cases are also rooted in extreme self-hatred. Anorexia is a chronic remitting disorder that can worsen with time. In its end stages, it can cause malnutrition, dehydration, and even organ failure.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimics swing between binges and purges. While vomiting and laxatives are common ways to purge, many bulimics over-exercise instead. Patients often experience shame and self-judgement, but physiological problems will begin to emerge as the disorder progresses. Patients might experience tooth enamel damage, throat damage, and even seizures.
Binge Eating Disorder
Patients with binge eating disorder feel a lack of control over their food. They often plan their binges in advance and experience shame afterwards. While it’s normal to go for second helpings at a holiday meal, binge eating disorder is compulsive. It can be an attempt to become invisible or a way to self-harm. Mental health training courses Milton Keynes such as https://www.tidaltraining.co.uk/mental-health-training-courses/milton-keynes/ can teach you how to recognise eating disorders and respond responsibly to them.
Eating disorders are rarely about food. Food is merely their tool and distraction. At their core, all three diagnoses are unhealthy responses to psychological suffering. For that reason, treatment must address that suffering and teach healthier coping skills.