A range of conditions that are caused due to disturbed or abnormal eating patterns is termed as eating disorders. They mostly occur because of an obsession with food, body shape, or bodyweight that can usually lead to serious health complications. There are some cases wherein such eating disorders can result in death. People, who have eating disorders, exhibit a variety of symptoms that point towards the disorder. Most of them are likely to show symptoms such as serious restriction of food intake, inappropriate purging activities like excessive exercising, vomiting or binging on food. The various types of eating disorders can have a negative impact on individuals of any gender or of any age. However, eating disorders are mostly observed in adolescents and females who are young.
Here we have discussed two common types of eating disorders:
Binge eating disorder
In recent years, binge eating has received official recognition as a type of eating disorder. It is of today believed to be one of the most commonly diagnosed eating disorders, especially in the country. This type of eating disorder mostly develops when a person is an adolescent or a young adult. However, this does not rule out the possibility of one being diagnosed with the disorder when they’re older. People with this sort of disorder have symptoms that are the same as those that are found among the people who suffer from a binge-eating subtype of anorexia or bulimia. For example, individuals who suffer from this type of eating disorder are found to eat unusually a lot of food in a considerably shorter span of time mostly finding themselves to have less control. But as compared to the subtype of anorexia and bulimia nervosa, individuals who suffer from binge eating disorder will not restrict the intake of calories nor will they resort to purging activities like overexercising or vomiting in order to compensate for the intake of food. Individuals who suffer from binge eating disorder are usually obese or overweight. This will increase the risk of medical complications that are associated with the excess weight which include type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart diseases.
Pica
Pica is another type of eating disorder that includes eating items that cannot be called food. People who suffer from pica begin to crave for substances that are not termed as food. These items usually include soap, pebbles, wool, laundry detergent, cornstarch, hair, paper, chalk, soil, dirt or ice. This type of eating disorder can develop among individuals like adults, adolescents, and even children. Pica is mostly found in pregnant females, children, and people who have other mental disabilities. People, who suffer from pica, may highly be subjected to poisoning, nutritional deficiencies, injuries of the gut, and infections. Based on the substances that one eats, pica can be considered as a fatal type of eating disorder.
Even though most of these conditions are treatable, if the symptoms and the signs pointing towards the condition are not addressed, it can lead to severe depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and even death.
