Types of Eating Disorder

Types of eating disorders, such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder include extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues. Eating disorders are serious physical and emotional problems that can have life-threatening consequences for women and men.

There are three main types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating. And they're all serious diseases. Anorexia nervosa has the highest rate of death among psychiatric illnesses. Within the eating disorders list below, you'll find these disorders typically involve starvation, purging, and binge eating behaviors.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is seen as a emaciation, a relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain an ordinary or healthy weight, a distortion of body image and intense anxiety about gaining weight, a lack of menstruation among girls and women, and very disturbed eating behavior. Some people with anorexia lose weight by dieting and exercising excessively; others lose weight by self-induced vomiting, or misusing laxatives, diuretics or enemas.

Bulimia Nervosa

Second on the list of eating disorders is bulimia nervosa, which centers around the bingeing and purging of food. Bulimia includes eating excessive levels of food in short periods of time (often in secret), then getting rid of the food and calories through vomiting, enemas, laxative abuse, or over-exercising.

Binge Eating Disorder

Those who suffer from binge eating disorder will frequently lose control over their eating. Different from bulimia nervosa however, episodes of binge-eating aren't followed by compensatory behaviors, such as purging, fasting, or excessive exercise. Due to this, many people suffering with binge-eating disorder may be obese and also at an increased risk of developing other conditions, such as cardiovascular disease. Men and women who have a problem with this disorder may also experience intense feelings of guilt, distress, and embarrassment associated with their binge-eating, which could influence further progression of the eating disorder.