Chicago Eating Disorder Counseling
According to the American Psychiatric Association, there are several different types of eating disorders, including:
Anorexia Nervosa — Based on statistical evidence Anorexia Nervosa is the deadliest form of mental illness. It is characterized by excessive dieting coupled with intense fear of weight gain and eating. The illness also causes individuals to literally see themselves as overweight when in reality they are often dangerously underweight. While 1.0% to 4.2% of women have suffered from anorexia, the illness also affects boys and men.
Avoidant/restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) — People with ARFID exclude certain foods and food groups due not only to flavor but hardness, temperature, color or other characteristics. Children and/or adults with ARFID are often experience intense anxiety when eating particular foods they wish to avoid. They may also suffer from gastrointestinal problems due to the disorder. Because of their “food phobias,” people with ARFID often avoid eating with others and end up isolating themselves.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED) — In the U.S. Binge Eating Disorder is relatively common, occurring in .8% of males and 1.6% of women in a year. BED is marked by episodes of extreme and rapid overeating, during which time the individual loses their sense of control. Binge Eating Disorder is distinct from Bulimia Nervosa in that purging or vomiting is not seen with BED.
Bulimia Nervosa — People with Bulimia binge and purge; they lose control of their food intake and then attempt to eliminate what they’ve eaten by either vomiting or taking laxatives. Ironically, vomiting does little to reduce caloric intake since after purging the body retains approximately 50% of the food initially eaten. Several health problems result from Bulimia and its associated behaviors, the most serious of which is decrease in potassium. Low potassium can cause everything from difficulty thinking to kidney failure and death.
Night Eating Syndrome — The strong strong urge to eat late at night, well after a typical meal time. It is different from Binge Eating in that the amount of food eaten is not necessarily excessive and the individual maintains a sense of control during the episode. However, there is the feeling that one cannot return to sleep unless food is eaten. Binge Eating affects one to two percent of the population; both men and women. The disorder occurs among ten percent of obese individuals.
Pica — Eating non-food substances and objects such as paper, paint, metal, stones, dirt or glass.
Pica most often occurs in very young children and pregnant women as well as individuals with developmental disabilities.
Purging Disorder — Those who experience Purging Disorder will typically abuse laxatives and/or cause themselves to vomit in a harmful effort to maintain a certain weight or physical image. Purging occurs in people who fall within a normal weight range, and does not include binge eating.
Rumination Disorder — Found mostly in young children and infants, and less frequently in adults, rumination disorder is when recently eaten food is regurgitated and chewed again.
Although symptoms and behaviors vary from one eating disorder to the next, there are factors underlying factors common to all of them. Chief among these are low self esteem and an overemphasis on shape and weight. Psychotherapy — Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in particular — is widely considered to be the most effective approach in the treatment of Eating Disorder. 360 Therapy’s highly experienced professionals staff can effectively guide individuals through the complex interaction between underlying beliefs, difficult emotions and unhealthy behaviors that characterize the many forms of eating disorder. The results can be both life changing and life saving.