Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa, also referred to as anorexia, is a complex eating disorder that affects millions of people each year in the United States and around the world. Anorexia is characterized by a preoccupation with body weight or shape and limiting food intake, resulting in unhealthy weight loss. It may also be accompanied by other behaviors such as throwing up or vomiting after meals, the use of substances like diet pills, or intense exercising. Though it often develops during teenage years or adolescence, anorexia does not discriminate between age, gender, race or class.

Orthorexia Nervosa

While Orthorexia is not officially recognized in the DSM-5, providers are seeing this more frequently in their practices and eating disorder treatment centers.  Because it is potentially a precursor to developing a full-blown eating disorder, it is vital that therapists and dietitians know how to identify orthorexia. Orthorexia is a proposed distinct eating disorder characterized by extreme or excessive preoccupation with eating healthy food.   The orthorexic client obsesses about healthy eating instead of obsessing about losing weight and being thin.  

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Trauma

Traumatic lifetime experiences like death, illness, loss, abandonment or perception of abandonment, bullying, and forms of abuse significantly impact the psyche and physiological state of the individual.  Trauma is also a subjective experience and individuals with a sensitive temperament are likely to have the experience of trauma from experiences that others may not perceive as traumatic.  Exposure to prolonged states of stress caused by trauma can impact functioning and health and immunity, as well as lead to the development of an eating disorder and co-occurring disorders like depression and substance abuse.

Reactive Attachment Disorder

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, (DSM-5) symptoms of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) must be evident before five years of age and the child must have a developmental age of at least nine months. The child often shows consistent emotionally withdrawn behavior towards caregivers; specifically he/she minimally responds or seeks comfort when he/she is emotionally distressed.  The second criterion includes a limited positive affect, episodes of unexplained irritability, sadness or emotional turmoil during nonthreatening interactions with caregivers and minimal social or emotional responsiveness to others. The third criterion is characterized by a pattern of insufficient care such as neglect, physical or sexual abuse, or repeated changes between primary caregivers.