Eating Disorders
What are Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions affecting an individual’s relationship with food and impacting their eating behaviours. It might mean you might have difficulties with body image or constantly think about food and calories. You may notice that this impacts your self-esteem or self-worth and you engage in harmful behaviours pertaining to food, exercise or your body. Eating disorders can be very impactful on your wellbeing, and can cause additional symptoms such as anxiety and depression.
Another way to describe similar symptoms is the language of disordered eating. This language is often used if you have some signs and symptoms of an eating disorder, but have never been diagnosed with an eating disorder, or your eating disorder is in remission. Some common signs or symptoms of eating disorders include:
- Significant weight loss, weight gain, or fluctuations in weight
- Obsessive thoughts about food, calories, weight, or body shape
- Restrictive eating or avoidance of certain foods
- Episodes of binge eating or loss of control around food
- Purging behaviours such as vomiting, misuse of laxatives, or excessive exercise
- Skipping meals or making excuses not to eat
- Body checking behaviours – such as pinching, weighing, checking
- Increased anxiety, guilt, or shame related to eating
- Distorted body image or intense fear of gaining weight
- Fatigue, dizziness, fainting, or low energy levels
- Difficulty concentrating or changes in mood
- Withdrawal from social situations, especially those involving food
- Menstrual irregularities or hormonal changes
- Gastrointestinal problems or ongoing digestive complaints
Living with an eating disorder can be difficult because we rely on food to live, and our culture is often heavily centered around food…meal times, social events, cultural events. This can make living with an eating disorder or disordered eating very tricky to navigate, especially if you struggle to eat in front of other people, or feel uncomfortable about eating food that other people have prepared.
Our psychologists are well equipped to work with eating disorders and disordered eating. There are useful treatments that are available to help. Please contact us to find a psychologist in the Western suburbs of Melbourne, or to find out more about how we might be able to help. We offer Medicare rebate psychologists to support with the cost of therapy.
Types of Eating Disorders
If eating habits, body image concerns, or food-related behaviours are affecting your daily life, relationships, physical health, or emotional wellbeing, it might be useful to seek professional support. You might notice that food and body-related chatter dominates a lot of your thinking time, you are spending increased time worrying about food, or are spending more time at the gym to combat fears of weight gain.
Evidence-based treatment may include psychological therapy, nutritional support, medical monitoring, and collaborative care tailored to individual needs. Some common therapies for eating disorders include CBT-e, DBT, Motivational Interviewing and Interpersonal Therapy. Often this is done with a supportive treatment team in place, such as a GP and dietician.
There are some fantastic Australian organisations that offer peer support groups, information and resources for carers. If you or someone you know is struggling with an Eating Disorder, you can check out The Butterfly Foundation, Eating Disorders Victoria or the Inside Out Institute. Types of eating disorders, as characterised by the DSM-5 are listed below.
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia Nervosa is characterised by severe restriction of food intake, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted perception of body image. The condition can lead to serious physical health complications including malnutrition, heart problems, and hormonal changes. It’s an old fashioned myth that you can “tell” if someone has an eating disorder, though if you are diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa you are considered medically to be underweight.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa involves recurring episodes of binge eating followed by behaviours aimed at preventing weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, fasting, or misuse of laxatives. Individuals often experience feelings of shame, guilt, and loss of control around eating. It’s an old fashioned myth that you can “tell” if someone has an eating disorder, or that they must be underweight. It is impossible to tell if someone has Bulimia Nervosa, as their bodies are often within a healthy weight range.
Binge Eating Disorder
Binge Eating Disorder is characterised by repeated episodes of eating large amounts of food in a short period of time, often accompanied by a sense of loss of control. Unlike Bulimia Nervosa, binge eating episodes are not regularly followed by purging behaviours.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) involves restricted or avoidant eating patterns that are not driven by body image concerns. This means that individuals may avoid foods due to sensory sensitivities, fear of choking or vomiting, or lack of interest in eating. ARFID can result in nutritional deficiencies, weight loss, and difficulties with growth or daily functioning. It can be highly comorbid with other conditions such as OCD and Autism.
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED)
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED) is generally considered a bit of a diagnostic “catch all” and given if there are clinically significant symptoms, but that the other diagnoses are not appropriate. This is quite common, as eating disorders are what psychologists consider to have diagnostic fluidity – meaning that over time symptom clusters (meaning the ways in which difficulty with food and body image are expressed) can change. For example, it’s common to have been given a diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa, which later evolves into Bulimia Nervosa.
So, what can I do?
Eating disorders can impact people of all ages and genders, and may lead to significant physical and emotional complications if left untreated. Early intervention and professional support is key to improving recovery outcomes and overall wellbeing.
Our clinicians provide compassionate, non-judgemental and evidence‑based support to help people feel more in control and better equipped to manage eating disorders. We practice in a supportive, strengths-based way and we’re here to help. Please contact us to find out more, so we can chat about matching you with a psychologist who’s a good fit.
Looking for a psychologist near me? Medicare rebates are available, and we offer telehealth appointments. We also have Workcover psychologists and TAC psychologists.
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