Is it Disordered Eating or is it an Eating Disorder?
It is not breaking news that our culture is completely obsessed with dieting, appearance, and achieving the "perfect body”.
We are bombarded with this message constantly through commercials, social media, and even interpersonal interactions. This is a toxic environment that creates a breeding ground for eating disorders to thrive.
So where’s the line? Are you “just dieting,” is your relationship with food and your body becoming disordered, or are you experiencing an eating disorder? It can be so hard to tell. The truth is that these experiences exist on a continuum. Disordered eating can escalate to an eating disorder and our culture reinforces the false narrative that these behaviors are normal, healthy, or even admirable. This reality muddies the waters and makes it difficult to know when to seek support.
Lets break it down.
Disordered eating encompasses a broad range of harmful behaviors focused on food and body that do not meet full diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder as outlined by the DSM-5. Despite not being diagnosable, these behaviors do create distress for the individual and are harmful to physical and emotional wellbeing.
Some examples might be:
frequently skipping meals or participating in long periods of fasting
restricting certain foods or entire food groups
frequent dieting cycles
over-focus on “clean” eating
doing cleanses such as taking diet pills, juice cleanses, etc.
underrating or overeating
Eating Disorders are serious mental health conditions with medical complications that can be life threatening. They are characterized by persistent and compulsive patterns around food and body image that impair physical, psychological, social, and professional functioning. These are not choices, and they persist despite awareness or consequences. The thoughts and behaviors become rigid, intrusive, and all encompassing.
Eating disorders involve disordered eating, but disordered eating is not yet an eating disorder. Specifically, disordered eating might have more flexibility, and the behaviors might cycle or come and go. The rigidity and severity of an Eating Disorder is persistent and impacts all areas of life.
The distinction is not always clear, especially when society and diet culture continue to reinforce focus on food and body as the moral standard. Here are a few guidelines that might suggest it is time to seek professional support:
Thoughts about food, weight, or body image take up a significant amount of mental space throughout the day.
You experience intense guilt, shame, or anxiety when eating or thinking about eating.
Rigid food rules govern all intake, and when these are broken you feel distressed or out of control
You actively avoid situations that involve eating with others
Your eating patterns feel chaotic or out of your control
You are frequently restricting, bingeing, and/or purging
You exercise excessively, obsessively organize other aspects of your life around your exercise routines, or you feel anxiety or guilt if you cannot exercise
Your mood or self-worth depends on what you ate, a number on the scale, or how you perceive your body looks
You hide or minimize your eating patterns
You frequently “start over,” diet, or try to compensate for eating in ways that feel shameful or uncomfortable
Loved ones or healthcare providers have expressed concern about your eating habits, weight changes, or exercise patterns
You feel stuck, overwhelmed, or unable to make changes on your own - despite a desire to
If there is any question in your mind, now is the time to reach out. Eating disorders can hijack our brains and convince us it isn’t bad enough or that we don’t need help. They will try to isolate and maintain control and damn, are they persuasive. Early intervention is consistently associated with better treatment outcomes. Getting support sooner can reduce the intensity of symptoms, prevent patterns from becoming more rigid, and make the recovery process far more effective. You do not have to wait until a crisis to need, deserve, and receive support. If anything in this post resonates, Empowered is here to help. Our multidisciplinary team will treat you with empathy and compassion to help you regain autonomy of your eating, your body, and your life.