Orthorexia Nervosa...Whuuuuuuuut?

Now, we've all heard of Anorexia Nervosa, characterized as a psychiatric illness; an eating disorder that typically manifests in extreme low body weight and body image distortion with a fear of gaining weight. Individuals with AN usually starve, purge, exercise excessively or use diet pills or diuretics.

And we've all heard of Bulimia Nervosa, too. This is also an eating disorder, however it's characterized mainly binge eating and purging, fasting, using laxatives, enemas and diuretics. However, with BN, there is not typically a low body weight (because of the binge eating). There is a purgingin type and a non purging type of BN.

These two most common eating disorders are typically found in White middle to upper class America, but watch out folks. Eating disorders are DEFINITELY on the rise in minority populations, mainly Black women, as well as in straight and gay men and athletes(thought about these populations for a dissertation on this topic). Eating disorders are absolutely no joke, and are on the top of my list of scariest mental illnesses. Forget a schizophrenic or psychotic client, I'm terrified of working with this population clinically.

Binge Eating is another eating disorder, characterized by recurrent patterns of intense and uncontrollable binge eating, without the purging afterwards. This is very easy to hide, and most individuals do not even realize that they are suffering from the disorder. Overeating is also thrown into the mix with Binge Eating.

Now, there is another eating disorder that many do not know about, but that has impacted Western culture most recently and is steadily and freakishly on the rise out here.

ORTHOREXIA NERVOSA. This eating disorder, (not yet in the Psychological Bible / Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR) is characterized by excessive focus on eating healthy foods, to the point where the individual restricts their diet so much that they can eventually die from malnutrition. There has only been one known case of death from Orthorexia Nervosa, but I'm sure there shall be more as we take on this health food kick. People suffering from this disorder try to avoid various types of "bad" things in many foods like fat, carbs, starches, protein, preservatives, etc. it very much resembles Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in its strict adherence to rules and discipline and the overconcern with eating healthy foods.