Eating Disorders
Recognizing Eating Disorders
Eating disorders can be difficult to recognize, as behaviors often develop gradually and may be dismissed as dieting, picky eating, or health-consciousness. Warning signs include:
- Significant changes in eating patterns, food choices, or relationship with meals
- Preoccupation with weight, body shape, calories, or food content
- Avoiding social situations involving food or eating in front of others
- Noticeable weight changes or fluctuations
- Evidence of binge eating, such as disappearance of large amounts of food or eating in secret.
- Signs of purging behaviors, including frequent bathroom visits after meals
- Excessive or compulsive exercise that interferes with daily activities
- Mood changes, irritability, or withdrawal from relationships
- Physical symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, digestive issues, or difficulty concentrating
- Fear of eating due to concerns about choking, vomiting, or gastrointestinal discomfort
- Lack of interest in eating or apparent absence of hunger
- Sensory aversions to specific food characteristics that significantly limit intake.
Eating disorders don’t always look the way people expect them to. For more insight into how these conditions can go unrecognized, visit our blog: 6 Ways Eating Disorders Can Hide in Plain Sight
Eating Disorders We Treat
- Anorexia Nervosa: Characterized by severe restriction of food intake, intense fear of weight gain, and distorted body perception. Anorexia has the second highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. Lifetime prevalence affects up to 4% of females and 0.3% of males.
- Bulimia Nervosa: Involves recurrent binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors such as purging, fasting, or excessive exercise. Affects up to 3% of females and over 1% of males over their lifetimes.
- Binge Eating Disorder: The most common eating disorder, characterized by recurrent binge episodes without compensatory behaviors. Approximately 2.8 million Americans are affected, with lifetime prevalence of 3.5% in women and 2% in men.
- Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID): Significant restriction in food intake driven by sensory sensitivity, fear of aversive consequences, or lack of interest in eating. Prevalence estimates range from 0.5% to 5% across children and adults.
- Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED): Encompasses presentations that cause significant impairment but don’t meet full criteria for other diagnoses, including atypical anorexia, purging disorder, and subthreshold presentations. OSFED is equally serious and requires specialized treatment.
Treatment for Eating Disorders
Eating disorder therapy addresses the complex relationship someone has developed with food and their body. Our treatment team—psychologists, counselors, and psychiatrists—provides individual and family therapy along with medication management when indicated.
Therapy addresses not only eating disorder behaviors but also commonly co-occurring conditions including anxiety disorders, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and trauma. Our therapists understand that eating disorders often overlap with these conditions. We work collaboratively with clients to understand the psychological mechanisms maintaining disordered eating patterns, and address the underlying factors that keep these behaviors in place.
Recovery is rarely linear. Our commitment extends throughout the process, including setbacks and periods when motivation wanes. Successful eating disorder treatment requires an integrated team approach with consistent communication and sustained support.
Did You Know?
The Anorexia & Bulimia Resource Center, one of the founding divisions of Miami Counseling & Resource Center, was established in 1983 by Dr. Paula Levine, a nationally recognized expert in eating disorder treatment. The center pioneered comprehensive team-based treatment and remains committed to both clinical excellence and primary prevention efforts.
Learn More About Eating Disorder Diagnosis
For more information about how eating disorders are diagnosed and what distinguishes each condition, explore our blog: How Are Eating Disorders Diagnosed? Navigating the Path to Eating Disorder Therapy
Getting Started
If you or someone you care about is struggling with disordered eating, we’re here to help. You don’t need a formal diagnosis to begin therapy. If your relationship with food is causing distress or interfering with your life, that’s reason enough to reach out. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation and learn more about our eating disorder therapy services in Miami and throughout Florida via telehealth.
Sources:
- National Alliance for Eating Disorders
- ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders)