Lucia Henao
It’s all starts with orthorexia, the term ‘orthorexia’ means proper appetite. Orthorexia is a state characterized by an unhealthy and uncontrolled charm with eating healthy.
Individuals who are involved in these behaviors describe their ways as “clean eating”. Experts explain that orthorexia is a disease disguised as a virtue.
People experience satisfaction and control via extremely restricted healthy eating. The eating disorder orthorexia may begin with valuable efforts to eat healthily and lose weight.
People with orthorexia begin adhering to unreasonable eating guidelines. Their behaviors may start due to the management or prevention of a physical illness, and/or simply avoiding processed food.
Despite the seemingly favorable benefits of engaging in such behaviors, individuals may develop an excessive fixation on eating healthy.
They can adhere to tremendously rigid eating rules. These strict behaviors become problematic because they lead to psychosocial interference.
Individuals experience conflict with people around them over food choices, limiting their opportunities to socialize. These behaviors also lead to negative nutritional consequences.
Not a Recognized Mental Disorder
Although orthorexia has been identified, it is not a recognized diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, which is the most commonly used handbook by mental health professionals in America and most of the world.
Orthorexia also does not appear on the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, another handbook of health management for clinical purposes managed by the World Health Organisation.
The Problem
Currently, orthorexia is not an official diagnosis. Thus, it is difficult to estimate the number of people who have orthorexia or who display any symptoms.
It is unclear whether orthorexia is a facet of other eating disorders. It is also unknown if orthorexia is a completely separate disorder. Experts currently debate the two possibilities.
Moreover, the lack of recognition implies there is not enough support to research further. This in turns minimizes the possibility to find appropriate therapeutic treatments.
Similar Disorders
Anorexia and orthorexia are similar in terms of restricting amounts of food groups. This makes malnutrition a very likely possibility, for that reason, the two disorders share common physical consequences.
A better-known eating disorder such as anorexia is characterized by a distorted perception of the body and self-image. It presents extremely low body weight, extreme weight loss, and illogical weight-gain fear.
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Both orthorexia and anorexia display an excessive focus on food-related topics and perfectionism.
During the two disorders anxiety co-occurs. The need for control is obtained by rituals during meal preparation.
People with orthorexia and anorexia experience intrusive thoughts related to food.
It has also been considered that orthorexia shares commonalities with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Anxiety is also common in OCD and orthorexia. OCD and orthorexia share the need to exert control and perfectionism. Although people with OCD exhibit distress and a desire to change and stop compulsions, people with orthorexia do not.
What Does Orthorexia Look Like
Someone who has orthorexia can be found compulsively checking the ingredients information on nutritional labels.
These individuals display an evidently increased interest in the quality of ingredients. People with orthorexia will completely cut out a great number of food groups. Food groups like all sugars, carbs, dairy, all meat, all animal products.
There is a marked inability to eat anything but a narrow group of foods, labeled as healthy.
People with orthorexia will show an unusual interest in the food quality others are eating. They will spend long hours every day just thinking about what food will be served at upcoming events.
Individuals who have orthorexia will display high levels of distress when their healthy food is unavailable.
They will also obsessively follow blogs and social media that encourage ‘healthy lifestyles’ and ‘clean eating’. Body image concerns may or may not be present for those who have orthorexia.
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Besides possible malnutrition, people with orthorexia are likely to encounter a loss of relationships.
Their inflexible dietary requests can lead them to completely avoidance of social interaction where food is involved. This leads them to poor quality of life.
What’s Not Orthorexia
Some people with orthorexia follow a vegan diet. This is done to justify pathological food restriction.
However, people who follow vegan diets are not necessarily encountering an eating disorder.
Vegan diets do not involve obsessive thoughts regarding their health, nor restricting foods besides those of animal origin.
A vegan diet essentially is a compassionate habit, not a restrictive one. Vegans follow realistic and balanced nutrition.
Treatments
As it was mentioned, orthorexia is not a recognized diagnosis. This limits scientific research, therefore therapeutic treatments are also scarce or non-existent. In fact, there is no specific clinical treatment available to treat orthorexia.
To treat orthorexia, experts implement the same therapeutic techniques used when treating anorexia and OCD. For instance, exposure to anxiety-provoking foods, and psychotherapy.
One particular psychotherapeutic approach is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is a useful treatment for OCD.
Another treatment used to treat orthorexia is dialectical behavioral therapy, broadly used to treat anxiety disorders. Medication is also used, antidepressants, and anti-anxieties being the most commonly prescribed.
What to do if You or Someone Else Displays Signs & Symptoms of Orthorexia?
If you have been able to recognize your own symptoms, you are already on the path to recovery. The next step is to mention your concerns to your regular physician.
If one of your loved ones engages in the behaviors mentioned, approach them non-judgementally.
Try to reflect on your own judgments prior to a conversation. When expressing your concerns, do so empathetically and kindly. Suggest visiting their doctor, and offer to accompany them if necessary.
Their regular doctor can refer them to specialized mental health professionals. Ideally, a person with orthorexia will receive treatment from a team of health professionals ensuring steady recovery.
