Purging Disorder: The Little-Known Facts

We knew that some people suffer from eating disorders, which are often triggered by emotional or psychological stress. The most common of these, as we have seen on television, are bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. However, there are also little-known eating disorders that common among people for a long time already. One of these is the "purging disorder."

Purging disorder has not been an officially recognized diagnosis in the classification of eating disorders. The American Psychiatric Association has not recognized it as a distinct condition. In current classification, purging disorder belonged to EDNOS, or "eating disorder not otherwise specified."

Both purging disorder and bulimia nervosa are characterized by recurrent purging right after eating in order to control body weight or shape. However, people suffering from bulimia nervosa take in large, usually uncontrolled, amounts of food while people with purging disorder usually consume normal amounts, or even less, before they purge.

Purging disorder also differs from anorexia nervosa because individuals with purging disorder are not underweight. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by the inability to consistently maintain adequate body weight, an intense fear of becoming obese, and an unrealistic, negative body image. People with anorexia nervosa always "feel fat" despite their lanky appearance.

Like any other eating disorder, no one is really sure what causes purging disorder. Most often, it may be caused by stress or anxiety.

There are also some people who, without any valid reason, feel guilty after they eat. It could be that they're guilty or scared that they might soon grow fat. Thus, they resort to purging in order to remove all that they have eaten.

This usually happens to people who had recently made a promise to themselves to reduce their food intake. When they eat, they often feel guilty about breaking their promise. Furthermore, people who had reduced their eating frequency often feel that their mouth or stomach have a negative reaction every time they take in food. This could result to a psychological feeling of attempting to vomit the food or the feeling of being full already. Stomach discomforts may also be experienced.

Again, there is no exact and complete reason for the cause of purging disorder.

The dangers of purging disorder are similar to those of bulimia nervosa. These include potential dental problems due to self-induced vomiting, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalances affecting the heart and kidneys.

There is currently no standard treatment for purging disorder. It is still uncertain whether treatment used for individuals suffering with bulimia nervosa will be effective for those with purging disorder.

For the meantime, friends and loved ones of individuals suffering with purging disorder are advised to help the person manage any eating-disorder-related medical problems, obtain healthy eating plan and nutrition education and learn to cope up with anxiety or stress.

By: littlepinoy
Published: 06/30/08

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4 Posted Comments:

@ 6:41 am 07/06/08 by kizza

Not sure if my comment went through. Great article it was very informative, I was not aware of this disorder I have heard of bulimia, but not this one. It is frightning thinking of people haivng this disorder.

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@ 10:15 pm 07/06/08 by sheryl joy olano

I love food. However, I have a little problem sometimes. I puke after eating. This started after my father's death and stopped last year. However, it returned just last week. I'm not guilty about eating and I definitely am not bulimic or anorexic (thank God). This I'm sure though: the puking occurs when I'm having emotional problems or to be exact, when I'm stressed. The cure? UNWIND. hehehe

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@ 6:28 am 07/18/08 by Nikolai

I guess the majority of the health related issues we have are the results of the stress. There is just too much stress everywhere these days. Solution? As the previous commenter said - UNWIND.

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@ 7:55 pm 07/20/08 by colortrend

Purging maybe caused by gastritis.

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