Other Eating Disorders

In addition to the six eating disorders above, less-known or less common eating disorders also exist. These generally fall under one of three categories:

Purging disorder. Individuals with purging disorder often use purging behaviors, such as vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, or excessive exercising, to control their weight or shape. However, they do not binge.

Night eating syndrome. Individuals with this syndrome frequently eat excessively, often after awakening from sleep.

Other specified feeding or eating disorders (OSFED). While not found in the DSM-5, this includes any other conditions that have symptoms similar to those of an eating disorder but don’t fit into any of the categories above.

One disorder that may currently fall under OSFED is orthorexia. Although increasingly mentioned in the media and scientific studies, orthorexia has yet to be recognized as a separate eating disorder by the current DSM. Individuals with orthorexia tend to have an obsessive focus on healthy eating, to an extent that disrupts their daily lives. For instance, the affected person may eliminate entire food groups, fearing they’re unhealthy. This can lead to malnutrition, severe weight loss, difficulty eating outside the home, and emotional distress. Individuals with orthorexia rarely focus on losing weight. Instead, their self-worth, identity, or satisfaction is dependent upon how well they comply with their self-imposed diet rules.

Purging disorder and night eating syndrome are two additional eating disorders that are currently not well described. The OSFED category includes all eating disorders, such as orthorexia, that don’t fit into another category.