Parsing disordered eating from an eating disorder

One of my blog's commenters beautifully and concisely described the difference between disordered eating and an eating disorder:

Anonymous said...

Most people who restrict their intake of food find it very difficult after awhile to continue because their biology takes over and forces them to eat more. Other people restrict, however, and their biology responds in exactly the opposite way, signalling them to eat less and less. The first group has disordered eating. The second has an eating disorder. The difference is clear cut and determined by different biological signals. We don't know exactly what those signals are, yet, but we know there are clear differences.

Comments

  1. That's only true if you consider AN to be the only eating disorder.

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  2. Chartreuse said exactly what I was thinking.

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  3. I beg to differ!

    All eating disorders start with restriction. AN, BN, BED, ED-NOS.

    With BN and BED there are compensatory mechanisms going on that have their own self-perpetuating mechanisms.

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  4. Well, what made me write the last comment was thinking about my own experience. But, after your last comment, I think if i were to explain to you what I was thinking, you'd say that w're saying the same thing. The way I read this post, I thought "Well, if this is true, then I've nevr had an ED." I thought this because even when I was my most restrictive, everything in my body was screaming "EAT!" My body did not respond signaling me to eat less and less. I was hungry! I just didn't eat because I was scared to and I felt like I shouldn't. So if your biology has to make you want to eat less and less, then I didn't have an ED. Yes, I did eat less and less, but my biology wanted me to eat. Does this make snese? Where am I going wrong here? What am I missing?

    Also,, reading this post made me think that I have never had an ED because I have often fallen into the trap of restrict, restrict, restrict, eat more than I have been (biology coming into play here), guilt, restrict, eat more than I wanted to (biology causing this), restrict, eat more than I wanted to (once again, biology driving me to eat), etc. So, in my case, biology did not make me continue to not eat. It drove me to eat. Biology drove me to break my anorexic food rules. But I felt complete anguish inside when I did that. And I felt like I "had" to restrict even more to make up for it... But, anyway... my point here is that my biology is not signaling me to eat less and less. My mind might be telling me "keep it under control! Restrict even more just in case!" But my biology wins out sometimes and I eat.

    Based off the way I interpreted the post, this would all mean I never have had/don't have an ED. How did you interpret the post? I think we just interpreted anonymous's comment differently.

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  5. I think the disconnect here is that I believe those THOUGHTS you describe are biological.

    Some people are wired to have thoughts that tell them they must restrict, to fear food, to feel too large - especially when they have experienced restriction in the past. They are not choosing to feel or think that way, they are compelled - biologically - by way of changing thoughts and emotions.

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  6. ok... I agree if the biology we're talking about are the thoughts. But there's really two parts of biology - body and mind. The Body Biology doesn't necessarily signal you to keep restricting. But the Mind biology does. True, I guess I never have the thought "Screw it! I'm going off the diet! Haha.. back to enjoying life now." I guess you'er saying a person with DE might think that. A person with an ED does not think that - they are compelled to stay on the diet regardless of if they are being "successful" at it. Thoughts?

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  7. Agreed. Though I don't know that we can separate mind from body, can we? They influence one another and both are influenced by environment - one chemically and one cognitively.

    I really wish people would talk more about the brain effects of restriction.

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  8. I do believe that mind and body are connected, but, sometimes, in eating disorders, the mind and body act separately - which causes a lot of distress. Either your body doesn't eat and your mind feels ashamed because "you shouldn't still be struggling." Then again, another part of your mind says "good. You're keeping yourself safe and under control by not eating." Or your body eats and your mind berates you or devises some plan to "fix" that little mistake you just made by eating. So in terms of "biology keeps on restricting,' sometimes only the mind keeps on restricting (in the case when you are eating more than what your brain is telling you to eat) ... so, in this situation, wouldn't the mind and body be separate?

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  9. Yes, I have to agree on this one - the body and the brain are totally NOT getting along when this happens!

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  10. Is it biology that makes me feel safe and quiet and calm when I don't eat? I am not sure I understand.

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  11. Yes, restricting food (and binging and purging) has an anti-anxiety effect biologically FOR SOME PEOPLE.

    I do not get that effect - undereating causes me more anxiety and a drive to find food. But my daughter had the opposite: delaying a meal or under-nourishing herself gave her a calm and a feeling of control and peace.

    This is well-known biologically. As is this interesting fact: people with anorexia don't seem to get the same positive charge from eating - their reward centers don't light up the same way as other people.

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  12. ...then what about anorexics who binge?...

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  13. Can you elaborate on how the same principle applies? I have had this same question for a very long time...

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  14. I'm not completely sure of the question, but I'll respond to what I think you're asking: how can anorexics who binge be underfed?

    Underfed isn't just a total amount of calories, it is also timing. I think of it as a "hit" or a pill. Delaying a meal or eating less than needed is a hit. The binging - a natural result of restricting - is also a hit. One leads to the other in a cycle, and both have a biological effect of numbing emotion.

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