Understanding Eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) and the way to treat them.
Understanding Eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) and the way to treat them.
Unspecified eating disorders include eating problems that do not meet the criteria for specific disorders, such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia. However, people with unspecified eating disorders live with an obsession with body image and low self-esteem that has an impact on their mental and physical health.
They can count calories, impose diets, have overtraining habits … These are issues that need to be taken care of as seriously as eating disorders whose symptoms and characteristics are specified.
Eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) generally have multifactorial causes (biological, psychological, social and environmental). It is thus difficult to state one or more origins specific to this type of disorder.
As with bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa, the cult of thin, even lean, bodies is pointed out by health specialists as an aggravating factor. In fact, the majority of people affected by eating disorders are women. However, female bodies presented in the media as models of beauty are very often slender, which could influence young subjects, and favour the appearance of obsessions related to the body and weight.
There is no single protocol for this type of eating behaviour disorder. As with the specified eating disorders, each patient must undergo a personalized diagnosis in order to benefit from personalized care.
Again, the goal of care and treatment is always to achieve a certain return to “normality”, both in terms of body mass index and food intake (in quantity and quality).
The care provided to people with eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) is based on multidisciplinarity and can involve physical activities, psychiatric consultations, discussion groups, regular interviews with a dietitian, etc.
This management can be ambulatory, or in the hospital when the situation of the patient requires it.