EATING PSYCHOLOGY 1 – Fragiskos Gonidakis
Orthorexia Nervosa: A new type of eating disorder or normal behavior?
The alarmingly high rates of obesity, mainly observed in the western world, have motivated more and more people to follow a healthy diet. In the last few years though, many specialists in eating disorders (EDs) have begun to discuss the construct of Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) in an effort to describe the phenomenon of obsessive and excessive adherence to consuming healthy food.
The term Orthorexia was first used by Steven Bratman in 1997. According to him, a healthy diet evolves into ON when a person crosses the “borderline” and his/her concern about food begins to negatively affect essential aspects of life. It is not easy to define the point of transition, but it can be described as a state in which the pursuit of a healthy diet dominates the individual’s life and ceases to serve the purpose of improving health.
ON bears many similarities to Anorexia Nervosa (AN). In fact, the weight loss that is often observed in ON may make it difficult to differentiate it from AN. In both cases there is a clear orientation towards achieving the nutritional goal, accompanied by stress and individuals consider their adherence to diet as an indication of self-discipline, while interpreting any derogation as a failure of self-control.
It is still under discussion whether ON is a distinct disorder or should be incorporated in the field of EDs or OCD, the possibility of being just a disturbed eating habit or, even simpler, a behavioral trait as well as its sociocultural extent.
Food addiction. Myth or reality
The term food addiction describes the pathological condition where certain food/food ingredients or behaviors related with food consumption became addictive. The addicted person craves certain food and experiences intense distress when deprived of those food. The controversy with the term food addiction is related with the idea of treating as addictive a behavior that is related with life itself. So far research both on animal and human subjects has focused on two areas. Firstly, the exploration of the addictive potential of certain food like sugar and secondly the addictive behavior that is exhibited by many patients suffering from eating disorders and more specific binge eating disorder. From a clinicians’ point of view it is interesting to incorporate the research data on the treatment manuals for eating disorder. Ideas and strategies that are used in addiction therapy can be beneficial for eating disorders sufferers. Moreover, the idea of addictive behavior concerning food consumption can be helpful for a clinical to comprehend the struggle of a client trying to change his/her eating behavior.