What Are Eating Disorders?
Learn the basics of Eating Disorders, how it may present, and why a professional evaluation can be useful. Get clear information from Tinka Health Services for.
What Are Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders are serious mental and physical health conditions involving persistent disturbances in eating behavior, food intake, body image, weight-related thoughts, or behaviors intended to control weight or shape.
They may involve:
- Restricting food intake
- Avoiding certain foods or food groups
- Recurrent binge-eating episodes
- Feeling unable to control eating
- Self-induced vomiting
- Misusing laxatives, diuretics, or other products
- Fasting after eating
- Compulsive or excessive exercise
- Intense fear of weight gain
- Persistent distress about body shape or weight
- Avoiding food for reasons unrelated to weight or appearance
- Eating nonfood substances
- Repeatedly bringing food back up after eating
Eating disorders are not diets, phases, failures of willpower, or lifestyle choices. They are medical and psychiatric conditions that can affect nutrition, physical health, emotional well-being, relationships, work, education, and personal safety.
A person does not need to appear underweight to have an eating disorder. Eating disorders can affect people of different ages, sexes, racial and ethnic backgrounds, body sizes, income levels, and life experiences. Someone who appears physically healthy may still be experiencing severe symptoms or medical complications.
At Tinka Health Services, eligible patients in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia may receive psychiatric evaluation, assessment of co-occurring mental health symptoms, medication management when clinically appropriate, therapy-informed support, care coordination, and telehealth mental health care.
Eating disorders often require coordinated care involving medical, nutritional, and mental health professionals. Tinka Health Services may recommend or coordinate additional services when a patient needs physical-health monitoring, specialized eating-disorder psychotherapy, nutritional treatment, or a higher level of care.
Tinka Health Services is not an emergency service.
What Makes an Eating Disorder Different From Ordinary Eating Concerns?
Many people occasionally:
- Worry about their appearance
- Change their eating habits
- Overeat
- Skip a meal
- Try a new diet
- Feel uncomfortable after eating
- Compare their bodies with others
These experiences do not automatically indicate an eating disorder.
Concern increases when thoughts and behaviors involving food, weight, shape, exercise, or eating become:
- Persistent
- Compulsive
- Difficult to control
- Emotionally distressing
- Medically risky
- Secretive
- Increasingly rigid
- Interfering with daily life
An eating disorder may begin with behavior that appears socially acceptable, such as “healthy eating,” exercise, calorie tracking, or weight loss.
Over time, the behavior may become increasingly rigid or dangerous.
For example, an adult may:
- Remove more foods from their diet
- Become afraid of meals they did not prepare
- Exercise despite illness or injury
- Experience intense guilt after eating
- Avoid social events involving food
- Binge in secret
- Vomit or use laxatives after eating
- Spend much of the day thinking about food or body shape
The central concern is not one isolated food decision. It is the pattern, motivation, distress, medical effect, and loss of flexibility.
Eating Disorders Are Mental and Physical Health Conditions
Eating disorders are classified as mental health disorders, but their effects are not limited to thoughts and emotions.
They can interfere with the body’s ability to receive and use adequate nutrition. Possible complications may involve:
- Heart function
- Blood pressure
- Electrolyte balance
- Kidney function
- Digestive health
- Hormones
- Menstrual function
- Bone health
- Muscle strength
- Brain function
- Immune function
- Dental health
- Hydration
Eating disorders can be medically serious and, in some cases, life-threatening. They are also associated with higher rates of conditions such as depression, anxiety, and substance-use disorders. Early identification and treatment are important.
Psychiatric treatment should not replace necessary medical evaluation.
A person with a possible eating disorder may need assessment from:
- A primary-care professional
- An eating-disorder specialist
- A psychiatric provider
- A psychotherapist
- A registered dietitian with eating-disorder experience
- Another medical specialist
- A higher-level treatment program
What Are the Main Types of Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders include several conditions with different patterns.
Commonly recognized feeding and eating disorders include:
- Anorexia nervosa
- Bulimia nervosa
- Binge-eating disorder
- Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder
- Other specified feeding or eating disorder
- Pica
- Rumination disorder
These conditions may differ in their symptoms, motivations, medical risks, and treatment needs.
Learn more in Types of Eating Disorders and How They Differ.
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa involves significant restriction of food intake that leads to a body weight below what is expected for the person’s age, sex, development, and physical health.
It may also involve:
- Intense fear of gaining weight
- Persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain
- Distorted perception of body weight or shape
- Strong influence of weight or shape on self-evaluation
- Difficulty recognizing the seriousness of low weight or restricted intake
Possible behaviors include:
- Skipping meals
- Eating very small portions
- Avoiding high-energy foods
- Counting calories repeatedly
- Exercising excessively
- Denying hunger
- Wearing loose clothing to hide weight changes
- Avoiding eating with others
Not everyone with restrictive eating identifies as wanting to be thin. A complete evaluation should assess the person’s motivations, eating patterns, physical health, and other possible explanations.
Atypical Anorexia Nervosa
A person may have the psychological and behavioral features of anorexia nervosa without being below a particular weight threshold.
This pattern may be diagnosed under other specified feeding or eating disorder.
The individual may have:
- Significant food restriction
- Intense fear of weight gain
- Rapid or substantial weight loss
- Distorted body image
- Compulsive exercise
- Medical instability
A person can experience serious complications at a body size that others consider average or high. Body weight alone does not determine the seriousness of an eating disorder.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia nervosa involves recurring binge-eating episodes followed by behaviors intended to prevent weight gain.
A binge-eating episode generally involves:
- Eating an unusually large amount of food within a limited period
- Feeling unable to stop or control the eating
Compensatory behaviors may include:
- Self-induced vomiting
- Laxative misuse
- Diuretic misuse
- Fasting
- Excessive exercise
- Other attempts to compensate for eating
People with bulimia may be at any body weight.
Because the behaviors may occur privately, family members, friends, and healthcare professionals may not immediately recognize the condition.
Medical risks may involve:
- Dehydration
- Electrolyte changes
- Heart-rhythm problems
- Throat or digestive injury
- Dental damage
- Swollen glands
- Kidney concerns
Bulimia is not simply overeating followed by regret. It involves a recurring pattern of binge eating, loss of control, compensatory behavior, and distress.
Binge-Eating Disorder
Binge-eating disorder involves recurrent binge-eating episodes without the regular compensatory behaviors associated with bulimia nervosa.
During an episode, the person may:
- Eat more rapidly than usual
- Eat until uncomfortably full
- Eat large amounts without physical hunger
- Eat alone because of embarrassment
- Feel guilt, shame, sadness, or disgust afterward
- Feel unable to control the episode
Binge-eating disorder is not the same as occasionally eating too much during a celebration or stressful day.
The pattern is recurrent, distressing, and may affect:
- Emotional health
- Physical health
- Relationships
- Finances
- Daily routines
- Self-esteem
A person with binge-eating disorder should not be reduced to their body weight. Treatment focuses on the eating-disorder symptoms, distress, health, and functioning—not simply weight loss.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, often called ARFID, involves limited food intake or avoidance that leads to significant nutritional, physical, or functional consequences.
Food avoidance may be related to:
- Sensory sensitivity
- Fear of choking
- Fear of vomiting
- Low interest in food
- A previous distressing eating experience
- Strong aversion to certain textures, smells, or appearances
Unlike anorexia nervosa, ARFID is not primarily driven by fear of weight gain or body-image concerns.
Possible consequences include:
- Weight loss
- Nutritional deficiency
- Dependence on supplements or tube feeding
- Interference with social life
- Difficulty eating enough to support health
- Reduced energy
- Physical weakness
ARFID can affect children and adults.
A medical evaluation is important because gastrointestinal, swallowing, allergy-related, sensory, and other medical concerns may also affect eating.
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder
Other specified feeding or eating disorder, often shortened to OSFED, describes clinically significant eating-disorder symptoms that cause distress or impairment but do not meet every criterion for another specific diagnosis.
Examples may include:
- Atypical anorexia nervosa
- Bulimia symptoms occurring less often or for a shorter duration
- Binge-eating symptoms occurring less often or for a shorter duration
- Purging without binge eating
- Night-eating syndrome
OSFED does not mean the condition is mild or unimportant.
A person may experience serious psychological distress, medical complications, and daily impairment even when symptoms do not fit neatly into another diagnostic category.
Pica
Pica involves repeatedly eating substances that are not food and do not provide nutritional value.
Examples may include:
- Dirt
- Clay
- Paper
- Chalk
- Soap
- Hair
- Other nonfood materials
The behavior must be assessed in relation to:
- Age and development
- Cultural practices
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Pregnancy
- Intellectual or developmental conditions
- Medical risk
Possible complications include:
- Poisoning
- Infection
- Intestinal blockage
- Dental injury
- Exposure to harmful substances
Medical evaluation may be necessary.
Rumination Disorder
Rumination disorder involves repeatedly bringing recently eaten food back into the mouth.
The person may:
- Re-chew the food
- Re-swallow it
- Spit it out
The behavior is not fully explained by another gastrointestinal or medical condition.
Rumination disorder is different from:
- Vomiting caused by illness
- Acid reflux
- Self-induced vomiting intended to control weight
- Occasional regurgitation
Assessment may involve both medical and mental health professionals.
Can Someone Have More Than One Eating-Disorder Pattern?
Symptoms may change over time.
A person may:
- Move from restriction to binge eating
- Develop compensatory behaviors
- Stop one behavior while another continues
- Receive different diagnoses at different stages
- Experience symptoms that do not fit one category perfectly
A previous diagnosis does not guarantee that the current presentation is identical.
Regular evaluation helps determine:
- Which behaviors are currently present
- Whether medical risks have changed
- Whether the diagnosis should be updated
- Which treatment is now most appropriate
Who Can Develop an Eating Disorder?
Eating disorders can affect:
- Women
- Men
- Nonbinary people
- Adolescents
- Adults
- Older adults
- Athletes
- Pregnant or postpartum patients
- People with chronic medical conditions
- People at any body size
They occur across racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic groups.
Stereotypes may delay recognition.
For example, people may incorrectly assume that eating disorders only affect:
- Young women
- Very thin people
- People who openly dislike their bodies
- People from wealthy backgrounds
- People who refuse all food
These assumptions can prevent adults from seeking assessment.
NIMH emphasizes that eating disorders can affect people across ages, body weights, sexes, and racial and ethnic backgrounds.
What Causes Eating Disorders?
There is no single cause.
Research suggests that eating disorders may develop through a combination of:
- Genetic factors
- Biological factors
- Psychological factors
- Behavioral factors
- Family experiences
- Social influences
- Cultural pressures
- Environmental stressors
Possible risk factors may include:
- Family history of eating disorders
- Anxiety or obsessive traits
- Depression
- Trauma
- Perfectionism
- Body dissatisfaction
- Weight-based teasing or discrimination
- Dieting
- Participation in activities emphasizing weight or appearance
- Major life transitions
- Food insecurity
- Chronic illness
- Social isolation
- Exposure to appearance-focused content
Having one or more risk factors does not mean that a person will develop an eating disorder.
Eating disorders are complex conditions rather than the result of one decision, one family interaction, or one cultural influence.
Eating Disorders Are Not Caused by Vanity
Body image may be involved, but eating disorders are not simply about appearance.
Symptoms may involve:
- Anxiety reduction
- Emotional control
- Sensory discomfort
- Fear of choking
- Trauma
- Compulsivity
- Perfectionism
- Self-criticism
- Distress tolerance
- Habitual or reinforcing behavior
A person may understand that a behavior is harmful and still feel unable to stop.
Shame, criticism, threats, or arguments about food may make disclosure and treatment engagement more difficult.
What Are Common Signs of an Eating Disorder?
Possible behavioral signs include:
- Skipping meals
- Eating alone or secretly
- Avoiding entire food groups
- Developing rigid food rules
- Repeatedly checking weight or appearance
- Frequent bathroom visits after meals
- Hiding food
- Finding food wrappers or containers
- Exercising despite illness or injury
- Preparing food for others but not eating
- Avoiding restaurants or social meals
- Wearing loose clothing to hide body changes
- Using laxatives, diuretics, or diet products
- Expressing intense guilt after eating
Possible emotional or cognitive signs include:
- Persistent fear of weight gain
- Strong body dissatisfaction
- Preoccupation with food
- Feeling out of control while eating
- Shame or secrecy
- Irritability
- Anxiety around meals
- Depression
- Rigid thinking
- Difficulty concentrating
Possible physical signs include:
- Unexplained weight changes
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Fatigue
- Feeling cold
- Digestive complaints
- Menstrual changes
- Dental problems
- Muscle weakness
- Poor wound healing
- Sleep changes
- Hair, skin, or nail changes
- Swelling
- Irregular heartbeat
No single sign confirms an eating disorder.
Several changes appearing together may justify professional evaluation.
Read Common Signs and Symptoms of Eating Disorders.
Can a Person Have an Eating Disorder Without Losing Weight?
Yes.
A person may have an eating disorder while:
- Losing weight
- Gaining weight
- Remaining at a similar weight
- Living in a body classified as average or high weight
Weight alone cannot show:
- How much the person is eating
- How rapidly weight has changed
- Whether binge eating occurs
- Whether purging occurs
- Whether exercise is compulsive
- Whether electrolytes are abnormal
- Whether the person is medically stable
- How much psychological distress is present
Healthcare professionals should evaluate behaviors, symptoms, rate of change, medical findings, and functioning rather than relying only on appearance.
What Is the Difference Between Disordered Eating and an Eating Disorder?
Disordered eating is a broad term for problematic eating behaviors or attitudes that may not meet full criteria for a diagnosed eating disorder.
Examples may include:
- Chronic dieting
- Skipping meals
- Emotional eating
- Rigid food rules
- Guilt after eating
- Frequent body checking
- Occasional loss-of-control eating
- Using exercise to compensate for food
These behaviors can still cause distress or develop into a more serious condition.
A diagnosed eating disorder generally involves a clinically significant pattern of symptoms, distress, impairment, or medical risk.
The boundary is not always obvious.
Someone does not need to wait until symptoms become severe enough for a specific diagnosis before seeking support.
How Can Eating Disorders Affect Daily Life?
Eating disorders may affect:
Work or Education
- Difficulty concentrating
- Reduced energy
- Missing work or classes
- Avoiding shared meals
- Decreased performance
- Repeated medical appointments
Relationships
- Secrecy
- Withdrawal
- Conflict around food
- Avoiding celebrations
- Reduced intimacy
- Difficulty accepting support
Finances
- Spending large amounts on binge food
- Purchasing supplements or weight-control products
- Missing work
- Paying for repeated medical care
- Financial strain from specialized treatment
Physical Activity
- Exercising despite pain or injury
- Feeling unable to rest
- Organizing life around exercise
- Experiencing guilt when exercise is missed
Self-Care
- Irregular meals
- Poor sleep
- Medication misuse
- Ignoring physical symptoms
- Difficulty maintaining hydration
- Reduced ability to manage other medical conditions
Compulsive exercise may interfere with important activities and continue despite physical injury or medical concern.
Read How Eating Disorders Affect Daily Life.
What Mental Health Conditions May Occur With Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders may occur alongside:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Obsessive-compulsive symptoms
- Trauma-related symptoms
- Substance-use disorders
- Self-harm
- Suicidal thoughts
- ADHD
- Mood instability
Co-occurring conditions may:
- Worsen eating-disorder symptoms
- Complicate treatment
- Affect medication decisions
- Increase safety concerns
- Require coordinated care
NIMH identifies depression, anxiety, and substance-use disorders among the mental health conditions that may occur with eating disorders.
Treatment should assess the complete pattern rather than treating eating behavior in isolation.
How Are Eating Disorders Evaluated?
An eating-disorder evaluation may include:
- Eating patterns
- Food restriction
- Binge-eating episodes
- Purging behaviors
- Exercise patterns
- Body-image concerns
- Fear of weight gain
- Sensory or choking concerns
- Weight history
- Physical symptoms
- Medical history
- Medication and supplements
- Menstrual or hormonal changes
- Alcohol and substance use
- Mood, anxiety, trauma, and safety
- Effects on daily functioning
Physical assessment may include:
- Vital signs
- Weight history
- Hydration
- Physical examination
- Laboratory testing
- Electrocardiogram
- Other medical investigations
A person may need evaluation from more than one professional because eating disorders can affect both psychiatric and physical health.
Read How Eating Disorders Are Evaluated.
What Does Eating-Disorder Treatment Involve?
Treatment depends on:
- Type of eating disorder
- Current behaviors
- Medical stability
- Nutritional status
- Co-occurring conditions
- Safety
- Age
- Family or social support
- Previous treatment
- Patient needs and preferences
Care may include:
- Medical monitoring
- Nutritional rehabilitation
- Psychotherapy
- Psychiatric care
- Medication for selected symptoms or conditions
- Family involvement
- Practical support
- Treatment for substance use
- A higher level of care when needed
Some patients may receive routine outpatient care.
Others may need:
- Intensive outpatient treatment
- Partial hospitalization
- Residential treatment
- Inpatient medical treatment
- Inpatient psychiatric treatment
Treatment should address physical stabilization, eating-disorder behavior, emotional health, and daily functioning.
Eating disorders can be treated, and recovery is possible. Early recognition and appropriate care may improve outcomes.
Read Eating Disorder Treatment Options.
Is Medication Used for Eating Disorders?
Medication may be considered for selected eating disorders, symptoms, or co-occurring mental health conditions.
Medication decisions may consider:
- The specific diagnosis
- Depression or anxiety
- Binge-eating symptoms
- Obsessive or compulsive symptoms
- Mood instability
- Medical health
- Nutritional status
- Current medication
- Substance use
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding
- Side-effect risks
Medication does not replace:
- Nutritional treatment
- Medical monitoring
- Psychotherapy
- Weight restoration when medically necessary
- A higher level of care when safety requires it
A psychiatric appointment does not guarantee a prescription.
Read Medication Management for Eating Disorders.
Can Eating-Disorder Care Be Provided Through Telehealth?
Some parts of eating-disorder care may be provided through telehealth when virtual treatment is clinically appropriate.
Telehealth may support:
- Psychiatric evaluation
- Medication management
- Therapy
- Symptom monitoring
- Care planning
- Coordination with other professionals
Patients may still need in-person services for:
- Vital signs
- Weight or growth assessment
- Physical examination
- Laboratory testing
- Electrocardiogram
- Nutritional assessment
- Medical stabilization
- Specialized treatment
Eligible Tinka Health Services patients must be physically located in Maryland, Washington, DC, or Virginia during telehealth appointments.
Read Telehealth Care for Eating Disorders in Maryland, DC, and Virginia.
When Should Someone Seek Help?
Consider requesting an evaluation when an adult:
- Regularly restricts food
- Has recurrent binge-eating episodes
- Vomits or misuses laxatives after eating
- Is intensely afraid of weight gain
- Avoids food because of sensory or choking concerns
- Exercises compulsively
- Experiences significant distress around meals
- Has rapid or unexplained weight changes
- Avoids social situations involving food
- Spends much of the day thinking about eating, weight, or shape
- Has physical symptoms related to eating behavior
- Feels unable to stop the pattern
- Has increasing depression, anxiety, or substance use
A person does not need to:
- Be underweight
- Have every symptom
- Know the diagnosis
- Wait for a medical crisis
- Receive permission from family
Read When to Seek Help for an Eating Disorder.
When Is Prompt Medical Assessment Needed?
Seek prompt clinical or medical assessment for:
- Fainting
- Repeated dizziness
- Rapid weight change
- Persistent vomiting
- Blood in vomit
- Severe weakness
- Dehydration
- Significant heart palpitations
- Increasing confusion
- Inability to eat or drink adequately
- Repeated laxative or diuretic misuse
- Severe abdominal symptoms
- Worsening depression
- Suicidal thoughts
The seriousness of an eating disorder cannot be determined from appearance alone.
When Is Emergency Care Needed?
Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room when someone:
- Is unresponsive
- Has severe confusion
- Has fainted with concerning symptoms
- Has a seizure
- Has severe chest pain
- Has major breathing difficulty
- Has severe dehydration
- Is vomiting blood
- Has taken an overdose
- Has attempted suicide
- Has a suicide plan and intends to act
- Cannot eat or drink safely
- Cannot remain safe
- Is experiencing another immediate medical or psychiatric emergency
Do not wait for:
- A routine psychiatric appointment
- A nutrition appointment
- A voicemail
- An email
- A website response
- A patient-portal message
Tinka Health Services is not an emergency service.
How to Support Someone With a Possible Eating Disorder
A supportive conversation may begin with specific observations.
For example:
“I have noticed that you are skipping meals, avoiding activities involving food, and feeling dizzy. I am concerned about your health.”
Helpful approaches include:
- Speaking privately
- Remaining calm
- Describing specific changes
- Listening without arguing
- Encouraging professional assessment
- Offering help with scheduling
- Taking physical symptoms seriously
Avoid:
- Commenting approvingly or critically on weight
- Debating whether the person looks sick
- Demanding that they “just eat”
- Blaming the person
- Praising weight loss
- Making threats unless immediate safety requires action
- Turning every meal into an argument
- Promising secrecy about immediate danger
Support should encourage professional treatment rather than make one family member entirely responsible for recovery.
Common Misconceptions About Eating Disorders
“Eating Disorders Only Affect Thin People”
Eating disorders can affect people at any body size.
“They Are a Choice”
Eating disorders are serious mental and medical conditions, not lifestyle choices.
“Someone With an Eating Disorder Refuses All Food”
Many people continue eating while restricting certain foods, binge eating, purging, or using other compensatory behaviors.
“Binge-Eating Disorder Is Just Poor Self-Control”
It involves recurrent episodes of loss-of-control eating and significant distress.
“ARFID Is Just Picky Eating”
ARFID can cause nutritional deficiency, weight or health problems, dependence on supplements, and serious interference with daily life.
“A Normal Weight Means the Person Is Medically Safe”
Serious symptoms and complications may occur without visible low weight.
“Eating Disorders Only Affect Young Women”
They can affect people of different ages, sexes, identities, and backgrounds.
“Medication Alone Treats Every Eating Disorder”
Treatment may require medical, nutritional, psychotherapeutic, psychiatric, and practical support.
“A Person Must Want Recovery Before Treatment Can Begin”
Ambivalence is common. Evaluation, education, medical care, and supportive treatment can begin while motivation develops.
“Recovery Means Never Having a Difficult Food or Body-Image Thought”
Recovery may involve improved nutrition, reduced eating-disorder behavior, medical stability, better functioning, greater flexibility, and stronger coping even when occasional difficult thoughts still occur.
How Tinka Health Services Can Help
Tinka Health Services provides psychiatric evaluation, medication management when clinically appropriate, therapy-informed support, individualized care planning, and telehealth mental health services for eligible patients in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia.
During an evaluation involving possible eating-disorder symptoms, Seliat Dosunmu, DNP, PMHNP-BC, FNP-C, may review:
- Restrictive eating
- Binge-eating episodes
- Purging behavior
- Compulsive exercise
- Food avoidance
- Body-image concerns
- Mood
- Anxiety
- Obsessive or intrusive thoughts
- Trauma-related symptoms
- Sleep
- Substance use
- Current medication and supplements
- Previous treatment
- Daily functioning
- Self-harm and suicide risk
Depending on the evaluation, recommendations may include:
- Psychiatric follow-up
- Assessment of co-occurring mental health conditions
- Medication management when clinically appropriate
- Therapy-informed support
- Referral for specialized eating-disorder psychotherapy
- Referral to a registered dietitian with relevant experience
- Primary-care or specialist evaluation
- Laboratory testing
- Vital-sign or heart monitoring
- Coordination with other members of the care team
- Substance-use treatment
- Safety planning
- Referral to intensive outpatient, partial hospitalization, residential, inpatient, or emergency care when needed
An appointment does not guarantee:
- An eating-disorder diagnosis
- A psychiatric medication prescription
- A controlled medication
- A refill
- A dose change
- Laboratory testing
- Nutritional treatment
- A particular referral
- A specific treatment outcome
Recommendations depend on the patient’s symptoms, eating behaviors, medical health, nutritional risks, current medications, previous treatment, substance use, daily functioning, preferences, and safety needs.
Telehealth appointments may be available for eligible patients physically located in Maryland, Washington, DC, or Virginia when virtual care is clinically appropriate.
Some patients may require in-person or multidisciplinary services that Tinka Health Services does not provide directly, including:
- Physical examination
- Vital-sign assessment
- Laboratory testing
- Electrocardiogram
- Nutritional rehabilitation
- Specialized eating-disorder psychotherapy
- Medical stabilization
- Intensive outpatient treatment
- Partial hospitalization
- Residential treatment
- Inpatient medical or psychiatric treatment
For non-emergency psychiatric evaluation and mental health support, schedule an appointment with Seliat Dosunmu, DNP, PMHNP-BC, FNP-C.
Related Eating Disorder Resources
- Eating Disorders Care
- Types of Eating Disorders and How They Differ
- When to Seek Help for an Eating Disorder
- Common Signs and Symptoms of Eating Disorders
- How Eating Disorders Affect Daily Life
- Eating Disorder Warning Signs
- How Eating Disorders Are Evaluated
- Preparing for an Eating Disorder Evaluation
- Questions to Ask About Eating Disorder Care
- Eating Disorder Treatment Options
- Therapy and Nutritional Support for Eating Disorders
- Creating an Eating Disorder Care Plan
- Medication Management for Eating Disorders
- What to Expect During Eating Disorder Medication Follow-Up
- Eating Disorder Medication Safety and Monitoring
- Telehealth Care for Eating Disorders in Maryland, DC, and Virginia
- Insurance and Cost Questions for Eating Disorder Care
- Preparing for Your First Eating Disorder Appointment
Key Takeaway
Eating disorders are serious psychiatric and medical conditions involving persistent disturbances in eating behavior, food intake, body-image concerns, or weight-control behaviors.
They may include:
- Food restriction
- Binge eating
- Self-induced vomiting
- Laxative or diuretic misuse
- Compulsive exercise
- Intense fear of weight gain
- Avoidance related to food texture, choking, or low interest
- Eating nonfood substances
- Repeated regurgitation
Major eating-disorder diagnoses include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, other specified feeding or eating disorder, pica, and rumination disorder.
A person does not need to appear underweight to have a serious eating disorder. Eating disorders can affect people of any body size, sex, age, racial or ethnic background, or income level.
Treatment may involve medical care, nutritional support, psychotherapy, psychiatric services, medication for selected symptoms or co-occurring conditions, family support, and a higher level of care when necessary.
At Tinka Health Services, eligible patients physically located in Maryland, Washington, DC, or Virginia may receive psychiatric assessment, medication management when clinically appropriate, therapy-informed support, care coordination, and telehealth mental health care.
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