Selective Eating Disorder?

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I have all of the symptoms of a selective eating disorder, except it says that a fear of weight gain is not usually associated with it. I have a massive fear of gaining weight and I am constantly thinking about it, and I often prevent myself from eating in order to try and lose weight. I refuse to try dieting because I can't eat most of the foods or brands. Could I still have a selective eating disorder with this fixation on my weight, or could it be a different kind of eating problem? 

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  • Posted

    Sorry to hear about your struggles. In current guidance, selective eating disorder isn't a condition. Selective eating can be present in children as fussy eating, but as an eating it's sort of a phrase which has been adopted, in the same fashion as orthorexia.

    The patterns of behaviour of SED or orthorexia classically align to anorexia nervosa, but it may be that a person doesn't meet all the criteria for anorexia nervosa, so would be diagnosed with OSFED (formerly known as EDNOS), which means Other specificed feeding or eating disorders.

    Either way, I would make an appointment to see your GP and chat through your difficulties. There are some helpful leaflets and guides on the Beat website, and they can also signpost you to further resources on the helpline (free, and open 4pm-10pm 7 days a week).

    Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, and can be caused by a number of factors. It's important to recognise they are not merely diets gone out of control, but a response to difficult events / emotions etc. I'm not a qualified health professional, just someone with significant therapeutic experience for my own eating disorder, so I'm unable to diagnose you, but I would really encourage you to chat to a health professional.

    Hope this helps.

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