I dread any event with a buffet. Because I know I'll eat and I'll keep eating and I won't even enjoy it but I'll eat because I feel somehow I have to. I'll eat even when I'm feeling full, when I'm feeling bloated, feeling pain in my gut, feeling sick.
Read about one person's experience of binge eating disorder, and how it felt to finally talk openly about it.
Other specified feeding and eating disorder (OSFED)
OSFED is a diagnosis that is becoming more common. In the past you may have been given a diagnosis of eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) – but this isn't usually used any more.
If you are given a diagnosis of OSFED it means that you have an eating disorder but you don't meet all the criteria for a diagnosis of anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder. This doesn't mean that your eating disorder is less serious, it just means that it doesn't fit into current diagnostic categories. You might experience any of the behaviours, feelings and body changes associated with other eating disorders.
Getting a diagnosis of OSFED can help you access treatment and support.
I was assessed by my local [eating disorder] service and was given a diagnosis of EDNOS [now OSFED]. I managed to get my eating back on track. I continue to work on the feelings with the help of my therapist and am very much in recovery.
Other diagnoses related to disordered eating
- Rumination disorder. If you have rumination disorder you will regularly regurgitate your food (but you do not have a physical health problem to explain it). You might re-chew, re-swallow or spit out the food you regurgitate.
- Pica. If you have pica, you will regularly eat things that are not food and have no nutritional value (for example chalk, metal or paint). This can potentially be very harmful.
- Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). If you have ARFID you will feel a very strong need to avoid food in general or certain foods because of their smell, taste or texture. The idea of eating can fill you with anxiety. ARFID does not tend to be connected to issues with body image – it is an anxiety about the process of eating itself.
My eating disorder has never been about body image or control, and I've had it for as long as I can remember. When I'm faced with certain foods I feel a reaction in the pit of my stomach like someone has put a plate of the most disgusting things in front of me. I can only equate the sensation to walking past an open sewer.
This information was published in June 2017. We will revise it in 2020.