Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit

How have eating disorders evolved throughout the years with the help of advances in technology and medicine since eating disorders were given their own diagnosis?

All mental disorders have a diagnosis that is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM, current edition is IV-Text Revision). There are three types of eating disorders and each has its own diagnostic number in the DSM-IV to have a short hand for psychiatrist, therapists and psychologists. Anorexia Nervosa (307.1)characterized by a refusal to maintain a healthy body weight, obsessive fear of gaining weight, and distorted self image. Bulimia Nervosa (307.51) is characterized by binge eating, lack of self control during the binge eating session, and unhealthy behavior to prevent weight gain including self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics and other medications. The third type of eating disorder laid out in the DSM-IV-TR is Eating Disorder not otherwise specified (307.50) also known as EDNOS, whose characterizations are a mix of Anorexia and Bulimia or meeting most of the criteria for either disorder but not all criteria. Some people try to adhere Binge Eating Disorder to being overweight, however it is not currently a psychiatric diagnosis.

Eating Disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder and can affect both men and women of any age, race, or ethnic background. Although it is evident that eating disorders may have been around since the beginning of culture, it was first stated as a diagnosis in 1870.

Since the invention of the internet, people with eating disorders have been able to report their progress and be supportive for those who wish to follow the same path. These websites are commonly called “thinspo” or “pro-ED” sites because they give inspiration to keep restricting or purging in the form of pictures of very thin men and women and words like “stay strong” and “quod me nutrit me destruit” (what nourishes me, destroys me). Even people without eating disorders can negatively affect the health of a person with an eating disorder via the internet. Common phrases seen on social networking sites and blogs are “I need to lose [X] pounds in [X] weeks” and “I'm so full I could just throw up”. These phrases and others involving exercising may look like nonsense, and most people would just scroll right past that blog post or status update. But us men and women who have eating disorders can linger on those words for a long time, we think “I could lose [X] pounds faster than [X] weeks” and take it as a challenge to ourselves to beat that person in weight-loss. Diet sites like Weight Watchers open a whole new world for those suffering from eating disorders.

Men and women from around the world on these pro-ED sites support each other, and give one another advice on the quickest ways to lose weight. “Eat something in the morning so you don't get hungry later on and binge,” or “negative calorie foods like celery will fill you up while not costing you a single calorie".

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