Types of Disorders
Eating disorders are psychological illness with physical consequences. These illness exist on a continuum; anorexia and bulimia nervosa, eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) and binge eating disorder.
There are also many types of subclinical eating disorders and other forms of disordered eating that can result in physical and psychological problems that can put people at risk of developing clinical eating disorders.
Eating disorders may take many months or years to develop and it may be some time before the sufferer actually begins to display extreme behavioural characteristics, such as starvation or bingeing and purging. It is important to remember that eating disorders are mental illnesses and therefore, even if someone does not fit all the physical diagnostic criteria, they can still be in deep emotional and psychological distress.