The condition known as "orthorexia nervosa" was first described by Dr Steven Bratman in 1997.   This diagnostic category is usually viewed by psychiatrists as being a variety of anorexia nervosa.  The chief difference between orthorexia and anorexia nervosa is the motivation for a person not to eat, although the end result is often very similar.  An eating disorder treatment center should be able to accurately diagnose this eating disorder where it occurs. 

Orthorexia nervosa is an uncommon Eating Disorder

The prefix "ortho" means correct, right, or true.  Somebody who has orthorexia nervosa has an unhealthy obsession with eating only pure and healthy foods.  Of course eating healthily is a good idea, but for people with this illness their obsession with eating only the right foods can lead to them having serious negative consequences and even starvation.  An anorexic has a desire to be thin and loses his/her appetite as a result, an orthorexic has a desire to only eat very specific types of food.  Both of these eating disorders can result in dramatic weight loss and require .

Scientific Eating Disorder treatment

There have been a number of diets over the years.  These diets come into fashion and dictate ideas about what is healthy and what is not.  Diets such as the Atkins diet restrict carbohydrates to a bare minimum teach people to restrict their dietary intake to very specific foods.  Some of these diets lead to quite unusual demands on their adherents.  An eating disorder treatment program is not about fashion or fads - it offers a truly scientific and objective view based on an assessment of the clients nutritional needs.

Eating Disorder Treatment

Orthorexics are similar to people with other eating disorders in the way that they subsume their entire self-worth into their eating practices.  Just like people with anorexia or bulimia the orthorxic may become pathologically fixated with food.  Because they are unable to feel good about themselves their entire life becomes controlled by their eating.  Often a person with an eating disorder will feel guilty and ashamed if they are unable to adhere to the "rules" they have set up for themselves.  Effective eating disorder treatment helps a person to escape this self-made prison by identifying the rules and challenging the faulty thinking that led to their creation.

An eating disorder treatment program helps a person to examine this relationship with food and to disrupt the cycle of obsession with food.  People with an active eating disorder will often think about food every minute of the day.  An eating disorder treatment program will help them to rethink how their daily routine so that it is no longer centered exclusively on their food.

Anorexia Nervosa vs Orthorexia Nervosa

Where people with anorexia or bulimia might be focused on how much they eat, the orthorexic is focused on the quality of the food they eat.  They may initially start eating healthily for legitimate health reasons or common allergies.  If they start feeling good about themselves as a result of this change in diet they may be motivated to start introducing more dietary improvements.  Some people become so fixated on their new healthy diet that they are unable to pay proper attention to other aspects of their life.  The orthorexic may ultimately decide to starve to death rather than eating impure food that might be contaminated with impurity.

At the moment there is no firm understanding as to the etiology, or causes, of eating disorders.  It is thought that as with many other illnesses a combination of genetics, environmental conditions (like family dynamics), and temperament (like coping styles) are responsible for producing an eating disorder.  Eating disorders are far more common in females than in males but recently there are more males being diagnosed.

Psychological causes of an Eating Disorder

Some people think that the psychological basis of an eating disorder rests in the individuals desire to have control.  Teenagers may feel that they have no control over their lives - their body, friendships, and self-perception are all changing rapidly as they develop into adults.  It is thought that teenagers under stress and feeling out of control might turn to an eating disorder as a way to regain a sense of control over themselves.   A Cape Town eating disorder treatment program will carefully examine the root causes of the problem and establish a clear guideline on how to effectively combat it.

There is no simple way to tell if somebody has orthorexia by just looking at what they eat.  Each person develops their own understanding of what is healthy.  Sometimes one person's healthy diet is another person's poison.  Ultimately the signs and symptoms revolve around the obsession and the degree to which it interferes with normal life.  An eating disorder treatment will carefully assess the nature of the client's eating to determine whether it is problematic or not and provide useful input on how to achieve a really healthy balance.