Anorexia vs ARFID: 5 prominent differences between them

Have you ever seen a person with strange selective eating habits? This is a serious condition when an individual experiences energy and nutritional deficiencies. Some people also have to go through awkward situations such as a reduction in body size and may become dependent on nutritional supplements to maintain their health. These kinds of situations are often seen in diseases such as ARFID stands for Avoidant-Restrictive Food Intake Disorder and  Anorexia.

One of these disorders anorexia is perhaps well-known to most people. Moreover, deadly imageries of extremely thin young women are starving themselves to death because they want to be skinny.

It is a kind of image that is accurate, but on most occasions, anorexia can go long unnoticed. As the majority of people are probably not aware of the facts about this disease. For instance: Not many people know how common it is, how it manifests, and how it can be treated. People should understand that knowing about this challenging mental health disorder can be helpful in identifying it in loved ones or even in oneself. It makes it easier to get treatment before important health effects take the grip of their lives.

Some people don’t give much importance to differentiate between ARFID and Anorexia. But it is extremely important as it helps in getting rid of these menaces completely through targeted medical treatments.

Anorexia	ARFID (Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder)
It is commonly believed that anorexia is a common disease . However, in reality, only less than 2 % of the population has true anorexia. These people face very serious health consequences, which can be dull and distorted by the pro-ana movement. But fortunately, the occurrence of this disease is very low.	Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder is a considerably newly discovered illness that was first recognised by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013. According to the latest data, It is believed to affect around 5-15% of children admitted to hospitals with eating issues and less than 1% of adults. ARFID is quite different from other restrictive eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.
Anorexia is a disease that is accompanied by an extreme fear of weight gain. The important features of this illness include avoidance of food, restriction of energy intake, obsession about weight loss and extreme psychological distress related to figure and size. In addition to that, there is an additional feature that is related to fear of weight gain.	ARFID is a condition when the affected person develops sensitivity about some specific foods like He or she avoid foods of certain types such as meat, fruits or vegetables. Sometimes the affected people have to face such as choking or vomiting. They also have to see the observance of Restriction or avoidance of food due to low appetite or general disinterest in eating. In all the above-mentioned situations, ARFID leaves a significant impact on a person’s health, which leads to malnutrition, poor growth and low body weight.
On the other hand,  anorexia is a disease most common in female adults and its patients often experience other co-occurring mental health conditions.	ARFID is identified as a disease extremely common in females, and children. Sometimes adults are also found suffering from this disease but it rarely happens.
There are few treatments choices available for ARFID as it is quite a new disease. However, analyzing various presentations of ARFID treatment strategies may vary from person to person. For example: Physicians often treat patients by addressing fears of their past traumatic experiences related to food. They can use cognitive treatment strategies to address these issues in a perfect way. On the other side food restriction with extreme weight loss might be helped by behavioural strategies such as re-feeding or supplementation	Treatment for anorexia is similar to ARFID but must address underlying fears of weight gain as well as restrictive eating. The list of most common Anorexia treatment options includes Family therapy, Re-nourishment, Cognitive behavioural therapy and nutrition counselling Medical experts believe that multiple anorexia treatments in a recovery strategy may be beneficial
ARFID and anorexia develop in different ways. Therefore, their treatment is also quite different. The long-term prognosis can differ, based on the additional psychological fear of weight gain in anorexia. Recovery from anorexia may require intensive therapy or inpatient treatment. Both full and partial recovery from anorexia is possible, and successful treatments can help reduce the risk of further health complications.	. The tastes and aversions in children change with the passage of time. The recovery of anorexic patients is affected by the health complications related to malnutrition or other mental health conditions connected with disordered eating However, generally, recovery rates appear to be higher in ARFID as compared with anorexia.
ARFID can affect people of any age, race, gender, or any other demographic classification.	ARFID can also affect people of any age, race, gender, or any other demographic classification. It is a disease that often co-occurs with other mental health illnesses such as anxiety disorders or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Moreover, we can also say that it is not a food choice related disorder and is considered to be a severe illness that needs immediate professional treatment. It is also crucial to note that ARFID does not cause by issues such as lack of food and is not related to an individual’s cultural upbringing.

Takeaways:

Our team thinks that treatment for both ARFID and anorexia can lead to significant improvements in quality of life and health outcomes. If you or someone you care about are suffering from disordered eating related to a substance use disorder then do contact some medical specialists near your home to get the best treatment.

There is ongoing research going on to understand the effective treatments for ARFID to improve results and decrease treatment duration.

Disclaimer:

Youthtabletalk targets to better the quality of life for people fighting with substance use or mental health disorder with information-based content about the nature of behavioural health conditions, treatment options and their related results.

Youthtabletalk always makes efforts to publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider.