Although my mental illness was recently diagnosed, I've known since I was a teenager that I had an eating disorder. It started out simply enough: a few skipped meals, excessive exercising, self-induced vomiting. In my particular instance, however, for reasons I was not aware of during my earlier years, the destructive behaviours would subside after a few months, and my weight would return to one which was normal for my body type and height.
As I chronicled the history of my eating disorder, I noticed in my late twenties that the anorexic and bulimic tendencies would manifest during times of stress; more specifically during months when my Major Depressive Disorder was more severe. During these acute times in my illness, I would calorie restrict and abuse laxatives so much so, that my weight would drop 30 lbs in less than two months.
This cycle of losing weight and regaining it was something I was aware of. During times when I was more mentally stable, I would ask doctors and mental health professionals what I could do to halt this vicious damaging habit. Sadly, until only recently, the response was always, "You look fine. You don't have an eating disorder."
Anorexia, bulimia, and even binging are the most commonly known eating disorders because their impact on the body is grossly obvious: skeletal frames, amenorrhea, dental issues, or in the case of binging, excessive weight gain and obesity. But in the case of the eating disorder known as EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified), lack of physically obvious symptoms makes it not only easier for this disorder to persist for years, but it also makes health care providers less willing and/or able to diagnose it.
Even though EDNOS is not recognized by the DSM-V as a categorized eating disorder due to the diversity in severity of its symptoms, those suffering from this may have one or all of the following behaviours, such as caloric restriction, excessive exercising, binging, purging in the form of self-induced vomiting and/or laxative abuse, and unhealthy and extreme weight loss. Because, however, those suffering with this do not always appear to have an eating disorder, and/or do not exhibit all of the criteria required to be classified as anorexic or bulimic, their treatment, if any, is not as aggressive or considered necessary.
Although facilities are available for the treatment of anorexia and bulimia, treating a disorder in which the patient is not underweight and/or consistently binging and/or purging, makes patients suffering from EDNOS less favourable candidates for management of a disorder where those, such as anorexics and bulimics, on the threshold of more detrimental and deathly side-effects take priority on the wait list for eating disorder professionals and centres.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, this past fall my starvation tactics and my laxative abuse, in conjunction with my recently diagnosed MDD, saw me at my lowest weight ever. Unable to bring my weight up by prescribing antidepressants which have as a side-effect increase weight gain, my psychiatrist sent me to an eating disorder centre where I was panelled, and accepted into the centre where hospitalization was required to wean me off the numerous amounts of laxatives I was taking every day. However, because my weight loss was not yet life-threatening, I was put on a three to four month waiting list.
Even though my laxative abuse has the potential to send me into cardiac arrest due to electrolyte imbalances, not to mention the damage occurring to my colon with every handful of Ex-Lax, EDNOS is not currently at the top of the treatment list. Not only are health care professionals unwilling to diagnose patients with EDNOS, as proven by the 30 years it has taken for mine to be addressed despite my numerous attempts, but until knowledge of this eating disorder becomes more prevalent, those of us suffering from it are essentially condemned to a lifetime of unhealthy struggles and long lasting destructive habits.
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