OSFED-The Most Common Yet Invisible Eating Disorder

When you think of feeding and eating disorders, what do you think of? Maybe if you are struggling with an eating disorder or are a loved one of someone that is, you'll be reminded of that eating disorder, and the suffering it causes.  But for people without an eating disorder and without much experience or knowledge on eating disorders, it's quite likely that the only eating disorders they've ever really heard of are anorexia and bulimia. It's completely understandable, because those are the only eating disorders that are really talked about openly, and although they are both very serious eating disorders, people with OSFED are suffering- and tragically, dying-before their illness gets recognition. 

Some facts about OSFED

• OSFED stands for Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (previously called EDNOS, meaning Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified)
• OSFED is the most commonly diagnosed eating disorder in adults and adolescents
• Around 30% of people with an eating disorder are diagnosed with OSFED 

So what is OSFED? OSFED is defined as a feeding or eating disorder that don't quite meet the diagnostic criteria of another eating disorder. This could mean that a sufferer of OSFED might;

• Have all the symptoms of anorexia but don't meet the weight criteria for AN (anorexia nervosa) diagnosis
• Binge and purge, but not frequently enough to meet the diagnostic criteria for bulimia
• Exhibit behaviors found in both anorexia, bulimia and BED  

The lack of awareness on OSFED can have an upsetting and sometimes fatal impact on the sufferers, especially in those who exhibit behaviours and symptoms of both anorexia and bulimia. It is these people who are at an increased risk of health complications and even death from their eating disorder. Electrolyte imbalances, cardiac problems, ruptured eosophaguses in those who purge food, laxative and/or diuretic addiction, refeeding syndrome, malnutrition and poor blood flow are just a few of the dangers. 

Along with all of these, the damage OSFED can have on appearance is a slap in the face to the way eating disorders have been glamourised for so long. Decaying teeth, brittle, damaged and falling out hair. Blue fingernails from cyanosis, easy bruising. And with a lot of people with any eating disorder also (but not always) suffering from Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), the way OSFED effects the way sufferers look can be devestating to them. 

Not to mention the effect on mood and high risk of depression in those with any eating disorder, as half of all anorexia related deaths are from suicide, all eating disorders desperately deserve and need more social awareness and education on the subjects. 

So why is OSFED such an unknown illness? It is just as important as any other eating disorder, from anorexia to binge eating disorder. The sufferers are real, and at risk, just like anyone else with an ED. So for Eating Disorders Awareness Week, I think this is such an important subject to talk about both to help the sufferers be heard, and to help people recognise the signs and know just how serious OSFED can be. 

"I guess due to what we barely 'learned' in school about eating disorders, none of us really feel 'sick enough' or valid simply because we're not diagnosable as clear cut anorexics or bulimics," one sufferer told me when asked about her experience with OSFED, "my biggest concern is the death risk in people with the disorder, because we cycle through periods of restriction and binging and purging, most of us can maintain a healthy weight until we'll just drop dead one day." 

Weight does not always determine how badly someone is suffering, and nobody should have to die from an eating disorder to make people realise that.