A Brief Overview Of Eating Disorders

Rumination Disorder

Rumination disorder is the eating disorder in which an individual will regularly regurgitate their food for a minimum period of one month. The individual may either re-swallow, re-chew, or just spit out the regurgitated food. Additionally, patients with rumination disorder seem to regurgitate their food without effort. They often do not appear disgusted, upset, or otherwise exhibit signs of distress or stress about this action. The regurgitation must not be the result of another medical condition, such as gastrointestinal distress, or appear with another eating disorder, such as bulimia nervosa.

Although these are the eating disorders with individual definitions, whether formally recognized in the DSM-5or not, there are still cases in which an individual’s symptoms may not match what is needed for one of these disorders, but still causes significant distress or health concerns. Thus, it is important to recognize unhealthy eating habits like these and treat them appropriately.

Taking the initial step to get help is the hardest part for those affected by an eating disorder. As such, aside from understanding what their eating disorder is, support from family and friends is key to get onto the road to recovery.