Anyone else here know the term Orthoexia?

madworld1

Right now, this is not recognized as a mental illness in the field (i'm a psychologist). That being said, call it whatever you want, any sort of calorie restriction/OCD type features around food are dangerous. It's hard to find a balance.

It's not? Why does NAMI call it a serious mental illness? Why does my psychiatrist call it a mental illness? I'm not arguing-- I'm genuinely curious.

KainStar

May not be relevant in the intro forum or any at that. I recently saw a documentary about it. Its a type of eating disorder characterized on being 'healthy' to the extreme. When I watched this I saw a girl who would refuse to eat anything cooked, and if she did she would make herself throw up. Also, a guy who ate no meat, dairy, nothing to do with animals. Just vegetables, rice, and etc.

Have any of you heard about this?

just vegetables and rice does not seem like he fits the description you gave.

I'm just the messenger. Lol. How about you watch it. Majority of his foods were veggies and rice, why I said etc. Its on MTV true life

Vmg773

It's not in the DSM-IV or the DSM-V revision, that I know of in the latter anyway. So technically, it's not considered a diagnosis by the community, though it is a commonly thrown around term. Because I work with the courts, I would not use it. I don't bill insurance, but i'm curious how they handle those claims.

Reema_capricorn

I think I was orthorexic when I was 17. I used to eat healthy,workout and not even look at junk food and even if someone offered me a peice of chocolate then I worked out harder the next few days because I didn't want fat hanging off my body

darrensurrey

No surprise that someone with psychological issues... has psychological issues. "Fortunately" it's a need to eat healthy food rather than cake.

GaloisGirl

Fiona Apple had orthorexia. She talks about it in this interview: http://www.neverisapromise.com/interviews/RSJan98.html

Quoting:

She had strange eating habits. "It was colors," she explains. "I couldn't eat things that looked a certain way, that were a certain color. I mean, there was a time when I couldn't eat things that I felt clashed with what I was wearing. I don't mean clash like 'fashionably clash' -- there was just something in my head that if it didn't balance, I couldn't eat it, and I was so afraid of doing the wrong thing. If I ate something, I felt like I was doing it because 'I don't want to be crazy.' 'I'm going to eat that ****ing apple right now, even though I'm wearing a yellow dress.' This would go on in my head all the time. And it's exhausting. I would tell my sister, 'I'm just so tired I can't manage anymore.' I felt like I was the mother of some retarded child that was throwing fits all the time, and I couldn't help it. It would take me half an hour to pick an apple out of the drawer. I couldn't pick the right one."

She had a problem, but she didn't like it being misunderstood. "I definitely did have an eating disorder. What was really frustrating for me was that everyone thought I was anorexic, and I wasn't. I was just really depressed and self-loathing." The distinction was important to her. "For me, it wasn't about getting thin, it was about getting rid of the bait that was attached to my body. A lot of it came from the self-loathing that came from being raped at the point of developing my voluptuousness," she explains. "I just thought that if you had a body and if you had anything on you that could be grabbed, it would be grabbed. So I did purposely get rid of it."

neandermagnon

No surprise that someone with psychological issues... has psychological issues. "Fortunately" it's a need to eat healthy food rather than cake.

food is not healthy or unhealthy without any context. It's not good that in orthorexia the person is eating "healthy" food, because they're not eating in a healthy way. For example, apples are healthy, right? But if someone eats nothing but apples, it's not healthy at all and if they keep it up they'll probably end up dying. There have been cases like this in real life (not necessarily apples but I've heard of it with carrots), and that would be an extreme case of orthorexia.

People with orthorexia are restricting their diets in ways that are unhealthy and they often end up with nutritional deficiencies from it. Another example, the paleo diet is healthy (albeit restrictive) and most people who eat paleo don't have orthorexia.... the vegan diet is healthy (albeit restrictive), and most people who eat vegan don't have orthorexia.... but if someone insisted on being both vegan and paleo at the same time, then it's unlikely they're going to be able to get enough nutrition. The Fruitarian diet is restrictive to the point of causing malnutrition. Additionally, the diet itself does not have to be restrictive enough to cause malnutrition, if someone's attitude towards the food and why they're being so restrictive may mean that they have orthorexia... for example:

vegan due to ethical reasons - not orthorexia

paleo because you think this is the most natural diet for humans - not orthorexia

either of these because the foods that are not allowed in them don't seem to agree with you and you feel better withouth them - not orthorexia

vegan because you're terrified animal products will give you cancer, or paleo because you're terrified that processing food in any way makes it toxic - orthorexia.

any diet or combination of diets taken to the point that you know you're suffering from malnutrition but can't bring yourself to eat the foods that you "shouldn't have" but will give your body the nutritents it needs - orthorexia

darrensurrey

No surprise that someone with psychological issues... has psychological issues. "Fortunately" it's a need to eat healthy food rather than cake.

food is not healthy or unhealthy without any context. It's not good that in orthorexia the person is eating "healthy" food, because they're not eating in a healthy way. For example, apples are healthy, right? But if someone eats nothing but apples, it's not healthy at all and if they keep it up they'll probably end up dying. There have been cases like this in real life (not necessarily apples but I've heard of it with carrots), and that would be an extreme case of orthorexia.

Well, obviously, if they're only eating carrots then it's not good. But if they're only eating healthy foods, then it's better than only eating unhealthy foods, which is my point rather than anything you've clearly been reading into what I said.

And, you've picked up on the throwaway part of my reply. The first bit is the important bit. An addict will always be an addict even if they kick their addiction to one substance unless they have suitable treatment which has very little to do with the addiction. Or to expand, someone with some kind of psychological issue will express it in another psychological issue unless the root cause is dealt with.

madworld1

It's not in the DSM-IV or the DSM-V revision, that I know of in the latter anyway. So technically, it's not considered a diagnosis by the community, though it is a commonly thrown around term. Because I work with the courts, I would not use it. I don't bill insurance, but i'm curious how they handle those claims.

Makes sense. Maybe they just used it loosely and didn't put it in my records as "mental illness." Regardless, it should be considered one because it is a mental disorder. Thanks for answering my question.

MinimalistShoeAddict

Honestly I think there are a lot of people on MFP who would fit the definition I see described here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthorexia_nervosa

As was already mentioned it is not listed in the DSM-5. Here is a good article on the subject as it relates to the terms usefulness as a clinical diagnosis:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200412/orthorexia-too-healthy

Chadomaniac

We are all orthorexic

00sarah

We are all orthorexic

Right. I thought this was an addiction to exercise. I guess I was wrong

Chadomaniac

We are all orthorexic

Right. I thought this was an addiction to exercise. I guess I was wrong

Lol its tracking everything you eat ... society is such a joke , everything has a name to it. Now tracking food is a fkn disorder . what next?

00sarah

We are all orthorexic

Right. I thought this was an addiction to exercise. I guess I was wrong

Lol its tracking everything you eat ... society is such a joke , everything has a name to it. Now tracking food is a fkn disorder . what next?

Thank you! Since I overcame my addiction to oxycodone with exercise, I'll accept this stupid label. Whatevskis. :-P
Eff, you, methadone clinic!

*smiles & enjoys life!

jenilla1

I actually enjoy a healthy lifestyle. It's almost like a hobby I guess. I consciously plan and execute healthy behaviors every day. I am very aware of what I eat and I carefully plan to make sure my diet is healthy and well balanced. I use MFP for maintenance, to track exercise, and to make sure I get all my macros in the proper ratios.

I suspect that I may be orthorexic, since I'm very focused on health. I'm always in a great mood when I'm practicing healthy behaviors, and I kind of feel a bit disappointed on days that I don't take care of myself. Oh well. I'm just gonna go with it, since my doctor is happy with my overall health and I enjoy it.

00sarah

^^^ yep. If I've gotta be an addict... What better way to get the dopamine flowing?!

thegirlwithleggings

After recovering from Anorexia I "developed" Orthorexia and was so mad when they told me this. Then I learned almost everyone who is a health freak has it, I think it's just nonsense.

hzliiz

I think these disorders exist on a continuum. So, while a disorder will have specific behavioral criteria that most people don't exhibit, these behaviors don't just appear out of nowhere. No one wakes up one day and goes huh, I think I'll start bingeing and purging twice a week so I can manage these urges to eat without gaining too much weight, or gee I think I'll only eat 500 calories from now on and get real skinny. Those behaviors are extreme outcomes that follow increasingly rigid thinking about eating, dieting and exercise. But while they're extreme, it's not really that hard for a lot of people to slip into them once they start down a slippery path of rigid thinking. While not a lot of people have a diagnosable disorder, I think many, many people develop belief systems and ways of thinking that put them at risk of developing one or teetering on the edge of one. It's so much easier to prevent than to cure these things, and I think being aware of any tendency toward that kind of overly rigid thinking is key to prevention. By the way, by rigid I don't mean having an eating plan and/or work out regimen you are committed to. I mean for example, going into a complete panic if you veer off plan for some reason, drastically overcompensating through restriction or exercise when you veer rather than just reorienting to the plan, that sort of thing. Just my $.02.

SanteMulberry

Yes--I've seen the term thrown about here (and at anyone who consciously avoids nutrient-poor "foods"). I think it is a fake "mental disease" and there are a lot of those these days. Next thing you know, the psychiatric profession will insist that it is a real disease and must be treated (with expensive drugs, no doubt). Eating real, nourishing food will go a long way in curing many ailments. And Big Pharma can't have that, can they? Look for the next mental disease to be "seen" in people who are concerned that their children get a good education in a safe environment. Our culture is insane and the sicker it gets, the more that sane people will look "sick" to the sickos who are in authority and who represent those they are leading into insanity .

amonkey794

I feel orthorexia is the disorder after one tries to recover from anorexia and bulimia. I say this out of experience. It seems as someone with an ED tries to recover they over compensate and just fall into another extreme. It is the nature of the disease.