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Glossary

Adipose Tissue:

Fat tissue.

Adult-Onset:

Occurring for the first time in those who have reached maturity.

Aerobic:

Fat-fueled; aerobic exercise increases basal metabolic rate, reduces appetite, firms muscles, improves cardiac and respiratory function, and burns flab.

Amenorrhea:

The loss of the menstrual cycle. In terms of eating disorders, this is usually the result of excessive weight loss and often accompanied by excessive exercise.

Anorectic:

A name frequently used for diet medications that curb appetite.

Anorexia Nervosa:

Self-induced starvation with at least 15% of original body weight lost. Victims also have amenorrhea, fat phobia, and a severe distortion of body image.

Avoidance:

For the food addict, avoidance becomes a way of life. Sex and intimacy become a thing of the past; mirrors and photos are dreaded. Food addicts hide behind certain colors and clothes. Because the food addict is so focused on their weight, body shape, and size, they postpone life events for “when I get thin.” Future birthdays and “next Monday” are target dates for “changing my life.” Basically, their life is on hold, indefinitely.

Behavior Therapy:

A treatment program that involves substituting desirable behavior responses for undesirable ones. (See Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)

Binge Eating:

A binge occurs when the food addict consumes a greater than average amount of food in a specific amount of time. (Greater than average will vary from person to person.) Binge foods often have a high caloric content, high sugar, and/or high starches. The food is usually eaten very quickly and most often, hidden, or eaten secretly. Rapid eating is commonplace for the food addict.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (sometimes referred to as Body Dysmorphia):

a psychiatric disorder in which the affected person is excessively concerned about and preoccupied by an imagined or minor defect in their physical features. The sufferer may complain of several specific features or a single feature, or a vague feature or general appearance, causing psychological distress that impairs occupational and/or social functioning, sometimes to the point of complete social isolation. It is estimated that 1-2% of the world’s population meet all the diagnostic criteria for BDD.

Bulimarexia:

Binging followed by purging through laxative abuse, forced vomiting, excessive exercise, or enema abuse.

Bulimia Nervosa:

An eating disorder characterized by episodes of secretive excessive eating (binge-eating) followed by inappropriate methods of weight control, such as self-induced vomiting (purging), abuse of laxatives and diuretics, or excessive exercise. The insatiable appetite of bulimia is often interrupted by periods of anorexia.

Catharsis:

The emotional reenactment in thought or symbolic form of a painful experience that brings relief of the distress caused by the original experience.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (or Cognitive Behavior Therapy):

a psychotherapeutic approach that aims to influence dysfunctional emotions, behaviors, and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure. Cognitive behavioral therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not external things like people, situations, and events. The benefit of this fact is that we can change our thought patterns to feel/act better even if the situation does not change.

Comorbidity:

The coexistence of two or more disease processes.

Compulsions:

Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that a person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rigidly applied rules. These behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, they are not actually connected to the issue or are excessive.

Denial:

The mental process by which the addicted individual concludes that he/she is all right and “does not have a problem,” denial results from the combination of ignorance of the disease process and the inability to self-examine. Denial is what keeps the addicted sick.

Depression:

Often, as the eating disorder progresses, along with increasing sensitivity to binge foods, irritability and depression are not far behind. Normal, everyday acts become monumental and tiring, requiring more and more energy. Increased sadness and loss of control, along with lethargy, lead to bouts of depression, a sense of hopelessness, and for some, suicidal thinking.

Disordered Eating:

A term used to describe a wide variety of irregularities in eating behavior that do not warrant diagnosis of a specific eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. Warning signs of disordered eating patterns include yo-yo dieting, eliminating entire food groups, obsessive thoughts about exercise, occasional binge eating or purging, and off-balanced approaches to nutrition. The recognition that some eating problems don’t fit into the scope of regular eating disorders makes it possible for more people with disordered eating to receive the help they need.

Diuretic:

A chemical that stimulates the production of urine. Also known as a water pill.

Enema:

The injection of a liquid into the lower bowel through the rectum to compel elimination.

Food Compulsion:

The loss of control and inability to stop eating after one bite of binge food. (One bite of the binge food is too much and one hundred bites too few.)

Food Obsession:

Frequently recurring thoughts about buying, preparing, and eating food.

Gastroplasty:

A surgical procedure used to reduce the digestive capacity by shortening the small intestine or shrinking the effective size of the stomach.

Isolation:

Inevitably, the food addict will find comfort in isolating themselves from others and will lose interest in everything, including shopping, caring for their home, working, being with family or friends, etc. Comfort is found in solitude, perpetuating the binge cycle and the disease process.

Juvenile-Onset:

Occurring between infancy and young adulthood.

Non-Purgers:

A non-purging food addict often continues bingeing until faced with severe abdominal discomfort or an intrusion into their bingeing environment. Although the non-purger does not rid themselves of their food, they purge their guilt via self-hatred, feelings of remorse, and often, suicidal thinking or gestures.

Obesity:

This controversial term is often used to describe individuals at least 20% above the weight recommended for their height.

Oral Expulsion Syndrome:

The chewing but avoidance of swallowing food. OES is a diet technique in some people, but the reflection of emotional disturbance and eating disorders in most.

Pathorexia:

Disordered appetite. It refers to the whole spectrum of food disorder problems

Phobia:

An unrealistic fear, often with obsessional characteristics.

Poor Body Image:

Self-disgust is a byproduct of eating disorders. Fear of fat, self-hatred, and avoidance of reality propel the disease forward. Loss of relationships and intimacy are commonplace.

Purging:

A forced cleansing or release. In terms of eating disorders, this is usually done by vomiting or laxative abuse.

Relationships:

Not surprisingly, once the eating disorder becomes evident, self-pity, negative thinking, anger, and family problems surface. It is not uncommon for marriages to end and friends to draw away. Unfortunately, at the disease’s worst, this is exactly what the food addict will find solace in, as there will no longer be a need to hide their bingeing or try to keep up a front of “having it together.”

Rumination:

The apparently voluntary regurgitation, chewing, and reswallowing of food.

Sublimate:

The expression of an “unacceptable” impulse or urge in a positive or acceptable way. The standard of unacceptable and acceptable usually relate to societal norms.