Atypical or invisible eating disorders: are we talking about them?

What if you had an eating disorder... and didn't know it?
What if you suffer from it... without anyone seeing it?

At Clinique A Psychologie, we want to highlight these lesser-known, quieter, but just as serious forms of eating disorders.

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What is an “atypical” or “invisible” eating disorder?

We talk about atypical or invisible TCA when the behaviors and distress are present, but do not fully meet the “official” diagnostic criteria as defined in the DSM-5 (Anorexia, Bulimia, Hyperphagia...).

These forms of TCA can:

• go unnoticed medically,
• be minimized by those around you,
• or be lived in shame and isolation.

However, they fall of a real psychological disorder, with a significant impact on mental, emotional, social and sometimes physical health.

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A few concrete examples

Unspecified eating disorders (TANES/OSFED)

This diagnosis includes all forms of TCA that do not “quite” fit into the classical categories. For example:

• a person who restricts severely without having an “abnormally low” weight,
• bulimia attacks that are too infrequent for an “official” diagnosis,
• a very controlled diet without the desire to lose weight, but with anxiety and rigidity.

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Emotional eating compulsions

Repeated snacking to calm emotions, without total loss of control or vomiting, but with strong guilt. Very frequent and often trivialized.

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Orthorexia

Obsession with a “healthy” diet, with the rigid exclusion of foods considered “toxic”, at the expense of social and mental health.

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Nocturnal hyperphagia

Eating excessively after dinner or at night, with sleep disturbance and a feeling of loss of control.

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“Normal or high weight TCA”

People suffer from very severe behaviors (restriction, compulsions, compensatory exercises), without losing weight. That doesn't make their condition any less serious.

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Why do these shapes often go unnoticed

• Because they are not necessarily visible on the body
• Because they may seem “functional” from the outside
• Because society values thinness, control, or “healthy eating”
• Because the person himself does not feel “legitimate” to go to consult

And yet, The suffering is very real : shame, isolation, loss of pleasure, anxiety, obsessive thoughts about food, fragile self-esteem...

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What we want to tell you

You don't have You don't have to be at an extreme point to ask for help.
You don't have to fit a “typical profile” to be heard.
Your suffering does not need to be visible to be taken seriously.

At Clinique A Psychologie, we support all forms of TCA, including those that do not fit into a box.
We believe in care that is individualized, caring and non-judgmental.

Do you recognize yourself in some of these examples?

You don't dare to consult because “it's not bad enough”?