Most people are aware of the main eating disorders that affect people. Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa are very much accepted as disorders in the medical world, and in society too. However, an eating disorder called ARFID (avoidance restrictive food intake disorder) is one that is less in the public domain.
ARFID is an eating disorder that affects both children and adults and is something that can be rooted back to trauma in early childhood. Trauma that then seriously interferes with that individual’s relationship with food and drink, causing them severe anxiety and preventing them from doing what most people see as totally natural.
This new kid on the block is also being largely ignored or played down by the medical sector. Lack of funding means that these sufferers are left to live with this debilitating and life-limiting condition (with little or no help).
Yet ARFID has been on the DSM (diagnosis and statistical manual) since 2013, and it really isn’t acceptable to use monetary constraints as an excuse to not help those suffering from it.