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What is Atypical Anorexia?
Atypical Anorexia is when someone can have normal weight or be overweight and have anorexia nervosa - it’s not always about starving and making sure their body is as skinny as it can, it’s about thinking, counting calories - the struggle people with anorexia have. Let’s bring awareness that Anorexia Nervosa isn’t just about weight, it isn’t a psychical disorder it’s a mental disorder. It’s about thinking, not always about the state of ur body.
Person A : I have Anorexia Nervosa
Person B : No way, you have a normal BMI plus you look normal
Person A : I have Atypical Anorexia, but I could have normal Anorexia ITS NOT ABOUT MY BODY ITS ABOUT MY HEAD.
Atypical Anorexia - video
Atypical Anorexia - what is it?
Atypical Anorexia (AAN) is a legit but highly specific Eating Disorder sub-type that started being misused for social media reasons in May, 2021.
HAES-supportive nutritionists, wellness advisors, and other non-physicians from within the ballooning "not-weight-loss" industry hand out the AAN "diagnosis" like a "get out of jail free" card for morbid obesity.
This social media trend harms the person (by not seeking further real medical advice) and harms those in the actual ED-supportive community due to the public now considering AAN as fake ED or joke.
Practically, one with actual AAN has quickly lost a lot of weight, is still being driven by an intense fear of weight gain, uses Pro-Ana behaviors and methods, and (despite achieving a normal weight) still wishes to lose further toward an "anorexic" < 17.5 under weight BMI.
AAN is not a "diet", nor failed attempt at dieting declared as "recovery" from "anorexia".
This identity-politics-driven misclassification of a specific real disorder, Binge-eating Disorder (a type of OSFED) into an entirely different class of eating disorders (Anorexia) could be considered grounds for medical malpractice.
However, the "wellness advisors", "nutritionists" and "intuitive eating specialists" that most commonly hand out AAN affirmations are not a regulated field like the practice of medicine or psychiatry, and are not subject to malpractice.
Such a false-diagnosis of Atypical Anorexia is considered to be Tessorexia.
Tessie: I briefly flirted with a diet and excercise for weight loss, but realized from my social media followers that the whole concept of ob*sity is a dirty patriarchal word and that the "BMI" scale itself is racist. "I am a recovering anorexic."
Sasha: Going on a diet and quitting is NOT "recovering" from Atypical Anorexia. I've seen your channel. You clearly demonstrate eating disorder behavior, but it's called "binge eating disorder". Lots of real people suffer from that. There are legit medical and mental health treatments available for that eating disorder.
Sasha: Unless the DSM-5 requires a special secret decoder ring or red-tinted sunglasses (like out of the back of a cereal box) then no, no you don't. If you're just trying to stay "relevant" to your social media followers because of your "brand" and otherwise reject the BMI scale itself then the only "rexia" you have is a social-media condition called Tessorexia.