What is EDNOS?

Ednos what? That’s not even a proper word is it?

We can come across a lot of jargon when reading about eating disorders, as we can about anything ‘medical’. And at first, it sounds like one of the most confusing bits of jargon. But it’s quite simple really when explained properly.

Ednos (or E.D.N.O.S) stands for ‘Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified’. It is a category of eating disorders as outlined in the psychiatric diagnostic manual DSM-1V.

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Medically speaking, eating disorders such as Anorexia and Bulimia have strict diagnostic criteria. But, being the wonderfully varied human beings that we are, many people simply do not fit neatly into these categories.

So, another category of diagnosis has been created called Ednos. This acts as an ‘umbrella’ category, into which psychiatrists can lump together most other disordered eating behaviours that do not meet the strict criteria for a diagnosis of Anorexia or Bulimia.

Let me give a couple of examples to make this clearer:

• For Anorexia Nervosa to be diagnosed, the sufferer (if female) would have to have stopped menstruating. However, someone could be showing all the other signs of Anorexia while still having their regular period.
  
  
• Similarly, someone might show all the signs of Anorexia, but their BMI hasn’t yet fallen to the low level necessary to meet the diagnosis.
  
  
• If someone is binge eating and purging, most people would recognise this as Bulimia, but they might be doing this once a week on average or less, which is below the diagnostic criteria of twice a week or more.

For diagnostic reasons, any of these examples would therefore be put under the category of Ednos.

The important point here is that this is for medical and psychiatric purposes. This does not mean that the person who does not meet the main two diagnoses is not suffering, or in equal need of help and support.

Other behaviour patterns that would meet this diagnosis would be:

• Binge Eating – indeed, at the present time there is debate in the psychiatric world whether or not to recognise Binge Eating Disorder as its own specific diagnostic category

• Chewing and spitting behaviours – someone might follow similar behaviours to Bulimia, but chew and spit out their food rather than swallow and purge (which means vomiting, using laxatives or other methods to get rid of the calories).
  
  
• Someone might also be showing signs of Bulimia, but purge after eating normal size meals, rather than eating amounts that would be considered binge eating
  
  
• Orthorexia – this is where a person uses a pre-occupation with only eating healthy or ‘pure’ foods as a ‘cover’ for restricting their food. The thinking styles involved can be similar to Anorexia. Orthorexia is not recognised in the psychiatric world, but the behaviour patterns do exist

There would be many more examples of what could come under the label of Ednos, but I hope this gives a good illustration of the meaning of the word.

People change and behaviour patterns change, and someone can move from showing signs of one of the eating disorders to developing signs of another, or be suffering from them at the same time.

What really matters is that the individual behaviour patterns of the sufferer themselves are recognised, and that help and support are available to aid their recovery.

Diagnostic terms like Anorexia, Bulimia or Ednos are there to help clinicians make rational and well-reasoned decisions on the direction of treatment to take. And it can also help the sufferer to have their problem given a name – it validates their experiences, lets them know that other people are going through similar problems, and gives them the feeling that they have something tangible to tackle.