My story with ARFID
I was practically born with a rather rare eating disorder called Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) and it’s an extremely hellish ED imo. If you don’t know what it is, unlike other eating disorders, it’s nothing related to depression or wanting to gain/lose weight and that type of stuff. You can’t eat certain foods depending on their taste/texture/smell/looks/etc. In my case, it’s mainly texture, and oh boy is there a lot I can’t eat.
Not being able to eat properly for 15 years really has affected my health in ways I wish it didn’t. Stunt growth, underweight, anemia, malnutrition, and overall a lot of body pain. ARFID is enough for me to deal with, but because of how unknown it is, I have no support for it. Everyone dismisses it as “picky eating” or “it’s all in your head,” which is probably why I haven’t gotten the treatment I need.
It really does suck when you’re dealing with an everlasting problem that no one wants to help you with, especially if it can become fatal, but I seem to not have the best luck.
All I can say is, if a person is struggling with ARFID, please try to help them. You could literally save a life.
@namican
ARFID is a very difficult eating disorder. There are unique features with it.
I hate that you've been struggling with this for so long. You're right, it's not about being a "picky eater."
Thank you for sharing. I know you are not the only one here struggling with this.
Thank you so very much for understanding. I see that you have experiences with people with Ed’s and was wondering, if any of them had ARFID, how did they cure/overcome it? It’s still an ongoing problem for me that I’d really like to fix ASAP.
@namican
As with many eating dis. orders, it is difficult to overcome. The challenge is that there are some different factors that also need to be addressed, and it means finding someone who has experience working with ARFID. Here's an example of a program that has specialty of programming treatment just for ARFID.
https://www.waldeneatingdisorders.com/what-we-treat/virtual-arfid-treatment/