The two terms AFRID and Anorexia sound similar because the condition of restricting food is similar in both. But there are minor things that make them pretty different. Many people know about Anorexia, but AFRID is a new term for many.
Both children and adults can get affected by these disorders. There is a need for medical attention if nothing is done in time. A person can reach the severe stage of the disorder, which may require medications, counseling, and many more.
If you are new to the AFRID term, then you must visit clementineprograms.com to know everything in detail. It is better to recognize the symptoms of these disorders before you get sick severely. But before that, you must know about the comparison between these two terms.
Therefore, in the following write-up, we will discuss some standard differences between Anorexia and AFRID. Get information and know if anyone near you is ill or not.
Overview
Both terms are considered the same because a patient in both cases will restrict the food. But the minor difference is the feeling of fear or distress. People suffering from AFRID do not have a feeling of getting distressed, or fat.
They are not concerned about body weight and shape. Therefore, many doctors look for this symptom to determine the correct disorder. After knowing the right problem, one can go for the perfect treatment.
Characteristics
People suffering from AFRID avoid consuming food, and there are many ways to detect its characteristics. Such as:
- Sensory Sensitivity: If anyone is neglecting food of a specific texture, or types like vegetables, fruits, or meat. A person avoids all sorts of food available in the same type.
- Vomiting or Choking: If anyone is avoiding food after choking or vomiting, you need to consider this characteristic.
- Low Appetite: Check if someone is avoiding due to low appetite or no interest in eating.
In all these cases, the health of the person will be affected. It leads to malnutrition, less body weight, and overall poor growth. Sometimes, it is challenging to understand the patient’s behavior, and hence, it takes time to detect this disorder.
On the other hand, Anorexia disorder includes the fear of getting fat or gaining weight. The main aim is to restrict food is to lose weight, and it leads to psychological distress. The fear of change in the body shape, size, and weight can lead to depression, and hence, this disorder can severely affect any patient.
Affected Population
If we talk about people affected by AFRID, then it is usually common in toddlers or children. They do not like many things to eat and hence, it becomes their habit to avoid the food in their future life. After research, it is also noted that adults are also getting affected by this disorder. If we compare the ratio of boys and girls, females are highly affected by AFRID.
On the other hand, Anorexia symptoms are quite common in people in adolescence age. It is also common in females than males. Girls are more concerned about their weight and body shape and hence, go through this disorder.
These disorders lead to mental problems which are severely affecting them. Due to the slight difference, it is hard to pick the correct issue. But after going through various symptoms, it is relatively easy to detect it. There are many common symptoms that you must know to determine whether any person has any of these problems.
Symptoms
Both Anorexia and AFRID have some common symptoms, and you must check them to detect the problem:
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Behavioral and Emotional
You can check these disorders by the patient’s behavior. They may be hiding their body by wearing loose or different clothes. They always refuse to eat anything, and they are very concerned about their body weight, size, and shape.
Every time, you will find that they are extremely concerned about weight gain and putting lots of effort to avoid fat. People suffering from Anorexia have an extreme fear of change in body shape and size. They may have an intense workout schedule to lose weight.
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Physical
People suffering from these disorders may experience physical symptoms like dizziness, lack of concentration. You may observe some wounds on their bodies that are difficult to heal. They have weak immune systems, shedding hair, and weakness in their muscles.
There is no distorted body image of people with AFRID eating problems. People suffering from Anorexia may have physical symptoms like vomiting, dental issues, laxatives use, etc.
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Choking Fear
If anyone is suffering from AFRID, then he will have a fear of vomiting or choking. There are psychological or genetic reasons through which this problem cause or it is also possible if there is a traumatic childhood. In some children, it happens after birth due to strangulation caused by the umbilical cord.
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Chewing Slow
People who fear choking may chew their food slowly. They do such a thing to prevent choking, and hence, it is common in AFRID-suffering people.
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Sensory Avoidance
There is a pattern of avoiding food in AFRID-suffering people. They may neglect similar food of the same texture, color, or smell, and these people cannot eat food in public places, family gatherings, school canteen, etc. If an affected person is surrounded by food, then he will avoid going to that place. Such a thing is quite challenging in children.
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Other Disorders
The affected people can suffer through other disorders like Autism, ADHD, or intellectual problems. You can find these issues and detect whether they have any eating issues.
The Bottom Line
There is a slight difference in two disorders, i.e., Anorexia Nervosa and AFRID. Sometimes, it is hard to detect the exact problem. Therefore, you have to check the symptoms carefully and get the correct treatment on time.
If you neglect these problems initially, then the patient will get affected severely. The body of the patient will suffer as he will look malnutrition and can lead to other disorders.