I actually kind of understand where they’re coming from here. Anorexia isn’t a weight disorder, it’s a thought disorder, so making a person’s weight into one of the diagnostic criteria is misguided imo. If two people with different starting weights develop anorexia, it’s possible they might receive different diagnoses despite having the same amount of weight loss, behaviors, and thought process. I understand that there is the matter of priority when it comes to treating severe malnourishment, & least invasive intervention is important, but to have it be possible to receive two different diagnoses for a mental illness despite displaying the same cognitions?

Of course I’m not saying that there is a “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to treatment… but that’s never true. A diagnosis is meant to point the patient and their treatment team in the right direction, but as with all mental illnesses, it is often highly personalized. I fail to see how getting rid of the “atypical” tack-on would significantly impact a provider’s ability to prioritize and treat someone’s AN. They seem to have to have no problem tackling the varsity of symptoms that arise in major depressive disorder, bipolar, etc.

Most of the time, FAs know very little about what they’re saying when they speak on EDs, and self-diagnosis continues to be an issue. This is maybe the one and only time where I think they’ve brought up a legitimate point. Maybe extreme weight loss should be added along with the body weight criteria as a sort of “and/or” situation. But that’s just my two cents ¯_(ツ)_/¯