EDNOS, or Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified (also known as Eating Disorders NOS), is a diagnosis in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) that is used as a catch-all for different eating disorders that cause problems and are clearly considered disordered eating, but don't fit the diagnosis for anorexia, bulimia nervosa or binge-eating.
No less of a diagnosis
This type of disordered eating is no different from the other eating disorders. It is equally as life threatening, has as much power over you as other eating disorders and creates problems in your life just like the other EDs do. The difference is, with this type, there is a different spin than you find in the diagnostic criteria for the other eating disorders.
What's the difference?
For instance, if you purge and meet the guidelines for a bulimia nervosa diagnosis, but you don't binge, then you can't be diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa. The diagnosis would then be EDNOS.
The diagnostic criteria are as follows:
For females, all of the criteria for Anorexia Nervosa are met except that the individual has regular menses.
All of the criteria for Anorexia Nervosa are met except that, despite significant weight loss, the individual's current weight is in the normal range.
All of the criteria for Bulimia Nervosa are met except that the binge eating and inappropriate compensatory mechanisms occur at a frequency of less than twice a week or for a duration of less than 3 months.
The regular use of inappropriate compensatory behavior by an individual of normal body weight after eating small amounts of food (e.g., self-induced vomiting after the consumption of two cookies).
Binge-eating disorder: recurrent episodes of binge eating in the absence of the regular use of inappropriate compensatory behaviors characteristic of Bulimia Nervosa.
