#his eating is so specific to me that i’m considering him having arfid

[frothingatthemaw]

been oc-ing the fuck out of vessel….. i have written some Thoughts about him while i’ve been away :3 if anyone wants to see them, i can post em!!

[aiwannadrawit]

Desmond Headcanon 010

So, after a lot of thinking and a lot of trying to convince myself otherwise I will say that yeah, Desmond has an eating disorder. ARFID to be specific. More info undercut. (Note: I’m obviously not an expert on this topic but having done research over the weeks so I feel pretty good about this.)

So, a lot of this will simply be me re-writing what y’all can find on the internet but I feel like a long explanation might be necessary for this.

ARFID stands for Avoidant / Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. As of the DSM-V the criteria is as followed:

A. An eating or feeding disturbance (e.g., apparent lack of interest in eating or food; avoidance based on the sensory characteristics of food; concern about aversive consequences of eating) as manifested by persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional and/or energy needs associated with one (or more) of the following:

1.  Significant weight loss (or failure to achieve expected weight gain or faltering growth in children).

2.  Significant nutritional deficiency.

3.  Dependence on enteral feeding or oral nutritional supplements.

4.  Marked interference with psychosocial functioning.

B. The disturbance is not better explained by lack of available food or by an associated culturally sanctioned practice.

C. The eating disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, and there is no evidence of a disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced.

D. The eating disturbance is not attributable to a concurrent medical condition or not better explained by another mental disorder. When the eating disturbance occurs in the context of another condition or disorder, the severity of the eating disturbance exceeds that routinely associated with the condition or disorder and warrants additional clinical attention.

People who have ARFID have an inability to eat certain foods. This can exclude whole food groups, foods with certain textures, colors, foods that are too hot, too cold, too soft, too chewy, and a long list of other biases that lead them to having very limited food choices.

Many people who suffer from ARFID can and will maintain a healthy /  normal body weight with the help of nutrient alternatives, this however, doesn’t mean that some sufferers of this disorder can loose weight quickly and have trouble gaining weight back. There aren’t any outward appearances for people who have ARFID, they can have all different types of bodies. Sufferers can have physical reaction to foods they find ‘Unsafe’ like retching, vomiting, and or gagging. They can even avoid many different social situations when food will be present or involved. 

ARFID had been associated with other disorders like OCD, Autism, and can be considered an Anxiety Disorder. Though it is not necessary to have one of these other disorders to be diagnosed with ARFID.

ARFID usually develops in childhood or infancy and can go away on its own in adulthood, but some adults need help to overcome this disorder.

~ ~ ~ ~

Okay, so. Well, Des’s backstory atm is kind of floaty for me in all honesty, not that I’m going to really change anything about his bio, but yeah. Anyways, after looking at all of this it really does set in for Desmond and his reactions to food and other’s eating around him. This started in his childhood, but was dismissed as him being a picky eater and assumed that he would grow out of it eventually.

Desmond also has a lot of negative sense memories surrounding food due to his messy family upbringing. There are a lot of feelings and emotions wrapped up with his family that he simply doesn’t think about. He doesn't think about a lot of things in relation to his family but that’s another can of worms.

But yeah. A follow up post may come at some point.