I'm confused about a couple things related to ARFID and there's no better place to ask than here so yeah here are some questions I have.
What are the factors which determine what your safe foods are? I've seen people say that people with ARFID are unable to "choose" their safe foods which implies that from birth it is already decided what a certain persons safe foods will be but I personally feel like that is kinda iffy.
Why do so many people have same or similar safe foods? The most common safe foods are; crackers, cereal, white bread, plain noodles, French fries, chicken nuggets, pizza, and sweets which can all be categorized as "junk" or highly processed foods. On one hand it does make sense why all of these are common safe foods as they are predictable and consistent but still it is confusing to me that no one has a different type of safe food.
Isn't ARFID just a severe form of picky eating?
Can ARFID be of varying severity from person to person? Or is it fairly consistent in how it affects people?
Can ARFID be an acquired condition in some cases? For example can someone who is a picky eater and all their needs and wants were facilitated from childhood and they never really try eating anything else other than the foods they like, can such a person "develop" ARFID even if they weren't initially diagnosed with it?
The link between ARFID and autism has already been researched thoroughly but could there be any correlation between OCD and ARFID? Cause to me it seems like people suffering from ARFID are unhealthily obsessed with consistency and predictability so there could be some overlap between the two disorders.
Is ARFID something that has shown up only in recent years? Cause if we were to assume that ARFID has always been around in some form or the other wouldn't they just die of malnutrition as there were no processed, predictable foods back in like the 1700s only inconsistent foods so hence I personally feel like ARFID might've only surfaced recently ~ perhaps 20 - 30ish years ago.
Well thats all. I would like to mention that I do not mean to be condescending or snarky with any of these questions, I am genuinely curious and I do sympathise with you guys as I am sure none of you want to be only able to eat certain foods and if you guys had the choice you would snap away ARFID without a moments doubt. Even then if my questions came off as rude or inconsiderate I am sorry.