Eating Disorders

Overview

There is a commonly held misconception that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice. Eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses that are associated with severe disturbances in people’s eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions. Preoccupation with food, body weight, and shape may also signal an eating disorder. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.

Signs and Symptoms

Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is a condition where people avoid food, severely restrict food, or eat very small quantities of only certain foods. They also may weigh themselves repeatedly. Even when dangerously underweight, they may see themselves as overweight.

There are two subtypes of anorexia nervosa: a restrictive subtype and a binge-purge subtype.

Restrictive: People with the restrictive subtype of anorexia nervosa severely limit the amount and type of food they consume.

Binge-Purge: People with the binge-purge subtype of anorexia nervosa also greatly restrict the amount and type of food they consume. In addition, they may have binge-eating and purging episodes—eating large amounts of food in a short time followed by vomiting or using laxatives or diuretics to get rid of what was consumed.

Anorexia nervosa can be fatal. It has an extremely high death (mortality) rate compared with other mental disorders. People with anorexia are at risk of dying from medical complications associated with starvation. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people diagnosed with anorexia nervosa.

If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs immediate help, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Symptoms include:

Extremely restricted eating
Extreme thinness (emaciation)
A relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight
Intense fear of gaining weight
Distorted body image, a self-esteem that is heavily influenced by perceptions of body weight and shape, or a denial of the seriousness of low body weight

Other symptoms may develop over time, including:

Thinning of the bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis)
Mild anemia and muscle wasting and weakness
Brittle hair and nails
Dry and yellowish skin
Growth of fine hair all over the body (lanugo)
Severe constipation
Low blood pressure
Slowed breathing and pulse
Damage to the structure and function of the heart
Brain damage
Multiorgan failure
Drop in internal body temperature, causing a person to feel cold all the time
Lethargy, sluggishness, or feeling tired all the time
Infertility

Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is a condition where people have recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food and feeling a lack of control over these episodes. This binge-eating is followed by behavior that compensates for the overeating such as forced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, excessive exercise, or a combination of these behaviors. People with bulimia nervosa may be slightly underweight, normal weight, or over overweight.

Symptoms include:

Chronically inflamed and sore throat
Swollen salivary glands in the neck and jaw area
Worn tooth enamel and increasingly sensitive and decaying teeth as a result of exposure to stomach acid
Acid reflux disorder and other gastrointestinal problems
Intestinal distress and irritation from laxative abuse
Severe dehydration from purging of fluids
Electrolyte imbalance (too low or too high levels of sodium, calcium, potassium, and other minerals) which can lead to stroke or heart attack read more

Are Psychiatric Disorders Related to Each Other?

The current, criteria-based approach towards diagnosing psychiatric disorders evolved from research in the 1960s and early 1970s by faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis. Those investigators analyzed data from clinical observations, longitudinal follow-up of patients, and family history information to define diagnostic criteria for a group of psychiatric illnesses that they believed were well validated based on several defined metrics.

Although this approach was not based on disease mechanisms, it did allow for reliable categorization of disorders—reliable meaning that different clinicians would likely agree on the same diagnosis for a given patient. Some of the illnesses included in the original 1972 publication from the Washington University group were schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, certain anxiety disorders, anorexia nervosa, and alcohol and drug dependence.

Eating Disorders: A Guide to Getting Treatment for A Healthy Future

Your eating behaviors will change throughout your entire life. Part of transitioning into adulthood involves learning how to be healthy without overdoing it. You also have to figure out how to love your body rather than be ashamed of it. For many people, this is no simple task.

When damaging eating behaviors and negative thoughts become persistent, they can turn into eating disorders. Up to 30 million people in the United States suffer from an eating disorder. These disorders are characterized by a lack of control over eating habits, which can include eating very small or very large amounts, and a hyper focus on your weight and body shape. more

My anorexia didn’t come from a ‘fear of eating’ – it started because I found comfort in habit and routine

I will never forget the car journey home from the clinic after I was diagnosed with anorexia. I sat in the back seat, looked out the window and let everything sink in.

The week that followed was the first week where I didn’t dance, horseride, do PE or even walk to school. Before all of this had happened, I used to worship those occasional car rides to school, but now the regular car rides back and forth felt like rubbing salt in the wound. It was during those car rides that I realised how much I enjoyed walking to school with my mother in the early morning. I guess it’s true what they say: you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. more

HOW TO STOP THE BINGE-PURGE CYCLE OF BULIMIA NERVOSA

The binge-purge cycle of bulimia nervosa is one of intense shame for those struggling and can be a source of confusion for loved ones as to why the individual doesn’t “just stop.” First, let’s explain what we mean when we talk about the binge-purge cycle.

The Binge-Purge Cycle

Over time, the frequency of the cycle tends to increase, and this pattern becomes more firmly engrained in the brain. However, no matter the frequency or length of time that someone has engaged in this pattern it is possible to step out of it. more

Eating Disorders

There is a commonly held view that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice. Eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses that cause severe disturbances to a person’s eating behaviors. Obsessions with food, body weight, and shape may also signal an eating disorder. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. more