WHAT IS IT?

Eating disorders are illnesses in which people experience severe disturbances in their eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions. People with eating disorders typically become preoccupied with food and their body weight.

In many cases, eating disorders occur together with other psychiatric disorders like anxiety, panic, obsessive compulsive disorder, and alcohol and drug abuse problems.

We will review the most common types of eating disorders.

WHO HAS IT?

At least 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the United States. Every 62 minutes at least one person dies as a direct result from an eating disorder. 16% of transgender college students reported having an eating disorder.

THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES AND WARNING SIGNS OF EATING DISORDERS?

Correct- “eating disorder” is a very broad term and there are different warning signs for different types of eating disorders.

  • Anorexia Nervosa

    • Diagnosed usually when patients weigh in at least 15% less than the normal healthy weight for their body type. Some characteristics of Anorexia Nervosa include: difficulties maintaining an appropriate weight for height, age, and stature. People with Anorexia generally restrict the number of calories and the types of foods they eat. Some people with the disorder also exercise compulsively, purge via vomiting and laxatives, and/or binge eating.

    • You cannot tell if a person is struggling with Anorexia by looking at them. A person does not need to be underweight to be struggling. Some warning signs include dramatic weight loss, dressing in layers to hide weight loss, refusal to eat certain foods, frequent comments about feeling “fat” despite the weight loss, develops food rituals, cooks food for others without eating, withdraws from usual friends and activities as they become more isolated and secretive and has concerns with eating in public.

  • Bulimia Nervosa

    • A serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by a cycle of bingeing and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating.

    • Some warning signs include evidence of binge eating (disappearance of large amounts of food in short periods of time), evidence of purging behaviors (frequent trips to the bathroom after means, smells of vomiting, packages of laxatives), uncomfortable eating around others, food rituals, skips meals or small portions, drinks excessive amounts of water, excessive amounts of mouthwash and mints, hides body with baggy clothing, discolored teeth, shows concern with body weight and extreme mood swings.

  • Binge Eating Disorder

    • Severe, life-threatening, and treatable eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and to the point of discomfort; a feeling of a loss of control during the binge; experiencing shame, distress or guilt afterwards; and not using unhealthy compensatory measures (e.g., purging) to counter the binge eating. It is the most common eating disorder in the United States.

    • Some warning sings include: evidence of binge eating, uncomfortable eating around others, any new practice with food or diets (e.g., cutting out entire food groups), fears of eating in public, steals or hoards food in strange places, creates lifestyle schedules to make time for binge sessions, withdraws from usual friends, frequent diets, extreme concern with body weight, frequent checking in the mirror, frequent stomach cramps and difficulties concentrating.