Anorexia:
People who have anorexia nervosa are obsessed with controlling their eating. The reason for their obsession is the belief that by controlling their bodies they can control their lives. This obsession is usually achieved through starvation.
Anorexia Nervosa most commonly begins during puberty and can be recognized by the following symptoms:
- Losing a lot of weight.
- An inability to maintain a weight that is normal for our age and height.
- An obsessive desire to be thinner.
- Being very afraid of gaining weight or becoming "fat".
- Being unable to see our body as it really is: it always seems larger than it actually is.
- Allowing our weight and shape to overly influence how we feel about ourselves.
- A powerful desire to take control of our lives and feel competent. We believe we can achieve this by controlling our eating and weight.
Anorexia and bulimia have similar symptoms. However, anorexia can be recognized by the following:
- Significant weight loss without any logical reason, like illness.
- Significant reduction in eating accompanied by repeated denials of hunger.
- Dieting when not over our healthy weight range.
- Signs of starvation. This can include the thinning or actual loss of hair, the appearance of a fine, white hair on the body, frequent bloated feelings, yellowing palms or soles of feet and/or a dry, pasty skin.
- Abnormal menstrual periods in women. |
Bulimia:
Bulimia nervosa is characterized by cycles of bingeing and purging. As with anorexia, this behaviour is driven by a desire to regulate feelings, and with worries about body weight and shape.
The cycle begins with the person rapidly eating large amounts of food in a single sitting. The eating feels automatic and helpless. This may, initially, numb uncomfortable feelings, like anger or sadness. But it also creates physical discomfort and anxiety about weight gain. As a consequence, the person tries to rid the body of the food that was consumed. This is attempted by vomiting, using laxatives, enemas or diuretics, by exercising excessively, by skipping meals or by dieting.
These purging behaviours don't achieve the desired goals - to feel more physically comfortable and not gain weight. Instead, they are very harmful to health.
Symptoms of bulimia nervosa include:
- Repeated episodes of bingeing and purging.
- Feeling out of control while eating.
- Vomiting, using laxatives, diet pills or diuretics, exercising excessively, and skipping meals to rid the body of food.
- Frequent dieting.
- Using body weight and shape as the main measure of one's self-worth.
People with bulimia may well have a weight that is regarded as "normal". |
Binge Eating Disorder:
Individuals with binge eating disorders eat excessive amounts of food at one time. They do this for two reasons:
- They are very hungry because they have been dieting or restricting their eating in some way. The binge is a response to that hunger.
- They over-eat to comfort themselves, to avoid uncomfortable situations, or to numb their feelings. The binge is an attempt to soothe themselves emotionally.
People who binge-eat are often ashamed and embarrassed. They also tend to be genetically heavier and larger than the "average" person. They do not, however, generally try to compensate for their over-eating by vomiting, fasting, over-exercising or abusing laxatives as people with anorexia or bulimia may do.
Symptoms of binge eating disorder include:
- Eating large amounts of food frequently and in one sitting.
- Feeling out of control and unable to stop eating.
- Eating quickly and in secret.
- Feeling uncomfortably full after eating.
- Feeling guilty and ashamed of their binges.
In addition, people who binge eat may have a history of diet failures, and may also be obese. About one in five obese people engage in binge eating. |
Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified:
Individuals who experience a mix of anorexia and/or bulimia and/or binge-eating symptoms, but who don't fall neatly into one of the medical categories, are said to have an Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (ED-NOS). These individuals should also receive the help and resources provided to individuals who have a "neat" clinical diagnosis.
For instance, individuals with ED-NOS may exhibit all the symptoms of anorexia but:
- Women may continue to experience menstruation.
- Men won't typically experience abnormally low sex hormones.
- Both men and women may lose weight but still remain in the normal weight range.
Others may have all the symptoms of bulimia, but won't binge and/or purge as often as is required to be categorized as having bulimia.
Many people with ED-NOS also engage in other symptoms associated with anorexia, bulimia or binge eating, like:
- Purging, or compensating for normal eating by inducing vomiting, using laxatives or over-exercising - but don't do it often enough to be diagnosed with one of the other clinical eating disorders.
- Chewing food repeatedly and often spitting it out rather than swallowing it.
- Binge eating regularly and compensating for it through the use of laxatives or by vomiting, etc.
- Remaining within their normal weight range despite disordered eating. |
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