Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are serious conditions that can harm a person’s health and even be life-threatening. They happen when someone has unhealthy thoughts and feelings about food and eating. While many people make choices to stay healthy or look a certain way, those with eating disorders become overly focused on food, body weight, and how they look. This can cause feelings like guilt, shame, and anxiety.

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Eating Disorders — Tabbed Content

Symptoms include:

Restrictive dieting (skipping meals, avoiding wide groups of food, etc.)
Frequent trips to the bathroom after meals
Changes in period/menstrual cycle
Shame around food or discomfort eating around others
Brittle hair, skin, and nails or hair loss
Difficulties with focusing
Frequently feeling cold
Noticeable weight loss or weight gain
Unusually high concerns about body image
Sleeping much more or much less than normal
Big differences in energy levels
Passing out
Extreme exercise

Risk factors include:

Bullying
Family history
Stress
Other mental health issues

Types of Eating Disorders

Anorexia Nervosa

This eating disorder happens when someone is very afraid of gaining weight. They may see their body differently than it really is and eat much less food than they need, which can lead to serious health problems and very low body weight. There are two types of anorexia. In the "restrictive" type, people limit the amount and kinds of food they eat. In the "binge-purge" type, even though the person has very low body weight, they may have episodes of eating a lot of food at once (bingeing) and then try to get rid of it by throwing up or using other methods, like taking laxatives. This is different from bulimia, where the person's weight is usually normal or above average.

Bulimia Nervosa

This eating disorder happens when someone eats a lot of food in one sitting (bingeing) and then tries to get rid of the food afterward (purging). Purging can include making themselves throw up, taking laxatives or diuretics, fasting, exercising too much, or a mix of these behaviors. People with bulimia can be slightly underweight, a normal weight, or slightly overweight.

Binge-Eating Disorder

This eating disorder happens when someone eats a lot of food in a short amount of time. They may feel like they can't stop or control how much they are eating. Binge-eating disorder can lead to weight gain and health problems related to being overweight, but being overweight is not always a symptom of this disorder.

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