An eating disorder is not a diet. It is not a passing phase.

Eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, are serious psychological and physical responses to underlying emotional issues. The symptoms are food- and weight-related, but the cause runs more deeply to psychological factors and influences. The toll is great, not only to the individual suffering, but also to families and loved ones who witness it.

Eating disorders have “complex, underlying psychological and biological causes,” according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The NIMH also reports that eating disorders frequently co-exist with other psychological issues like depression, substance abuse and anxiety disorders. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any other psychological illness.

For this reason, it’s important to get help as early as possible. Eating disorders are treatable, and full recovery is possible in a supportive environment with compassionate professionals.

If you’re concerned that you or someone you love has an eating disorder, we hope this information will help.

Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by:

• low body weight
• relentless pursuit to be thin
• unwillingness to maintain a healthy or normal weight
• body-image distortion
• intense fear of gaining weight
• no menstruation in women and girls
• unusual eating behaviors

And sometimes also:

• excessive dieting and exercise
• use of self-induced vomiting, laxatives, diuretics and/or enemas to lose weight

Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by:

• frequent binge-eating
• behaviors to offset the binge, called purging, such as vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, over-exercise and/or fasting
• fear of gaining weight
• desperation to lose weight
• discontent with body shape and/or size

And unlike anorexia:

• low body weight is not necessarily a symptom
• weight can be average, low or above average

Other types of eating disorders are categorized as

“Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.”

A common one is binge-eating, which is characterized by:

• recurrent binge-eating instances in which a person feels out of control over eating habits
• binge-eating not followed by purging
• oftentimes above-average weight or obesity

For more details on eating disorders, visit:
National Eating Disorder Association
National Institute of Mental Health