Eating Disorders

What are eating disorders?

There are many different types of eating disorder but the three main forms are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder.

How to help

How do I know if I have an eating disorder?

A doctor will need to diagnose an eating disorder. Some signs are listed below but a person doesn’t have to have all of these, and they may also have other signs not mentioned. If you are worried, for yourself or a friend, please see a doctor. Whilst it can be scary to ask for help, it makes a huge difference to get help early.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is when some young people lose a significant amount of weight because of restricting their eating. This will also show a variety of physical, thought-based and emotional symptoms.

  • Loss of a significant amount of body weight
  • Feeling tired and finding it hard to do the things you usually do
  • In those who have started their periods, the missing of at least three cycles
  • Negative physical impact on your bones, muscles, skin, digestion

  • Not being able to switch off from thinking about food and weight
  • Difficulty concentrating and memory lapses
  • Low self-esteem
  • Thinking and feeling fat

  • Lots of effort on maintaining low weight
  • Avoiding social situations, especially if food is involved
  • Compulsive behaviour such as being stuck in a variety of routines, constant checking (these may include frequent checking of weight, other food-related checking or routines around cleanliness)
  • Perfectionism and exceptionally and unrealistically high standards

  • Feeling alone and trapped by the condition
  • Mood swings
  • Increased irritability
  • Increased anxiety and/or depression

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is when people try to control their weight through periods of not eating followed by periods of losing control over their eating. They then try to get rid of the food they have eaten when they have lost control in different ways.

  • Variable body weight
  • Sore throat and stomach pains
  • Swollen face and dental problems
  • Sleep problems

  • Constant thoughts around food
  • Body dissatisfaction
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Low self-esteem

  • Bingeing
  • Getting rid of what is eaten in a number of different ways
  • Secretive eating behaviour
  • Anxiety in social situations, especially if food is involved

  • Difficulty dealing with big emotions
  • Depression
  • Embarrassed and ashamed
  • Anxiety

Binge Eating Disorder

Binge Eating Disorder is a condition where the person regularly binges, usually with weight gain. This can lead to obesity.

  • Weight gain
  • Risk of ill health, e.g. higher risk of diabetes and heart disease
  • Fertility affected
  • Bones affected

  • Feeling out of control over eating and weight
  • Low self-esteem
  • Body dissatisfaction
  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Bingeing
  • Restricted in what physical activities you can do
  • Avoiding social situations
  • Secrecy around eating activities

  • Shame
  • Depression
  • Helplessness
  • Anger at self

Other Eating Related Disorders

There are also other forms of disordered eating. Although these are not formally categorised as Eating Disorders, they are worth managing early in order to prevent them from developing into full-blown eating disorders.

These include fear and avoidance of certain groups of food either due to bad association with food/eating or due to a fear of vomiting. A form of psychological treatment called Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) which helps a young person gradually face their fear.

In this condition, the way the young person sees themselves is changed and not accurate, often leading to a lot of worry or anxiety.

This is when the need to exercise becomes compulsive or has no flexibility. There is a relentless pursuit of exercise, daily, whether tired or not. There is a fear of altering or reducing exercise. There is an increase in the number of repetitions of an exercise, e.g. stomach curls; using the machines that burn the most amount of calories. There is a pattern of increasing physical activity due to increasing tolerance of effort.

Exercise in moderation is healthy, however, over-exercising can lead to many negative effects such as effects on bones, potentially causing fractures. Changes to their period might be noticed by some. It can also lead to irritability, anxiety and depression.

If you are concerned about how trapped you feel about the amount of exercise you are doing, have a physical check with your GP and try and gradually reduce the amount of exercise you are doing, one step at a time. Replace exercise with something you enjoy and be prepared to feel anxious and irritable until your body gets used to it.

Download the Worth Warrior app

Worth Warrior is an app created for young people to manage negative body image, low self-worth, and related early-stage eating difficulties or disorders. This clinician-developed app can be downloaded free from the App Store or Google Play. Find out more at https://worthwarrior.stem4.org.uk.

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