Common eating disorders and how to treat them

Eating disorders are conditions that relate to how you think about food, eating, weight and shape, and in your eating habits.

These symptoms can affect your health, your emotional well-being and your ability to function in important areas of life, including school, work and relationships. If not treated well in time, it can lead to death.

Eating disorders lead to dangerous eating behaviours which can seriously affect the ability to get the nutrition your body needs. Eating disorders damage all systems in your body, especially the heart, digestive system, bones, teeth and mouth.

Eating disorders are also commonly linked with depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts and behaviours. Eating disorders are mental health illnesses and need to be managed by professionals to give one a chance of full recovery.

With proper treatment, you can return to healthier eating habits and learn healthier ways to think about food and your body. You also may be able to reverse or reduce serious problems caused by the eating disorder.

People with eating disorders will not normally see that they have a problem until a loved one highlights the issue. Also they are associated with guilt and shame that often prevents people from getting help. Symptoms vary, depending on the type of eating disorder.

Anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorder are the most common eating disorders. People with eating disorders can have all different body types and sizes. The exact cause of eating disorders is not known. As with other mental health conditions, there may be different causes, such as genetics or biological factors.

Signs of eating disorders

• Skipping meals or snacks or making excuses for not eating.

• Too much focus on food or healthy eating.

• Withdrawing from usual social activities, especially those that involve eating.

• Frequent and ongoing worry or complaints about being unhealthy or overweight and talk of losing weight.

• Frequent checking in the mirror for what are thought to be flaws.

• Repeatedly eating large amounts of foods.

• Using supplements, laxatives, enemas or herbal products for weight loss.

• Exercising much more than the average person.

• This includes not taking rest days or days off.

• Problems with loss of tooth enamel that may be a sign of repeated vomiting.

• Leaving during meals or right after a meal to use the toilet.

• Talk of depression, disgust, shame or guilt about eating habits.

• Eating in secret.

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Risk factors

Anyone can develop an eating disorder. Eating disorders often start in the teen and young adult years. But they can occur at any age. Certain factors may increase the risk of developing an eating disorder, including:

• A family history of parents or siblings who have had an eating disorder or other mental health disorders.

• Presence of other mental health issues.

• Dieting and starvation. Frequent dieting is a risk factor for an eating disorder, especially with weight that is constantly going up and down when getting on and off new diets.

• People who have been teased or bullied for their weight are more likely to develop problems with eating and eating disorders.

• Stress. Whether it’s heading off to college, moving, landing a new job, or a family or relationship issue, change can bring stress. And stress may increase the risk of an eating disorder.

Anorexia

Anorexia also called anorexia nervosa is a life-threatening eating disorder. People with anorexia have an extremely unhealthy low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight, and a view of weight and shape that is not realistic.

It often involves using extreme efforts to control weight and shape, which often seriously interfere with health and daily life.

Anorexia may include severely limiting calories or cutting out certain kinds of foods or food groups. It may involve other methods to lose weight, such as exercising too much, using laxatives or diet aids, or vomiting after eating.

Efforts to reduce weight can cause severe health problems, even for those who continue eating throughout the day or whose weight isn’t extremely low.

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Bulimia

Bulimia also called bulimia nervosa, is a serious, sometimes life-threatening eating disorder. It includes episodes of bingeing, commonly followed by episodes of vomiting.

Sometimes it may also include severely limiting eating for periods of time. This often leads to stronger urges to binge eat and then vomit. Bingeing involves eating food sometimes an extremely large amount in a short period of time.

During bingeing, people feel like they have no control over their eating and that they can’t stop. After eating, due to guilt, shame or an intense fear of weight gain, vomiting is done to get rid of calories. Some people change medicine doses, such as changing insulin amounts, to try to lose weight.

Bulimia also involves being preoccupied with weight and body shape, with severe and harsh self-judgment of personal appearance.

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