Symptoms of Eating Disorders


​Anorexia Nervosa
  • Extremely low body weight, or body weight much lower than one's body was genetically meant to be
  • Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat
  • Distorted body image: sees self as fat
  • Undue influence of body weight or shape on how one evaluates one's self
  • Absent or irregular menstruation
  • May or may not engage in purging behaviors

Bulimia
  • Recurrent episodes of binge eating
  • Feelings of lack of control over eating during binges
  • Purging through use of vomiting, abuse of laxatives or diuretics, fasting/dieting or exercise
  • Can be above, below or normal body weight

Binge Eating Disorder (also known as Compulsive Eating)
  • Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode is characterized by: 
  1. Eating a larger amount of food than normal during a short period of time (within any two hour period)
  2. Lack of control over eating during the binge episode (i.e. the feeling that one cannot stop eating).

  • Binge eating episodes are associated with three or more of the following: 
  1. Eating until feeling uncomfortably full
  2. Eating large amounts of food when not physically hungry
  3. Eating much more rapidly than normal
  4. Eating alone because you are embarrassed by how much you're eating
  5. Feeling disgusted, depressed, or guilty after overeating

  • Marked distress regarding binge eating is present
  • Binge eating occurs, on average, at least 2 days a week for six months
  • The binge eating is not associated with the regular use of inappropriate compensatory behavior (i.e. purging, excessive exercise, etc.) and does not occur exclusively during the course of bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa.
  • May engage in fasting or dieting behaviors
  • Can be at normal to obese body weight.

Disordered Eating And Body Image Disturbance
These terms described patterns and symptoms that are not severe enough to meet an eating disorder diagnosis but still cause significant distress. Because chronic dieting is accepted as the norm in our culture, the discomfort caused by this pervasive problem often goes unrecognized.

Common Signs of Disordered Eating and Body Image Disturbance
  • "Yo-yo dieting": going on and off restrictive diets
  • Fear of eating a variety of nutritious, enjoyable foods
  • Using food or dieting to manage painful emotions
  • Compulsive exercise: forgoing other pleasurable activities in order to exercise, inability to take a day off, even when injured
  • An inability to feel comfortable with one's set point, a natural healthy body weight.
  • feeling disgusted with one¹s body
  • avoiding social activities because of discomfort with one¹s body and appearance 
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