What is an Eating Disorder? | What are the Signs and Symptoms? |
What’s the Takeaway?
Overview
Eating disorders are serious conditions that can profoundly affect both physical and mental health. There is a pervasive misunderstanding of these conditions. They are considered lifestyle choices when they are valid and complex disorders rooted in multiple factors around body image and food.
Eating disorders can be so severe that they carry a much higher death rate than any other mental health disorder,[1] with the leading causes of death being medical complications from malnourishment and starvation as well as suicide.
As serious as these issues can be, they are also treatable. It is, therefore, important to notice the symptoms of an eating disorder early to give yourself or a loved one a chance at a better outcome.
What is an Eating Disorder?
An eating disorder is defined as any mental condition in which a persistent disturbance of eating behavior results in physical or mental health impairment.
Although they can happen to anyone, adolescent girls and young women seem to be affected by eating disorders far more than men,[2] and are characterized by a preoccupation with body weight and shape and an unhealthy relationship with food.
Eating disorders are divided into three main categories: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorders.[2] Because they have many symptoms in common, it is also possible for one person to move between them, making the condition even more complex.
What are the Signs and Symptoms?
The symptoms of an eating disorder can be tough to spot in oneself and others, but it helps to know what they are. They are presented here as they apply to each category.
1) Anorexia Nervosa
People with this condition avoid or restrict food intake. They may eat small quantities of certain foods as well. There is also a binge-purge subtype of anorexia where patients avoid or restrict food intake but also have episodes where they consume large amounts of food, followed by inducing vomiting or using laxatives or diuretics to purge what was ingested. This disorder’s underlying theme is that patients view themselves as overweight even when dangerously underweight and malnourished.[3]
Symptoms:
· Extremely restricted eating
· An obsession with being thin and consistently pursuing this state
· Fear of gaining weight
· Distorted body image
· Extreme thinness
· A self-esteem revolving almost entirely on weight and body shape
As the disorder progresses, other symptoms may begin to appear. These can include:
· Feeling tired and sluggish all the time
· Muscle weakness
· Moderate to severe constipation
· Low blood pressure
· Slow pulse
· Slow breathing
· Brittle nails and hair
· Dry skin
· Low body temperature
· Degrading/thinning of bones
· Growth of fine body hair (lanugo)
· Organ damage (heart, brain, or even multiple organs)
2) Bulimia Nervosa
A condition where patients have episodes of binge eating followed by purging excess food via vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, excessive exercise, fasting, or any combination.[4]
Symptoms:
· Constantly sore, inflamed throat due to frequent vomiting
· Heightened tooth sensitivity, tooth decay, and worn enamel due to stomach acid exposure
· Gastrointestinal irritation such as acid reflux due to frequent vomiting and abuse of laxatives
· Dehydration due to vomiting, laxatives, and diuretics
· Other symptoms related to fluid loss, such as an electrolyte imbalance and swollen salivary glands in the neck area
3) Binge Eating Disorder
This condition is defined as consuming vast amounts of food in a relatively short time, at least once a week and for three months or longer,[5] often past the point of discomfort. Unlike bulimia, there is no purging, and as a result, one of the most frequent symptoms of this disorder is obesity.
Symptoms:
· Eating even when full or not hungry
· Eating very fast during binges
· Eating past the point of fullness (and even past uncomfortably full)
· Eating vast amounts of food during a binge episode
· ‘Secret eating’ – ensuring that binges (or just regular eating) take place alone or away from others’ view
· Serial dieting
· Guilt and shame about eating
· Obesity
4) Atypical Eating Disorders
This type of eating disorder can have the same symptoms as anorexia or bulimia but doesn’t wholly fit the diagnostic criteria for either.[6] An example would be someone who has symptoms of anorexia but is at a relatively average weight or binges and purges, but only once in a while.
It is still a health problem that can have the same consequences as the three more defined disorders, but it may be tougher to spot and properly diagnose.
What’s the Takeaway?
Eating disorders can affect anyone regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, or other traits. What makes these types of conditions often challenging to diagnose and treat is that they have complex roots in biological, genetic, psychological, and social components.
Although complex, these disorders are treatable and can respond well to psychotherapy, medications, and nutritional counseling.
If you feel you have any of these symptoms, please speak to your doctor. Early intervention can help to mitigate an eating disorder before it becomes too serious.
References:
- Arcelus, J., Mitchell, A. J., Wales, J., & Nielsen, S. (2011). Mortality rates in patients with anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders. A meta-analysis of 36 studies. Archives of general psychiatry, 68(7), 724–731. https://doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.74
- Fairburn, C. G., & Harrison, P. J. (2003). Eating disorders. Lancet (London, England), 361(9355), 407–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12378-1
- Moore, C. A., & Bokor, B. R. (2022). Anorexia Nervosa. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.
- Hay, P. J., & Claudino, A. M. (2010). Bulimia nervosa. BMJ clinical evidence, 2010, 1009.
- Iqbal, A., & Rehman, A. (2022). Binge Eating Disorder. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.
- Mitrany E. (1992). Atypical eating disorders. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 13(5), 400–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/1054-139x(92)90039-e
