Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders are characterized as a change in eating behaviors. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are the two types of eating disorders. Misconception of body shape and weight are essential features of both types.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa is the refusal to maintain minimal normal body weight, is intensely afraid of gaining weight and misperceives his or her body shape and/or size. If Anorexia Nervosa is developed in childhood or early adolescents, there may be failure to make expected weight gains. Usually weight loss is accomplished but a total reduction of food intake. One may begin by excluding what they perceive to be highly caloric foods and eventually end up with a very restricted diet. Body weight and shape are significantly distorted, often using a wide variety of techniques to estimate their body size or weight (excessive weighing, obsessive measuring of body parts and constantly checking themselves in the mirror). An individual may acknowledge being thin but don’t see it as a problem and often needs to be brought to professional attention by family members. In menopausal women, amenorrhea (due to abnormally low levels of estrogen) is an indicator of physiological dysfunction in Anorexia Nervosa.

Bulimia Nervosa

The essential features of Bulimia Nervosa are binge eating and inappropriate compensatory methods to prevent weight gain. A binge (eating in a discrete period of time an amount of food that is definitely larger that what would be consumed under normal circumstances) may or may not be planned and is characterized by rapid consumption. Binges are commonly triggered by depressed mood, stress, intense hunger because of not eating or feelings related to body weight and shape. To compensate for the binge eating, individuals attempt different techniques to prevent the weight gain. These techniques include vomiting, misuse of laxatives and excessive exercise. In some cases, vomiting becomes a goal itself, and a person will binge in order to vomit or will vomit after consuming only a small amount of food.

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