Anorexia
People with anorexia starve themselves to dangerously thin levels, at least 15% below their appropriate weight.
Warning Signs
- Loss of menstrual period
- Dieting obsessively when not overweight
- Claiming to feel "fat" when overweight is not a reality
- Preoccupation with food, calories, nutrition, and/or cooking
- Denial of hunger
- Excessive exercising, being over active
- Frequent weighing
- Strange food related behaviors
- Episodes of binging
- 15% or more below normal body weight
- Depression
- Slowness
- Hair loss
Bulimia
People with bulimia binge uncontrollably on large amounts of food - sometimes thousands of calories at a time - and then purge the calories out of their bodies through vomiting, starving, excessive exercise, laxatives, or other methods.
Warning Signs
- Excessive concern about weight
- Strict dieting followed by eating binges
- Frequent overeating, especially when distressed
- Binging on high calorie, sweet foods
- Use of laxatives, diuretics, strict dieting, vigorous exercise, and/or vomiting to control weight
- Leaving for bathroom after meals
- Being secretive about binges/vomiting
- Planning binges or opportunities to binge
- Feeling out of control
- Depressive moods
Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified
People with ED NOS have some but not all of the symptoms of anorexia or bulimia.
Examples of ED NOS:
- All criteria for anorexia met except regular menses still occurring
- All criteria for bulimia met except frequency of less than twice a week of for a duration of less than 3 months
- All criteria for anorexia met except despite significant weight loss, weight is in normal range
- Regular use of inappropriate compensatory behavior by a normal weight individual after small amounts of food
- Repeatedly chewing and spitting out, but not swallowing, large amounts of food
Websites of interest:
National Eating Disorders Association
National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders
edreferral.com- National Listing/Referral Directory
Bulimia Resource Guide
Please note that these websites have helpful educational information, but Selah House does not monitor all content on an ongoing basis to determine if the sites are in compliance with our treatment philosophies.
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