Helpful Information

Warning Signs

It should be noted that people with eating disorders share many personality and behavior patterns. To separate them into categories is somewhat artificial in that many individuals cycle through the various disorders. Therefore, many of the warning signs overlap. The more warning signs a person has from any of the following categories, the more likely it is that they have some form of an eating disorder.

General Signs:

  • Makes excuses to skip meals and eats alone
  • Preoccupation with food-related subjects in conversations
  • Has difficulty admitting to problems and expressing feelings
  • Makes self-critical statements about body and other aspects of self
  • Worries excessively about other's opinions
  • Begins to isolate
  • Becomes increasingly perfectionistic of self and others

Anorexia Nervosa:

  • Significant weight loss
  • Focus on "good" foods and "bad" foods
  • Drastically reduces fat in diet
  • Makes statements indicating the perception of being overweight (though thin)
  • Verbally denies being hungry
  • Skips meals and may also purge food
  • Engages in food rituals such as cutting food into small pieces, leaving food on plate, eating very slowly
  • Engages in excessive exercise
  • Develops other rituals such as having difficulty changing pen colors when note-taking, rigid schedule

Bulimia Nervosa:

  • Goes to restroom after meals
  • Eats large quantities of food without gaining weight
  • Eats rapidly
  • Unexplained disappearance of food
  • Has mood swings
  • Appearance of laxative or diuretic wrapper in trash
  • Swelling around the jaw, blood shot eyes, dental problems

Binge Eating Disorder:

  • Weight gain (though not always)
  • Frequently eats large amounts of food rapidly
  • Eats to the point of being overly full
  • May eat only in isolation

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