Do
You Think About Food, Weight or Diets, A Lot? It
may be an eating disorder when your thoughts about food, or dieting,
or your concerns about your body become more important than everything
else in your life.
It may be an eating disorder when those thoughts get in the way of
you doing things that you enjoy, when they interfere with the normal
activities of your life, including friendships, school, going out,
etc… If that’s happening, then you probably need some help.
THE
FACTS ABOUT
EATING DISORDERS Eating
disorders can cause health problems and be life threatening.
More girls and women suffer from eating disorders than do boys or
men, but boys do get eating disorders, too.
Eating Disorders begin most often in adolescence.
Surveys show more than 50 % of high school and college-age women are
unhappy with their body shape and size, with an estimate of up to
20% having an eating disorder at any given point in time.
There are several different types of eating disorders: Anorexia, Bulimia,
Binge Eating Disorder, and Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
ANOREXIA
Anorexia is when a person starves herself/himself to be thin. Usually
the person has become about 15% below a healthy body weight and doesn’t
ever feel like she/he is thin enough. People with anorexia have a
huge fear of being fat. Someone with Anorexia has a distorted body
image.
There
Are Two Types Of Anorexia
The
Restricting Type The Restricting type of Anorexia is simply dieting and fasting
to lose more and more weight. Sometimes a person with this type
of Anorexia uses too much exercise as their way to lose weight.
Binge
Eating/Purging Type In the Binge Eating/Purging type of Anorexia, whenever a person
feels he or she has eaten too much (that may be only a small amount
of food, in actuality, but still feels like too much),the person
deals with the fear of gaining weight by either vomiting, over
exercising, using laxatives, diuretics or enemas, or any combination
of these purging behaviors.
Health
Consequences Often,
a girl’s menstrual cycle stops. Increasingly, all the person
thinks about is food, eating, body size and weight. In addition
to obsessing about food and body, a person may also show the signs
of malnutrition: weakness, dehydration, low blood pressure, always
being cold, growing fine hair all over the body, erosion of enamel
on the teeth, kidney damage, yellow skin, stomach problems, and
even heart failure. Anorexia has one of the highest death rates
of any mental disorder.
BULIMIA
With Bulimia, there is also an obsession with food and being thin.
A person eats large amounts of food in short periods of time and
then gets rid of it by, either vomiting, exercising, use of laxatives
or diuretics, or a combination of several of these purging methods.
People struggling with Bulimia usually do all of this secretly and
feel terribly ashamed and guilty about their behaviors. Still, they
can’t seem to stop.
You
Can’t Tell Who Has Bulimia
By What He or She Weighs Sometimes
people with Bulimia are under a healthy weight, some people who
binge and purge maintain an average weight, and some people with
bulimia are overweight.
Some people with Bulimia find their weight goes up and down. Others
stay pretty much within the same weight range. Eating Disorders
are rarely about “weight”.
“Weight” is just the thing everyone focuses on, so they
can avoid focusing in on other things (like feelings) in their life
that may be bothering them, or that may feel out of their control.
Health
Consequences There
can be serious health problems because of the binge/purge cycle:
vomiting can cause tooth enamel and gums to erode, salivary glands
to swell and blood vessels to break in the eyes. The heart, kidney,
liver, pancreas, thyroid, colon, esophagus, and stomach can be damaged.
There can be neurological problems and excessive bleeding.
BINGE
EATING DISORDER Binge
Eating Disorder is the eating disorder where people eat large amounts
of food in short periods of time, or over long periods of time,
and feel out of control while doing this. Often the binge only stops
when a person is uncomfortably full. Thoughts about food, eating
and body size or weight, take over the person’s life. People
with binge eating disorder usually binge alone and feel disgusted
and guilty about doing it. Still they can’t seem to stop. Unlike
people with Bulimia, people with this disorder don’t do anything
to compensate for the amount of food they eat (like vomit, over
exercise, use laxatives or diuretics). The never-ending cycle of
dieting can lead to the painful cycle of binge eating.
Health
Consequences Some
health problems that can happen because of Binge Eating Disorder
are: high blood pressure, diabetes, and skin ruptures. You could
also experience problems with your joints, breathing, gallbladder,
pancreas and heart.
EATING
DISORDER NOS (NOT
OTHERWISE SPECIFIED)
This is when a person’s thoughts and behaviors around food,
eating, and body, interfere with living a normal life, but don’t
necessarily fall neatly into any of the other eating disorder categories.
ARE
YOU AT RISK? Below
are some questions developed by ANRED (Anorexia Nervosa and Related
Eating Disorders, Inc.) to help you determine whether or not you
are at risk for an eating disorder.
As you take this test, please keep this in mind…If you are
in any way troubled by how you deal with food, eating, or your body,
it is a good idea to find help. On our Resources page, you’ll find many ways to locate appropriate help in your
community.
The easiest way to take the test is to check off the statements
that apply to you and then print it out. Then read the explanatory
paragraph at the end.
Your visit to this Web site is anonymous. We do not know who you
are, we do not collect this data, so be as honest with yourself
as possible.
I worry about what I will eat.
If I gain weight, I get anxious and depressed
I would rather eat by myself than with family or friends
Other people talk about the way I eat.
I get anxious when people urge me to eat.
I don’t talk much about my fear of being fat because no one
understands how I feel.
I have a secret stash of food.
When I eat, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop.
I lie about what I eat.
I don’t like to be bothered or interrupted when I’m
eating
If I were thinner, I would like myself better.
I like to read recipes, cookbooks, calorie charts, and books about
dieting and exercise.
I feel guilty when I eat.
My eating habits and fear of food interfere with friendships or
romantic relationships.
I binge eat.
I am hardly ever satisfied with myself.
I have fasted to lose weight.
I have missed work or school because of my weight or eating habits.
I tend to be depressed and irritable.
I avoid some people because they bug me about the way I eat.
When I eat, I feel bloated and fat.
I enjoy cooking for others, but I usually don’t eat what
I’ve cooked
Even though people tell me I’m thin, I feel fat.
I get anxious if I can’t exercise.
My menstrual periods are irregular or absent. (female)
My sex drive is not as strong as it used to be. (male)
I do strange things with my food (cut it into tiny pieces, eat
it in special ways, eat it on special dishes with special utensils,
make patterns on my plate with it, secretly throw it away, give
it to the dog, hide it, spit it out before I swallow, etc.)
I get anxious when people watch me eat.
I vomit or take laxatives to control my weight.
I want to be thinner than my friends.
I have stolen food, laxatives, or diet pills from stores or from
other people.
In romantic moments, I cannot let myself go because I am worried
about my fat and flab.
I have said or thought, “I would rather die than be fat.”
I have noticed one or more of the following: cold hands and feet,
dry skin, thinning hair, fragile nails, swollen glands in my neck,
dental cavities, dizziness, weakness, fainting, rapid or irregular
heartbeat.
About
Your Responses As
strange as it seems in our thin-obsessed society, none of the above
behaviors is normal or healthy. The more items you have checked,
the more serious your problem may be. Please check with your physician
or a qualified mental health counselor to assess medical and/or
psychological risk.
Sometimes it's hard to talk about these behaviors with anyone, let
alone ask for help. So, if you decide to seek help, try this. Answer
the questions listed above. Then print the questionnaire and take
it to an adult you trust. Having the questionnaire in hand may make
it easier for both of you to begin this very, very important conversation.
People do recover from eating disorders, but almost all of those
who do, need professional help to get back on track. Asking for
help is hard to do. (It even takes courage to take this test.) If
you need help, we hope you will seek it out so you can begin to
feel better.
