Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses characterized by significant disturbances in eating behaviors, impacting physical and mental health. Fixation on weight loss, body weight, or shape, and controlling food intake are signs of a potential eating disorder. These disorders are not a choice but can be life-threatening, affecting people of all ages, backgrounds, body weights, and sexes. Even seemingly healthy individuals can be affected. People with eating disorders can be underweight, average weight, or overweight.
Types of Eating Disorders
The exact cause of eating disorders is not fully understood, but common types include:
- Anorexia Nervosa: Characterized by severely restricted food intake due to a distorted self-image and an intense fear of gaining weight. Individuals with anorexia may see themselves as overweight even when dangerously underweight. Some may also experience binge eating and purging episodes.
- Binge-Eating Disorder (BED): Involves regularly losing control over eating and consuming unusually large amounts of food. People with BED are often overweight or obese.
- Bulimia Nervosa: Characterized by recurrent binge eating followed by unhealthy behaviors to prevent weight gain, such as forced vomiting or the use of laxatives. Individuals with bulimia may maintain an average weight or be overweight.
- Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID): Involves limiting the amount and variety of food intake due to anxiety or fear of the consequences of eating (e.g., choking or vomiting) or dislike of a food’s characteristics (e.g., appearance or texture).
Anorexia Nervosa: Signs, Symptoms, and Consequences
Signs and symptoms of anorexia nervosa include:
- Extremely restricted eating
- Intense and excessive exercise
- Extreme thinness (emaciation)
- A relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a healthy weight
- Intense fear of gaining weight
- Distorted body image or self-image
- Denial of the seriousness of low body weight
Over time, anorexia nervosa can lead to serious health consequences, including:
- Thinning of the bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis)
- Mild anemia
- Muscle wasting and weakness
- Delayed puberty
- Severe constipation
- Low blood pressure
- Slowed breathing and pulse
- Damage to the structure and function of the heart
- Feeling tired all the time
- Infertility
- Brain damage
- Multiple organ failure
Anorexia nervosa has an extremely high death rate compared with other mental disorders. People with anorexia nervosa are at risk of dying from medical complications associated with starvation, and suicide is a leading cause of death for those diagnosed with the condition.
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The Impact of Binge Eating
Occasional binge eating does not indicate an eating disorder. Many people eat past the point of being full sometimes, especially during holidays or on special occasions. Those whose binge eating is not related to an eating disorder feel in control of their eating behaviors, don’t hide their eating habits, and usually don’t experience long-term physical or mental health complications.
Binge eating may result in short-term effects, such as bloating, stomach cramps, indigestion, constipation, or fatigue, whether done often or on occasion. However, if someone is binge eating at least once a week for at least three months, it can affect the body mentally and physically.
Long-Term Physical Effects of Binge Eating
Eating a lot of food in a short period can have many physical effects on the body if done frequently enough over a long period. A few common conditions may include:
- Weight Gain: Consuming more food than the body uses for energy can cause weight gain.
- Heart Disease: There is an increased risk of heart disease. Heart disease is a general term referring to various conditions that affect the heart’s ability to function correctly. Many people don’t experience symptoms of heart disease, but it can lead to heart attack and heart failure.
- Type 2 Diabetes: Binge eating may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a life-long condition that affects how the body produces and uses insulin. Signs and symptoms of diabetes include increased thirst, hunger and urination, fatigue, blurred vision, numbness in the hands or feet, and slow-healing sores.
- Gallbladder Diseases: Another potential health risk of binge eating disorder is developing gallbladder diseases.
Long-Term Mental Effects of Binge Eating
Recurring binge eating can also affect mental health. Many people who struggle with binge eating experience signs of depression, anxiety, and stress. Sometimes, a person feels shame when eating a certain amount of food. They may feel uncomfortable with how their body feels or looks, and those feelings about themselves may become a cycle, leading to depression or anxiety.
Individuals who binge eat more than once a week may also feel fatigued or lack energy, making it difficult to complete daily tasks. But this also may be due to other factors, such as depressed mood, lack of physical activity, and insufficient sleep.
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Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
While these physical and mental effects may accompany-or correlate with-binge eating disorder, that doesn’t mean binge eating disorder causes these conditions. BED is a very complex mental health disorder with many biological, psychological, and social risk factors. More research needs to be done to pinpoint the relationship between binge eating disorder and its risk factors. For example, a person may have started binging in childhood as a coping mechanism due to trauma experienced. Binge eating disorder may be a complication associated with a co-occurring psychiatric condition. Binging also often occurs with chronic dieting, as a result of restricting food intake.
Binge eating disorder (BED) is usually characterized by binge eating once a week or more over a period of at least three months, eating to the point of being uncomfortably full, feeling out of control during a binge, eating when not hungry or in secret, and feeling shame, guilt, distress or embarrassment after a binge. Someone with binge eating disorder may also hoard food, prefer to eat alone, restrict their food intake by either fasting or trying fad diets. They may also show concern about their weight or body image and/or have low self-esteem.
Symptoms of Binge-Eating Disorder
If you have binge-eating disorder, you may be overweight or obese, or you may be at a healthy weight. A person with bulimia nervosa, another eating disorder, may binge and then vomit, use laxatives or exercise excessively to get rid of extra calories. This is not the case with binge-eating disorder. If you have binge-eating disorder, you may try to diet or eat less food at mealtimes to compensate. How much eating binges affect your mood and ability to function in daily life gives an idea of how serious the condition is for you. Binge-eating disorder can vary over time.
Risk Factors for Binge-Eating Disorder
Binge-eating disorder is more common in women than in men.
- Family History: You're much more likely to have an eating disorder if your parents or siblings have - or had - an eating disorder.
- Dieting: Many people with binge-eating disorder have a history of dieting.
- Mental Health Conditions: Many people who have binge-eating disorder feel negatively about themselves and their skills and accomplishments.
Triggers for bingeing can include stress, poor body self-image and certain foods.
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Co-Occurring Mental Illnesses and Suicide Risk
People with eating disorders are at risk for co-occurring mental illnesses, which most often include depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. People with eating disorders are also at a higher risk for suicide.
Treatment and Recovery
Eating disorders can be treated successfully. Early detection and treatment are important for recovery. Treatment plans for eating disorders include:
- Individual, group, or family psychotherapy to identify and change troubling emotions, thoughts, and behaviors about food.
- Medical care and monitoring to treat the health consequences of an eating disorder and monitor overall well-being.
- Nutritional counseling to help people eat well and reach and maintain a healthy weight.
- Medication to treat the symptoms of some eating disorders, including bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder, and to reduce symptoms of co-occurring anxiety or depression.
- Some people with a severe eating disorder may need to be in a hospital or residential treatment program.
A person’s family can play a crucial role in treatment. They can encourage a family member with eating or body image issues to seek help and can provide support during treatment. If you have concerns about your eating behavior or mental health, talk to a primary care provider. They can refer you to a qualified mental health professional, such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, or clinical social worker, who can help you figure out the next steps.
Prevention and Early Intervention
Model body acceptance, regardless of body shape or size. Talk with your child's healthcare professional about any concerns. The healthcare professional may be in a good position to identify early symptoms of an eating disorder and help get expert treatment right away.