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A guide to realizing if your child is at-risk, displaying self-destructive behaviors, and needs your help and intervention.
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Eating Disorders Anorexia nervosa - Bulimia - Binge Eating Help and Support - More Information
Eating disorders involve serious disturbances in eating behavior, such as extreme and unhealthy reduction of food intake or severe overeating, as well as feelings of distress or extreme concern about body shape or weight.
Eating disorders frequently develop during adolescence or early adulthood, but can occur during childhood or later in adulthood.
Three eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder are on the increase among teenage girls and young women and often run in families.
Anorexia nervosa is characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss. The diagnosis of anorexia is made when the anorexic either loses fifteen percent (15%) of their weight or when the growing child fails to acquire eighty-five percent (85%) of the minimal weight for their particular age and height.
Symptoms of anorexia include:
A teenager with anorexia nervosa is typically a perfectionist and a high achiever in school. At the same time, she suffers from low self-esteem, irrationally believing she is fat regardless of how thin she becomes. Desperately needing a feeling of mastery over her life, the teenager with anorexia nervosa experiences a sense of control only when she says "no" to the normal food demands of her body. In a relentless pursuit to be thin, the girl starves herself. This often reaches the point of serious damage to the body and, in a small number of cases, may lead to death.
Bulimia nervosa is characterized by a secretive cycle of binge eating followed by purging. Bulimia includes eating large amounts of food -- more than most people would eat in one meal -- in short periods of time, then getting rid of the food and calories through vomiting, laxative abuse, or over-exercising.
It is difficult to detect bulimia. Many individuals with the disorder remain at normal body weight or above because of their frequent binges and purges, which can range from once or twice a week to several times a day. Dieting heavily between episodes of bingeing and purging is also common. Eventually, half of those with anorexia will develop bulimia.
Symptoms of bulimia include:
The purging of bulimia presents a serious threat to the patient's physical health, including dehydration, hormonal imbalance, the depletion of important minerals, and damage to vital organs.
Binge eating disorder (also known as Compulsive Overeating) is characterized primarily by periods of uncontrolled, impulsive, or continuous eating beyond the point of feeling comfortably full.
Symptoms of binge eating are:
This disorder is different from bulimia because people with binge eating disorder usually do not purge afterward by vomiting or using laxatives.
While there is no purging, there may be sporadic fasts or repetitive diets and often feelings of shame or self-hatred after a binge.
People who binge disparage their bodies and feel self-conscious about their body size and/or shape. However, not everyone who has binge eating disorder is overweight. Although body weight may vary from normal to mild, moderate, or severe obesity, most people with binge eating disorder are obese (more than 20 percent above a healthy body weight).
Up to half of all people with binge eating disorder have a history of depression. Whether depression is a cause or effect of binge eating disorder is unclear.
Many people report that anger, sadness, boredom, anxiety or other negative emotions can trigger a binge episode.
Impulsive behavior and certain other psychological problems (such as obsessive-compulsive behavior, substance abuse, and personality disorders) may be more common in people with binge eating disorder.
Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet, lack of exercise, and bingeing is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at nearly $100 billion.
Eating Disorders is a Serious Mental Health Issue
Recognition of eating disorders as real and treatable diseases is critically important. The consequences of eating disorders can be severe. For example, one in ten cases of anorexia nervosa leads to death from starvation, cardiac arrest, kidney failure, other medical complications, or suicide.
Without treatment, up to twenty percent (20%) of people with serious eating disorders die. However, early identification and treatment leads to more favorable outcomes. With treatment, the mortality rate falls to two to three percent (2-3%).
Getting Help
Parents who notice symptoms of an eating disorder in their teenagers should ask their family physician or pediatrician for a referral to a child and adolescent mental health professional.
With comprehensive treatment, most teenagers can be relieved of the symptoms or helped to control eating disorders. Mental health professionals that specialize in working with children and adolescents are trained to evaluate, diagnose, and treat these psychiatric disorders. Eating disorders frequently co-occur with depression, alcohol abuse, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders, and it is important to recognize and get appropriate treatment for these problems as well.
Treatment for eating disorders usually requires a team approach; including individual therapy, family therapy, working with a primary care physician, and working with a nutritionist.
Treatment usually begins in an outpatient setting, but residential treatment may be necessary if symptoms are severe.
Hospitalization may be necessary if there is:
If the hospital is not exclusive to the treatment of eating disorders, the individual should then be transferred to an residential treatment center specializing in eating disorders that addresses underlying psychological issues and provides a safe, secure, loving, and supportive environment.
Information from the National Eating Disorders Association, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. |
About-Face ~ Grassroots organization that educates about body image and body acceptance.
The Academy for Eating Disorders ~ Multidisciplinary professional organization focusing on Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder and related disorders.
Alliance for Eating Disorder Awareness ~ Programs and information for those affected by eating disorders.
The Anna Westin Foundation ~ The outrage at Anna’s death and the outpouring of community support led Anna’s family to establish this organization to help others suffering directly or indirectly from eating disorders, and to provide education and information designed to prevent the development of anorexia and bulimia.
BEAT - Beating Eating Disorders ~ Based in the UK, BEAT provides information, help and support for people affected by eating disorders and, in particular, anorexia and bulimia nervosa.
DividedHeart.com ~ Online Christian community dedicated to overcoming destructive behaviors and healing from them whether you are struggling yourself or you are close to someone who is.
Eating Disorders Anonymous ~ 12-step support and fellowship where recovery means living without obsessing on food, weight and body image.
The Elisa Project ~ This organization provides individuals and their loved ones with education and support and works to increase community awareness of the disease, promote recognition of the warning signs, encourage those battling an eating disorder to seek treatment and provide objective information to families regarding the availability of appropriate professional services.
Food Addicts Anonymous ~ 12-step support and fellowship that is based on the belief that food addiction is a bio-chemical disease. By following a food plan devoid of all addictive substances, food addicts can recover. These substances include sugar, flour, and wheat in all their forms. They also include fats and any other high-carbohydrate, refined, processed foods that cause us problems individually.
National Eating Disorder Information Centre ~ Canadian organization that provides information and resources on eating disorders and weight preoccupation.
National Eating Disorders Association ~ Education, prevention awareness, and support to those suffering from anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder and those concerned with body image and weight issues.
Overeaters Anonymous ~ 12-step recovery program from compulsive overeating.
Pale Reflections ~ Online community for everyone affected by eating disorders. You will find lots of information here on anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder (compulsive overeating), depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and much more.
Something Fishy ~ Excellent site on eating disorders, including online support.
Anorexia bone damage 'irreversible' ~ Almost all young women with anorexia have significant bone loss which is not helped by conventional treatment.
Anorexia Nervosa Often Chronic ~ Excessive exercise immediately following discharge from the hospital was the strongest predictor of relapse, but previous suicide attempts, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and an overconcern about weight and shape were also important factors.
Anorexia websites 'glamorise thinness" ~ Anorexics are using websites to encourage each other to lose even more weight.
Approaching Someone ~ This page has a list of some things to keep in mind when approaching someone you think has an eating disorder.
The Cult -- and Culture -- of Anorexia ~ People with this condition often form secretive "cults" with other anorexics in order to feel as if they are part of a group.
Eating Disorder Early Recovery: "How Do I Begin?" The 84,000 Ways ~ The main theme or guiding principle necessary for recovery is, "Get well no matter what." That's the commitment and focus it takes to recover from an eating disorder.
Eating Disorders in a Disordered Culture ~ Art exhibit with stories, information, and helping resources.
Eating Disorders and the Narcissist ~ From Dr. Sam Vaknin's comprehensive site, Malignant Self-Love: Narcissism Revisited.
Eating disorders prevention: parents are key players ~ Eating disorders are much easier to prevent than cure, and parents are in the best position to do that work. Almost effective prevention strategies will be carried out in the context of the family, not in organized programs. If you are a parent, keep in mind that what you do is a much more powerful message than what you say.
Less Well-Known Eating Disorders and Related Problems ~ There are many diseases, disorders and conditions involving food, eating and weight. Here are brief descriptions of problems other than anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating disorder.
Male Eating Disorders on the Rise ~ Women are more likely to have eating disorders than men. But men can also suffer from bulimia, binge eating and, to a lesser extent, anorexia, according to researchers.
Marketing, Body Image, and Eating Disorders (pdf) ~ Even as kids are being assailed with messages to eat junk food, they -- especially girls -- are being sold the notion that they are supposed to be impossibly thin.
Mirror-Mirror - Eating Disorders ~ Information and resources for those with eating disorders, and their family and friends.
Natural Treatment of Anorexia and Bulimia ~ How vitamin and mineral deficiencies can lead to eating disorders.
Navigating the System: Tips for Getting Treatment ~ Eating disorders can lead to significant physiological changes that require medical treatment in addition to psychiatric treatment and the reimbursement system does not allow for a holistic approach. For this reason, patients and families frequently have to fight to get the appropriate and necessary treatment. These suggestion may help.
Nighttime Noshes May Be Eating Disorder ~ Night-eating syndrome doesn't refer to simple midnight snacking. People with the condition usually eat for much of the evening, often eating more throughout the night than they do at dinner.
Poor indoor lighting may encourage binge-eating, study finds ~ Dieters were more apt to show binge-eating behavior if they preferred to eat in subdued light -- either at night or in a darkened room -- compared to dieters who had no preference for eating in darker surroundings.
Self-esteem that's based on external sources has mental health consequences, study says ~ College students who based their self-worth on external sources -- including appearance, approval from others and even their academic performance -- reported more stress, anger, academic problems, relationship conflicts, and had higher levels of drug use and alcohol use and symptoms of eating disorders.
Statistics: How many people have eating disorders? ~ Approximately eight million people in the U.S. have anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and related eating disorders.
Swallowing the Hurt: Exploring the Links Between Anorexia, Bulimia and Violence Against Women and Girls (pdf) ~ This report examines the links between eating disorders and violence against women and girls.
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