Anorexia and bulimia

People develop eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia for all sorts of different reasons. It's not about food, but a sign of much deeper psychological problems.

Anorexia nervosa

A psychological disorder which stems from low self esteem and an inability to cope safely with worries and stress. Sufferers have a distorted view of their own body weight, and deliberately starve themselves of food.

Signs and symptoms:

Apart from weight loss, symptoms include insomnia and tiredness, headaches, depression, lethargy, constipation, skin problems and excess body hair growth;
Girls with anorexia may find their periods stop;
Many sufferers starve themselves by reducing their food intake to tiny quantities;
Anorexia can permanently damage the digestive system and in some cases cause infertility.

Bulimia nervosa

This is also linked to self esteem, emotional problems and stress. People with bulimia often gorge themselves, or binge eat, and then make themselves sick to get rid of the food. Some evacuate the food they've eaten by taking laxatives to cause diarrhoea.

Signs and symptoms:

Sufferers go to great lengths to hide their illness, often disappearing to the lavatory after meals to get rid of the food they've eaten;
People with bulimia may not look ill, and often maintain a normal body weight. This can make their eating problem hard to detect;
Bulimics often suffer internal damage to their digestive system and kidneys due to the constant vomiting;
Being sick can make your teeth rot because the stomach acids you're bringing up attacks the enamel.

Helping yourself

Eating disorders can be overcome. Recovery is possible even after years of illness. But no-one can force you to get help. First, you have to accept that you have an eating disorder.

Talk to someone you trust, a family member, a doctor, friend or a trained counsellor;
If your doctor can't help, find another doctor or contact B-eat;
Ask to be referred to a dietician, or therapist;
Treatment tends to combine dietary control along with counselling to help sort underlying problems.

Helping others

People with eating disorders may try to hide their condition. If you know there's a problem, the most effective thing you can do is offer your support and encourage them to get help. Here are some of the signs to watch out for:

Skipping meals or becoming obsessive about calorie content;
Sticking to very low-calorie foods;
Sudden loss or gain in weight;
Behaving defensively when asked about food consumption;
Wearing loose clothes to disguise body shape;
Disappearing from the table straight after meals (to make themselves sick).

The facts

Anorexia is most common among 15-25 year olds;
Often people with anorexia go on to develop bulimia;
Bulimia is actually more commont than anorexia but is harder to detect as weight remains constant;
It is thought that young men account for approximately 10% of all eating disorders;
Depression is often associated with eating disorders.