Eating Disorders

Here at Psycophi, we want to empower you with knowledge that is easy to understand and with tools you can yield to combat your mental health challenges. Stage 1 is about taking in information and learning more about your condition. So, let’s name it to tame it with a brief overview of the primary ways eating disorders most often present. The symptoms are different depending on the category, so we will include those below. 

Anorexia Nervosa (AN):

Often referred to simply as anorexia, this is a potentially life-threatening condition primarily characterized by extremely low body weight and BMI. These individuals generally have intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body image. For example, even when underweight, they may see themselves as overweight. Those with anorexia use extreme efforts to control their weight and shape. There are two types of AN. 

AN Restrictive: People with this subtype severely limit the amount of calories and type of food they consume. 

AN Binge-Purge: People with this subtype also restrict the amount of calories and type of food they consume. Uniquely, they have binge-eating and purging episodes where they eat large quantities of food in short amounts of time and then force themselves to throw up, use laxatives, or over exercise to work it off.

Common Symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa:

• Missing meals and giving excuses for not needing to eat
• Intensive and excessive exercise
• Calluses on their knuckles from forcing themselves to vomit
• Worn tooth enamel and tooth decay from acidic stomach acid
• Extreme thinness (emaciation)
• An unwavering pursuit to be thinner
• Regular use of laxatives or diuretics
• Making their own meals instead of eating with their family
• Refusal to maintain a normal or healthy weight
• Excessive focus on eating healthy foods
• Eating an unusual amount of junk food or high-fat foods
• Regular talk about their weight and worry of being fat
• Intense fear of gaining weight
• Distorted perception of their body weight and image 
• Check themselves in the mirror frequently
• Don’t understand how dangerous low body weight can be
• Leaving during meals to use the bathroom

Bulimia Nervosa (BN):

Bulimia is a condition where individuals may overeat and feel like they aren’t able to control their eating. They have recurrent episodes of eating large amounts of food. This binge eating is often followed by compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain, such as laxative or diuretic use, fasting, forced vomiting, excessive exercise, or some combination of these behaviors. Unlike AN where individuals are generally severely underweight, those with BN may be of normal weight or overweight. 

Common Symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa:

• Chronically inflamed and sore throat from vomiting
• Worn tooth enamel and tooth decay from acidic stomach acid
• Swollen salivary glands
• Severe dehydration
• Electrolyte imbalance
• Intestinal distress from laxative abuse
• Extreme levels of exercise
• Calluses on their knuckles from forcing themselves to vomit
• GI problems
• Acid reflux disorder
• Regular use of laxatives or diuretics
• Worrying and talking about guilt for how much they eat

Binge-Eating Disorder:

Similar to BN, individuals with binge-eating disorder feel like they can’t control their eating. They have recurring episodes of eating large amounts of food, often in short amounts of time. Oftentimes, those with this disorder feel extremely distressed, guilty, and ashamed about eating. Unlike Bulimia Nervosa or Anorexia, these periods of binge eating are not followed by purging, fasting, or excessive exercise. 

Common Symptoms of Binge-Eating:

• Eating unusually large quantities of food in a small range of time (i.e. within two hours)
• Eating quickly during binge episodes
• Eating even when full or not hungry
• Eating until uncomfortably full
• Eating alone or in secret to avoid embarrassment
• Feeling distressed, ashamed, or guilty about eating
• Frequent dieting, possibly without weight loss

Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID):

Many children go through stages of picky eating. But those with ARFID don’t eat enough calories to grow and develop properly. They don’t meet their minimum nutritional requirements. They are highly selective about the amount or type of food eaten. Texture, color, smell, taste, and fear of choking can all contribute to the avoidance of food. Those with ARFID do not have a distorted body image or extreme fear of gaining weight like Anorexia Nervosa.

Common Symptoms of Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder:

• Dramatic restriction of types or amount of food eaten
• Low appetite or interest in food
• Very slow eater
• Severe weight loss
• Fear of choking or vomiting
• Upset stomach, abdominal pain, or other GI issues with seemingly no cause
• Prefers only a few foods
• Becomes even more of a “picky eater”
• Has a hard time eating with family or friends
• Delayed growth or no growth

If you are looking for a natural way to improve your overall mental health, our course Mental Health and You: Lifestyle Changes to Optimize Your Life may be just what you need. It is designed to guide you toward being your best, most satisfied version of YOU. This course will teach you how to structure your life and perspective in ways that are scientifically proven to improve your mental and physical health.

Living with an eating disorder is challenging and is sure to have negatively impacted your mental health. This course provides the much needed structure, education, encouragement, and motivation needed to face your mental health head on in an intentional, focused way. Take the link to check out more.

Treating an eating disorder and healing your whole self requires a multifaceted approach. Combining lifestyle changes, professional assistance and education, and reliable support from loved ones is often needed. We invite you to take action to improve your health. There’s no need to continue suffering in silence. Take the necessary steps to become a mind warrior and master of your life. Your inner self will thank you.

Take courage as you face the struggles of your eating disorder. You are not alone.

The Psycophi Team

Small Steps to Big Results