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RECOGNIZING AN EATING DISORDER ADDRESSING PSYCHOL
NUTRITION AND FOOD HEALTH » EATING DISORDERS

How to Know if You Have an

Eating Disorder
Co-authored by Trudi Griffin, LPC, MS
Last Updated: February 11, 2024 References

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Eating disorders can come in different forms but

they all affect your relationship with food and
they can cause serious health problems if left
untreated. You can learn about the behaviors,
feelings, and physical effects of eating disorders
to help you determine if you might have one. If
you think you may have an eating disorder,
make sure that you seek help as soon as
possible. Eating disorders can become much
more severe if left untreated.

Part 1 of 4:
1 Recognizing an Eating
Disorder

Recognize common emotional

1 symptoms of eating disorders. Many
individuals with disordered eating habits are
excessively concerned with body size, weight,
and appearance. Some common behavioral
and emotional symptoms that someone with an
eating disorder might have include:

feeling depressed or anxious

having a strong fear of gaining weight or of
being “fat”
desiring to withdraw from friends and
family
paying an unusual amount of attention to
food and calorie intake
having an intense fear of certain foods, like
those containing sugar or fat
steering clear of situations involving food
denying issues with food or changes in
weight
attempting to purge after overeating by
exercising, vomiting, or using laxatives
weighing yourself every day

Notice symptoms of anorexia nervosa.

2 People who suffer from anorexia are
unwilling to stay at a healthy body weight. They
are also quite frightened of gaining weight, and
they see themselves as fat, even though they
are thin or even underweight.[1] A person
with anorexia can starve the body for days, or
eat a very strict diet of a low amount of calories
each day. There is typically a sense of
accomplishment in maintaining such strict
guidelines.

You may have very strict “rules” of eating,

such as specific colors of food you avoid,
times of day you refuse to eat, or strict
caloric boundaries you observe.
You may fear being fat or experience your
body as fat, even if you are several
pounds underweight. Even if you are
extremely thin, you are never happy with
your appearance and feel like you can
always lose more weight to feel better
about yourself.
Ask yourself if your parents or friends have
commented on your weight or weight loss.
Ask yourself whether you base your
personal value on your weight, clothing
size, or what you eat.

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Get clear on symptoms of bulimia

3 nervosa. People who have bulimia will
binge on a large amount of food and then
purge to try to get rid of what they just
consumed before it causes weight gain.[2]
While you know you want to avoid binge eating
and gaining weight, you cannot seem to stop
eating or having recurrent episodes of binge
eating. Once the episode ends, you may find
yourself desperate to get rid of any weight that
may result from the binge. Efforts may include
purging (vomiting), using laxatives, or diuretics.

Even if you do not purge right after eating,

you may still have bulimia if you tend to
starve yourself for days following a binge,
exercise more than usual, or follow
another type of drastic diet to avoid
gaining any weight.[3]
You may try to eat healthy and follow a
healthy (or restrictive) diet for a while, but
be overcome with tension or cravings and
end up caving under pressure into a binge.

Recognize binge eating disorder.

4 People who have binge eating disorder will
eat large amounts of food in a short space of
time and they feel like they cannot control
themselves during these episodes. The binge
is not pleasurable. While bingeing, you may
feel lots of negative emotions. These feelings
can continue after the binge is over as well.
People who binge eat do not purge after a
binge.[4]

People with binge eating disorder may feel

depressed, disgusted, and guilty over their
bingeing episodes.
You may find that you have put on a lot of
weight in a short amount of time if you
binge eat.

Understand orthorexia. Orthorexia

5 involves an obsession with only eating
"healthy" food. People with orthorexia may or
may not care about their weight or figure. They
worry excessively about the purity and health
of their food. This can look like:[5]

Compulsively checking food labels

Cutting out large groups of foods (e.g. all
sugar or all carbs) without medical reason
Refusing to eat "unhealthy" or "impure"
foods
Obsessively following "healthy eating" and
lifestyle pages on social media

Recognize Avoidant Restrictive Food

6 Intake Disorder (ARFID). People with
ARFID aren't battling cravings or fears of body
image, but fear about food. They feel anxious
about food or potential causes of eating (like
choking). In some cases, ARFID resembles
extreme "picky eating," in which the person will
only eat certain "safe foods." Signs of ARFID
include:[6] [7] [8]

Disinterest in eating
Fear of vomiting or choking (in some
cases)
Significant anxiety about trying new food
(in some cases)
Refusing large groups of foods based on
their texture, taste, smell, or color
Weight loss and associated health issues
Stunted growth in children

Did you know? Many people with ARFID

have co-occurring conditions. These can
include OCD, sensory processing disorder
(which is common in autism and ADHD),
and depression. Treatment should include
help for any sensory or mental health
problems.

Recognize pica. Pica involves repeatedly

7 eating things that aren't food and aren't
nutritious. People may eat things like paper,
ice, chalk, hair, leaves, rocks, string, and more.
They generally have no issues eating regular
food. Here's what you should know:[9]

Iron deficiency or malnutrition sometimes

cause pica. A doctor can check for any
deficiencies.
Mouthing, and occasionally eating, objects
is normal in children under 2.
If you aren't sure whether it's a problem
(e.g. eating ice cubes on occasion), ask
your doctor.

Know that the label "Eating Disorder:

8 Not Otherwise Specified" (EDNOS) is for
other types of eating disorders. If you're
struggling with a disorder that doesn't neatly fit
into one of these categories, a doctor may
diagnose you with EDNOS. Treatment will
depend on your symptoms.

If you suspect something is wrong with

your eating habits, then that's worth
exploring, even if you don't have a name
for it. Make an appointment with your
doctor and write down what's going on.

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Part 2 of 4:
2 Addressing Psychological
Factors

Explore feelings of control. Some

1 people use anorexia or orthorexia as a
way to stay in control and feel powerful.[10]
For those with bulimia, it is common to feel out
of control and powerless.[11] And those with
binge eating disorder may also feel like they
lack control over what they eat.[12]

If you feel like your life is out of control,

you may turn to disordered eating to
harness the feeling of control in your life,
and feel accomplished when you “succeed’
in starving yourself.
Ask yourself about your relationship with
control and whether you are happy with it.
Do you find yourself wanting more or less
control in your life? Do you feel like you
have enough control over your life, or do
you take out that control on your food?

Identify feelings of shame about your

2 behaviors. You may feel ashamed of your
eating habits, especially if you binge eat.[13]
You may try to binge or purge in secret, or take
food off your plate discreetly so that nobody
will notice. While these behaviors try to cover
up what you do, deeper within them may lurk
shame for the lengths you will go in order to
keep your eating disorder.

If you find yourself feeling ashamed of

your eating behaviors, then you may have
symptoms of an eating disorder.

Consider your feelings about your

3 body. People who do not like their bodies
are more likely to develop an eating disorder.
[14] Not liking your body may include feeling fat,
ugly, undesirable, or having shame or
embarrassment about a specific part of your
physical appearance, such as scars. These
feelings may also be influenced by images of
celebrities or the people that you see every
day.[15]

You might feel like the only way to accept

your body is by losing weight. You may
think, “When I lose all the weight, I’ll finally
be happy.”
Reflect on your own beliefs about weight
and body satisfaction and ask yourself if
losing weight or “being skinny” is the only
way to feel good about your body.

Reflect on your excuses. Do you find

4 yourself hiding your habits? When asked
about your eating choices, do you lie about
why you’re not eating? What do you say when
people comment about your weight
fluctuation? If you find yourself making up
excuses for your behaviors, you may have an
eating disorder.[16]

Bending the truth may be one way for you

to keep living with an eating disorder
without anybody finding out. Do you find
yourself making excuses for how you eat?
What about finding ways to get out of
meeting people for dinner or coffee?

Take a good look at yourself. This

5 doesn’t necessarily mean go look in the
mirror, but think about how you perceive your
body. There are many ways to understand
body image. For instance, you may perceive
your body as overweight when it is actually
underweight as measured by a medical doctor.
Next, reflect on how you feel about your body:
if you feel positive or negative about your body
image, and how you see your general shape
and ability. Your thoughts and behaviors also
affect your body image, such as having
thoughts of “I’m too fat” and then isolating
yourself due to how you perceive your body.[17]

Think about the ways you perceive your

body and ask yourself whether you see
yourself accurately. Ask yourself how you
perceive your flaws and if it’s okay to have
flaws.

Notice if someone is influencing you.

6 Sometimes, people's friends, romantic
partners, or family members push unhealthy
eating habits. This person may make negative
comments about your body, criticize what you
eat, or try to control whether and how much
you eat. Identifying bad influences in your life
can help you tease out what's happening.

For example, if your boyfriend calls you

names and criticizes what you eat,
dumping him is a good first step towards a
better life.

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Part 3 of 4:
3 Dealing With Physical
Symptoms

Know the risks of not eating enough.

1 Restricted eating, such as in anorexia or
ARFID, takes a major toll on the body. If you
start noticing changes in your body’s
functioning, you may be experiencing the
effects of a restricted diet. Not only does
restrictive cause dangerous weight loss, it also
can have other negative side effects, such as:
[18]

constipation or bloating
damaged teeth and gums
dry, yellow skin
brittle nails
headaches
fainting, weakness, and dizziness
bone density loss
a layer of fine hair that grows all over the
body and face (thicker than typical "peach
fuzz")
memory problems and sluggish thinking
depression and moodiness
not having a period

Notice the physical effects of excessive

2 vomiting. People with bulimia tend to
show some physical symptoms as a result of
the disorder, especially those who purge
(vomit). If you vomit after meals, you may
experience the following:[19]

pain in your abdomen or bloating

weight gain
swollen hands or feet
always having a sore throat or sounding
hoarse
having broken blood vessels in your eyes
having sores in your mouth
puffy cheeks (from vomiting)
tooth decay due to acid from vomit
having lots of stomach issues such as
constipation, ulcers, and acid reflux

Observe changes related to binge

3 eating. While the most obvious effect of
overeating is obesity, other health risks can
occur as a result of binge eating. In order to
fully understand any health risks associated
with binge eating, go to your medical physician
and get some blood work. Changes to health
and body related to binge eating can include:
[20]

type 2 diabetes
high cholesterol
high blood pressure
joint and muscle pain