Eating disorders

Psychological Factors

• Low Self-Esteem: Individuals with low self-esteem may use food as a way to gain control or cope with negative feelings.

• Perfectionism: A desire to achieve an unrealistic standard of perfection can lead to unhealthy eating behaviours.

• Emotional Disorders: Anxiety, depression, and other emotional disorders are often linked to eating disorders.

• Trauma: Experiencing trauma, such as abuse or significant loss, can contribute to the development of eating disorders.

Biological Factors

• Genetics: Family history of eating disorders or other mental health conditions can increase susceptibility.

• Biochemistry: Imbalances in brain chemicals involved in hunger, appetite, and digestion can play a role.

• Hormonal Changes: Hormonal fluctuations, particularly during puberty, can trigger eating disorders.

Social and Cultural Factors

• Cultural Pressures: Societal emphasis on thinness and beauty can lead to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating.

• Media Influence: Exposure to media that glorifies thinness and stigmatizes overweight can impact body image.

• Peer Pressure: Pressure from peers to conform to certain body standards can contribute to unhealthy eating behaviours.

• Family Dynamics: Dysfunctional family interactions or pressure from family members about weight and appearance can be a factor.

Environmental Factors

• Dieting and Weight Loss Practices: Engaging in extreme dieting or weight loss practices can trigger or exacerbate eating disorders.

• Stress: High levels of stress from school, work, or personal life can lead to disordered eating as a coping mechanism.

Individual Vulnerabilities

• Personality Traits: Traits such as perfectionism, impulsivity, and sensitivity to reward and punishment may increase risk.

• Body Image Issues: A distorted body image and obsession with weight can lead to unhealthy eating behaviours.

Developmental Factors

• Adolescence: The pressures and changes associated with adolescence can contribute to the development of eating disorders.

• Life Transitions: Major life changes, such as moving to a new city, starting college, or experiencing a breakup, can act as triggers.

Health Conditions

• Co-occurring Mental Health Disorders: Conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can increase the risk.

• Chronic Illness: Living with a chronic illness that affects appetite or body image can contribute to disordered eating.

Anyone can develop an eating disorder. Eating disorders affect people of any gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, body shape and size. It is a common misconception that eating disorders only affect young white women. These misconceptions about who eating disorders affect have real consequences, leading to fewer diagnoses, treatment options, and pathways to help for those who don’t fit the stereotype. Understanding that eating disorders don’t discriminate helps to make sure everyone has access to the support they need. Men and non-binary people with eating disorders have been under-diagnosed and under-treated in the past. It can take men longer to realise that what they are experiencing is an eating disorder and to reach out for help. People with larger bodies and people from minority ethnic groups who have concerns about their eating behaviours, can also find it difficult to reach out for help. Many people believe that people who have eating disorders are all underweight, but this is often not the case. - Spunout

Eating disorders cause symptoms that affect how people think, feel and behave. Different eating disorders come with their own list of potential signs and symptoms and while there are some common symptoms that feature across multiple disorders, the different types of eating disorder affect people in very different ways. On top of this, the way that an eating disorder manifests can vary a lot from person to person. This means that two people with the same eating disorder can have different experiences of their condition. People can also experience a combination of disordered eating symptoms that don’t align to any one eating disorder diagnosis. Below is a list of signs and symptoms of eating disorders. This list doesn’t capture all experiences associated with eating disorders and each individual’s experience with an eating disorder is unique. 

Behavioural symptoms of eating disorders

• Missing meals and limiting what you eat and how often you eat

• Weighing yourself all the time

• Not being truthful about when you’ve eaten and your weight

• Exercising too much

• Engaging in eating binges where you eat large amounts of food in a short period of time and feel like you can’t control what you’re eating

• Purging food by vomiting or using medications such as laxatives or diuretics to make you need to go to the toilet

• Obsessively thinking about food and how much you’ve eaten 

• Avoiding meals with other people or gatherings where food is the focus

• Secretly getting rid of food or eating food in secret

• Having strict routines and habits around food

• Withdrawing from friends and family and from normal activities (especially ones that revolve around food), in an effort to hide your eating habits

• Compulsively checking your body in the mirror or your reflection in a window etc.

Psychological symptoms of eating disorders

• Low self-esteem

• Feeling irritable and having mood swings

• Struggling with your body image and believing your body looks different to how others might see it

• Depression may set in and you might develop 

• Having obsessive and/or compulsive thoughts around food

• Feeling like you can’t control what you eat, how much you eat, or when you stop eating

• Experiencing mood swings

• Having a fear of gaining weight

• Seeing weight loss as a good thing

• Not recognising the seriousness of weight loss

Physical impact of eating disorders

Eating disorders begin in the mind, but as they progress, they can often begin to have an impact on your physical health and how your body is functioning. Experiencing physical complications can be frightening, but many of these issues can be reversed and improved with appropriate treatment. Some of the complications that can arise with eating disorders include:

• Feeling tired

• Feeling cold

• Feeling dizzy

• Changes in body weight

• Poor sleep

• If you get periods, they might change, become irregular or stop entirely.

• Stomach pain and digestive issues

If you are worried that you may have an eating disorder, it’s important to make an appointment to speak with your GP or mental health professional. 

Here are some questions to ask yourself about some of your habits. If you find yourself demonstrating one or more of these signs, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have an eating disorder, but if your eating habits are beginning to worry you or are making life more difficult, talking to your GP or calling the Bodywhys helpline can help.

• Do you feel guilty or ashamed about eating? 

• Are you frightened of putting on weight or do you check your weight all the time?

• Do you worry or think about your weight or body shape or about what you’re eating all the time?

• Do you exercise all the time to work off what you eat?

• Do you think about food all the time?

• Are you very critical of yourself? Do you think that you could do things better such as losing more weight or exercising more?

• Do you overeat when you feel depressed or down about yourself?

If you think you have an eating disorder there is a strong chance that you do. Check in with your doctor so you can get treatment before the disorder develops. even more.

Recovery is always possible!

There are a lot of Charities out there who's main focus is helping people with Eating Disorders.

Ireland - BodyWhys

UK - Beat Eating Disorder

Yippy Health

For other countries search "Eating Disorder support[ Your country]"

If you are struggling go to your Doctor and let them know you need a bit of help. Be honest, recovery is possible!