Disordered Eating Definitions and Descriptions

*This information is documented as well on the web site of the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders and the DSM IV.

Clinical anorexia nervosa can be identified by the following signs and characteristics:

• Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height.
• Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even thought underweight.
• Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
• Amenorrhea, or the absence of at lease three consecutive menstrual cycles in postmenarcheal females.
• Anorexia nervosa literally means loss of appetite but this is a misnomer: A person with anorexia nervosa is hungry, but he or she denies the hunger because of an irrational fear of becoming fat.
• Anorexia nervosa is often characterized by self-starvation, food preoccupation and rituals, compulsive exercising.
• Untreated, anorexia can be fatal. It is not a "fad" which the victim will outgrow if left alone. The death of pop singer Karen Carpenter at age 32 was attributed to heart failure, following her eight-year battle with anorexia. The most common cause of death in a long-time anorexic is low serum potassium, which can cause an irregular heartbeat.

Clinical Bulimia Nervosa can be identified by the following signs and characteristics:

• Recurrent episodes of binge eating.  Eating in a discrete period of time an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar time under similar circumstance. Or a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode, the feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating.
• Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behaviors in order to prevent weight gain such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, fasting, or excessive exercise. The behaviors along with binges occur at least twice a week for a period of about 3 months.
• The bulimic is aware that his or her eating is out of control. He or she is fearful of not being able to stop eating, and is afraid of being fat.
• The bulimic usually feels depressed and guilty after a binge.
• Self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight.
• Frequently, the binges are followed by purging, through self-induced vomiting, abuse of laxatives and/or diuretics, or periods of fasting.
• The bulimic's weight is usually in a normal or somewhat above normal range; it may fluctuate more than 10 pounds due to alternating binges and fasts.

Clinical Compulsive Overeating (Binge Eating Disorder) can be identified by the following signs:

• A compulsive overeater (binge eater) is an individual who compulsively eats but does not purge and usually becomes overweight.
• The overeater may eat three meals a day plus frequent snacks. He or she may overeat continually throughout the day, rather than consume large amounts of food during binges.