Do I Have an Anorexia Disorder?

The number of people affected by anorexia nervosa each year is on the rise. The anorexia disorder, once associated predominantly with young women around their age of puberty, is now increasingly prevalent in males and in younger children, and among adults in their mid-life and beyond. While the flagship symptoms of the anorexia disorder are severe weight loss, distorted body image, and an intense (irrational) fear of weight gain, persons suffering from this disorder will experience other devastating physical, psychological and emotional consequences if the anorexia disorder is left untreated.

If you suspect that you or someone you know is suffering from an anorexia disorder, while the best advice is to consult with a professional – and preferably one who specialized in treating people with an anorexia disorder – there are many sources of information that you can explore yourself, as well as a number of tests that you can self-administer to help determine if you have an anorexia disorder.

The Internet is chalk full of excellent articles written on the topic, which include signs and symptoms of eating disorders, risk factors and possible precipitating issues, as well as contact information for myriads of doctors, therapists, drop-in centers, treatment facilities, crisis hotlines and support groups that specialize in helping people with an anorexia disorder.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) lists specific criteria that must be present in order for a psychiatrist reach a diagnosis of an anorexia disorder, however other tools are also applied. One diagnostic tool used by physicians and dieticians is the SCOFF screen, which asks specific questions concerning one’s eating patterns and relationship to food. Here are a few sample questions from the SCOFF: 

1. Have you recently lost more than 15 pounds in a three-month period?

2. Would you say that food dominates your life?

3. Do you make yourself sick because you feel uncomfortably full?

4. Do you believe yourself to be fat when others say you are too thin?

 

There are also less formal tools exploring this issue. For example, one online test for an eating disorder is called the EAT-26 (Eating Attitudes Test). However, nothing can replace basic observation of changes in diet and eating habits, as well as changes in behavioral and emotional patterns in someone who might be suffering from an anorexia disorder.

 

Here are just a few of the signs and symptoms of an anorexia disorder:

 

–       Dramatic weight loss, intense fear of weight gain even while underweight, poor self-image, rumination over diet, calories, and recipes, insomnia, cessation of menstruation, growth of fine body hair, feeling cold, constipation, dental problems from self-induced vomiting, long-term medical complications such as heart problems, edema, and low potassium levels.

–       Narrowing of food choices, cutting food into tiny pieces, chewing excessively, food “rituals” (i.e. eating in very particular patterns or times), eating odd food combinations, cooking for others, not eating in public, avoidance of mealtimes, pretending to eat, vomiting.

–       Use of laxatives, enemas, or diuretics to induce weight loss, rigid exercising, wearing layered clothing, increasing isolation from friends and family, non-spontaneity, lowered sex drive.

–       Need for control, mood swings, depression, suicidal thoughts, poor memory or poor judgment.