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Last Updated: Oct 23, 2019
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Eating Disorders - Are You Suffering From Any One Of Them?

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Dr. Srikant SharmaPsychiatrist • 15 Years Exp.MD - Psychiatry, MBBS
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Eating disorders can be defined as conditions that influence your eating behaviour significantly and which may give rise to serious health issues. Eating disorders are associated with behaviours like compulsively counting calories, puking after meals, living on a rigid diet etc. which often leads to a feeling of self-loathing and obsessive thoughts about food and weight.

Here are the three most common eating disorders and the symptoms by which they can be identified.

1. Anorexia nervosa - This disorder is considered to be a mortally dangerous condition in which the body weight reduces drastically. An individual is terrified about gaining weight and can take extreme steps to maintain their weight and shape, often leading to starvation, vomiting and many other health problems.

Common symptoms include:

  1. Reducing the amount of food to be consumed to cut down the calories
  2. Exercising beyond capacity to burn calories
  3. Recurrently monitoring your shape, weight and appearance
  4. Skipping meals
  5. Avoiding social gatherings where you will be offered food
  6. Irregular menstrual cycles in women
  7. Erectile dysfunction in men

2. Bulimia nervosa - Mostly observed among people in their mid-teens, Bulimia nervosa is a serious type of eating disorder associated with episodes of bingeing and purging with the individual being unable to regulate their eating habits. Moreover, the person suffering from this disease often feels guilty and horror-struck about weight gain and forces himself/herself to vomit.


Normally, people suffering from this condition exhibit the following habits:

  1. Binge eating
  2. Use of laxatives or throw up forcibly to get rid of calories
  3. Feeling exhausted and guilty
  4. Experiencing irregularity in their menstrual cycles
  5. The inability to maintain normal weight, in spite of trying to eliminate calories

3. Binge-eating disorder - This disorder is characterised by overeating, eating even when you don't feel hungry and continuing to eat even after feeling full. People suffering from this disorder cultivate a feeling of guilt inside them for overeating but do not try to nullify its effect by vomiting or exercising intensely. Some of the most prominent symptoms of this disorder include:

  1. Eating alone to hide the embarrassment caused due to overeating
  2. Eating quicker than normal people
  3. Being overweight
  4. Binge eating at minimum one instance every week

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