Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are two conditions that can have serious consequences. They are also two conditions that signal a person is feeling out of control and/or unhappy with him or her self. What are the warning signs that someone may be suffering from these conditions? 

ANOREXIA

Some behaviors that may indicate a person is struggling with anorexia are:

• under-eating and or skipping meals entirely  insisting one is fat when the person is clearly too thin 
• hiding one’s body with big baggy clothes  
• cutting food into small pieces and moving them around the plate instead of eating 
• having a very limited amount of foods that she will eat 
• depression 
• exercising excessively and obsessively 

While these are some physical signs that may indicate a person is struggling with anorexia:

• loss of periods 
• extreme sensitivity to cold 
• loss of bone and muscle strength 
• blotchy skin that is covered with fine hair P

BULIMIA

These are the behavioral warning signs for bulimia:

• excessive exercise
• buying large amounts of food that disappear right away
• regularly going to the bathroom after meals
• buying laxatives, diet pills or emetics (drugs that cause vomiting)

Here are some physical signs that may indicate a person is suffering from bulimia:

• broken blood vessels in the eyes from the strain of vomiting
• dry mouth

• chronically sore throat
• swollen glands in the neck
• sensitive and decaying teeth
• reflux (a condition when the gastric juices of the stomach enter the esophagus)
• intestinal distress from laxative use
• kidney problems from diuretic abuse
• severe dehydration from vomiting

(Source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/eating-disorders/index.shtml)

If you know of anyone (including yourself) who has these symptoms and you suspect that they (or you) may have an eating disorder, please check out the next post.