A Guide to Eating Disorders

Warning Signs (div. 2)

MUSCLE DYSMORPHIC DISORDER

•frequent injuries due to overexercise

•damage to muscles, joints, and tendons

•heart problems

•preoccupation with the idea that one's body is not lean or muscular enough

•maintaining an extreme exercise program, usually including long hours of weight lifting

•excessive attention to diet with focus on healthy foods and protein

•frequently giving up social activities or work obligations because of a compulsive need to maintain one's workout and diet schedule

•working out in spite of injury (this can be one of the biggest problems if persistent)

•constantly scrutinizing oneself in the mirror or avoiding looking in the mirror entirely

•extreme anxiety/depression in the case of missed workouts

•excessive use of food supplements (similarly to Orthorexia Nervosa)

NIGHT EATING SYNDROME

•being overweight or obese

•no control over eating behavior, and eating in secret and when not hungry

•feeling shame and remorse over behavior.

•hiding food out of embarrassment

•typically eating rapidly, eating more than most people would in a similar time period and feel a loss of control over eating

•eating even when not hungry and continue eating even when uncomfortably full

•eating alone (to minimize their embarrassment)

•guilt, depression, disgust, distress or a combination of these symptoms

•eating a majority of food during the evening

•eating little or nothing in the morning, and waking up during the night and typically filling up on high-calorie snacks

•perfectionism

OSFED

(as OSFED is an Eating Disorder with no real specific behaviours, this will be very general)

•common signs of other Body-Image related ED's such as Anorexia, Bulimia, etc.

•an obsession with wanting to lose/gain weight.

•anxiety surrounding certain aspects of food

•other "abnormal" eating and/or feeding behaviours not yet widely recognised, like eating hair (trichotophagia)

BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER

•being extremely preoccupied with a perceived flaw in appearance that to others can't be seen or appears minor

•strong belief that you have a defect in your appearance that makes you ugly or deformed

•belief that others take special notice of your appearance in a negative way or mock you

•engaging in behaviors aimed at fixing or hiding the perceived flaw that are difficult to resist or control, such as frequently checking the mirror, grooming or skin picking

•attempting to hide perceived flaws with styling, makeup or clothes

•constantly comparing your appearance with others

•always seeking reassurance about your appearance from others

•having perfectionist tendencies

•seeking frequent cosmetic procedures with little satisfaction

•avoiding social situations

•being so preoccupied with appearance that it causes major distress or problems in your social life, work, school or other areas of functioning

RUMINATION

•repeated regurgitation of food

•repeated re-chewing of food

•weight loss

•bad breath and tooth decay

•repeated stomachaches and indigestion

•raw and chapped lips

Sorry for taking so long to post this.

I have a couple of questions;

First of all, if we launched a competition, would any of you guys enter? Please let me know in the comments.

Secondly, are there any of you out there that have experienced an Eating Disorder and would like to submit your experience to this book and our "Your Story" division? PM us if so.