How to Spot Anorexia

Anorexia is by far the most common eating disorder of today, however if you look at any ED statistic you'll find that the numbers there aren't that alarming. However, as is the case with bulimia, binge eating and many other eating disorder statistics, the numbers there are quite false, since the actual number of anorexia sufferers can never be determined precisely, for a number of reasons. The main reason being the fact that anorexia comes with a feeling of guilt towards what the sufferer does and he will probably hide the fact that he has anorexic symptoms even from his closest family or frienThe second reason is that some sufferers (especially in cases where anorexia has not yet settled in completely) simply don't realize they are suffering from an eating disorder and a psychiatric condition, so they believe there's nothing to treat.

Spotting anorexia on yourself, on a family member or on a friend is still easier than spotting other eating disorders, mainly because the effects of anorexia are quite drastic and change the sufferer's emotional soundness and physical image thoroughly. So let's see how the eating disorder manifests itself in both these fields and how we can spot it from a mile away.

Emotional signs

Anorexia is, like most other eating disorders, emotionally driven but it will also have emotional consequences on its own. A distorted self-body image and an addiction to losing weight are typical emotional causes that can trigger the condition. This can lead to methods such as extreme and voluntary starvation or extreme exercising with the purpose of attaining a perfect body at all costs. If you find yourself being overly preoccupied by your body image or if you find yourself "punishing" your body through exercising or lack of food, you might be suffering from an initial form of anorexia. Of course, most people will have short periods of similar behavior, where they are so unhappy about their body image that they will work hard to get it back to normal parameters. However, if these outbursts are constant and radical, we are no longer talking about a "mild" form of anorexia, but the dangerous condition in its fullest.

In many cases, anorexia sufferers know that what they are doing is wrong, they know that extreme exercising and starvation will eventually lead to the destruction of their own body but they simply cannot stop these practices. This forms a feeling of guilt and depression similar to that we find ourselves in when we realize we simply cannot renounce an addiction (any smokers that tried quitting and failed miserably will know what this means, but the examples could go on and on). The feeling that we are weak, that we have no ambition and power over our own will engulfs us during these times and it will most likely lead to a form of depression sooner or later. If unspotted and untreated, anorexia can lead to such depressive states that will make the condition even more dangerous.

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