Eating disorders (EDs) are a group of disordered eating syndromes classed as mental health disorders. These disorders can also occur together or follow one another over the course of a person’s life.

Anyone can develop an eating disorder. They are most common, however, among women – especially girls aged 13–18 – as well as athletes and ballet dancers.

A man or woman with an eating disorder may experience a range of signs and symptoms:

  • Chronic dieting despite an unhealthy body weight;
  • Frequent fluctuations in weight;
  • Preoccupation with counting the calories and fat in food;
  • Eating rituals, such as cutting food into tiny pieces or eating alone;
  • Obsession with food, recipes or cooking. A person may cook elaborate meals for others yet refuse to join them at the table;
  • Depression or apathy;
  • Withdrawal from family and friends.
  • Alternating periods of overeating and fasting.

The most common types of eating disorder:

  • Anorexia – a psychopathological fear of obesity and a slack figure that becomes an obsession. Body weight falls below the physiological norm, and accompanying conditions develop: hormonal and metabolic disorders and impaired organ function.
  • Bulimia – a disorder characterised by compulsive overeating and intense anxiety about weight control. Patients develop their own pattern of eating and bingeing, with vomiting after meals or the use of laxatives and diuretics. Bulimia often appears in patients after anorexia has gone into remission.
  • Compulsive or psychogenic overeating – a disorder that manifests as binge eating. People eat large amounts of food without feeling hungry, during periods of intense stress or simply for short spells. The episodes are accompanied by feelings of guilt, loneliness, shame and self-loathing.

The exact causes of eating disorders are hard to pinpoint, but most often they are psychological trauma or genetic predisposition. Frustration may also be triggered by social pressure.

Personalised treatment addresses the many challenges a man or woman faces in restoring their health and wellbeing.

As a rule, eating disorders are treated under the supervision of one or more specialists (a psychologist, a neurologist and others):

  • Medical care: the greatest challenge in treating eating disorders is resolving the health problems the disorder may have caused;
  • Nutrition: restoring and stabilising a healthy weight, normalising eating habits and developing an individual nutrition plan;
  • Psychotherapy: various forms of psychotherapy (individual, family or group) can help treat the underlying causes of an eating disorder. It can help the patient cope with traumatic life events and learn to express emotions, communicate and maintain healthy relationships with others;
  • Medication: some medicines can be very effective in treating the symptoms of depression or anxiety that may accompany an eating disorder.

An eating disorder is a mental health disorder whose effects on the body may take time to appear. It is simply a matter of paying closer attention to your loved ones and to yourself. In the early stages, sessions with a psychologist help; in advanced cases, a psychotherapist is needed. It is very important that those affected are never left without support.