Anorexia / Restrictive Eating

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“You Made Yourself this Way”: An Eating Disorder is Never a Choice!

“Developing an eating disorder is never an active choice.

No individual would willingly put themselves through the torture of this type of mental illness, knowing beforehand the toll that it takes on your mind, body, relationships and countless other factors.

There is a common misconception that because an individual with an eating disorder is the person who is, essentially, harming themselves and actively performing destructive behaviours, that they are being “spiteful”. That they are purposefully ignoring any offered help and interventions because they are “selfish”. They want to harm those that care about them as they “do not care” back. Even that the person struggling is going through the awful process in order to gain attention.

This could not be further from the truth.

One thing that changed my perspective, was that I was unhappy and wanted to be happy, and someone once said “you can’t live a full life, on an empty stomach” and although this isn’t a universal reason to end your eating disorder it is how I decided to say goodbye to anorexia.”

Anonymous, 29.

Anorexia nervosa is a serious and potentially life-threatening — but treatable — eating disorder. It’s characterised by extreme food restriction and an intense fear of gaining weight. Treatment usually involves several strategies, including psychological therapy, nutritional counselling and/or hospitalisation.

Emotional and mental signs of anorexia

Emotional and mental signs of anorexia include:

• Having an intense fear of gaining weight.
• Being unable to realistically assess your body weight and shape (having a distorted self-image).
• Having an obsessive interest in food, calories and dieting.
• Feeling overweight or “fat,” even if you’re underweight.
• Fear of certain foods or food groups.
• Being very self-critical.
• Denying the seriousness of your low body weight and/or food restriction.
• Feeling a strong desire to be in control.
• Feeling irritable and/or depressed.
• Experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

Behavioral signs of anorexia

Behavioral signs of anorexia include:

• Changes in eating habits or routines, such as eating foods in a certain order or rearranging foods on a plate.
• A sudden change in dietary preferences, such as eliminating certain food types or food groups.
• Making frequent comments about feeling “fat” or overweight despite weight loss.
• Purging through intentional vomiting and/or misusing laxatives or diuretics
• Going to the bathroom right after eating.
• Compulsive and excessive exercising or extreme physical training.
• Continuing to diet even when your weight is low for your sex, height and stature.
• Making meals for others but not yourself.
• Wearing loose clothing and/or wearing layers to hide weight loss and stay warm.
• Withdrawing from friends and social events.

Physical symptoms of anorexia that are side effects of starvation and malnutrition include:

• Dizziness and/or fainting.
• Feeling tired.
• Slow heartbeat (bradycardia) or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia).
• Low blood pressure (hypotension).
• Poor concentration and focus.
• Feeling cold all the time.
• Absent periods (amenorrhea) or irregular menstrual periods.
• Shortness of breath.
• Bloating and/or abdominal pain.
• Muscle weakness and loss of muscle mass.
• Dry skin, brittle nails and/or thinning hair.
• Poor wound healing and frequent illness.
• Bluish or purple colouring of the hands and feet.

There are many ways you can treat anorexia and eating disorders, which take a soft and gentle approach. Anorexia won’t last forever and it can be beaten!

Here are some useful resources taking about anorexia: