Eating Attitudes Test
Bulimia (Bulimia Nervosa) Symptoms
People with bulimia nervosa consume large amounts of food and then
rid their bodies of the excess calories by vomiting, abusing laxatives or
diuretics, taking enemas, or exercising obsessively. Some use a combination of
all these forms of purging. Because many individuals with bulimia “binge and
purge” in secret and maintain normal or above normal body weight, they can
often successfully hide their problem from others for years.
Family, friends, and
physicians may have difficulty detecting bulimia in someone they know. Many
individuals with the disorder remain at normal body weight or above because of
their frequent binges and purges, which can range from once or twice a week to
several times a day. Dieting heavily between episodes of binging and purging is
also common. Eventually, half of those with anorexia will develop bulimia.
As with anorexia, bulimia typically begins during adolescence. The condition
occurs most often in women but is also found in men. Many individuals with
bulimia, ashamed of their strange habits, do not seek help until they reach
their thirties or forties. By this time, their eating behavior is deeply
ingrained and more difficult to change.
Specific
Symptoms of Bulimia
This disorder is
characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating, occurring at least twice a
month for a minimum of 3 months, which consists of:
- Eating,
in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2-hour period), an amount
of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a
similar period of time and under similar circumstances
- A
sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feeling
that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is
eating)
Additionally, the criteria for Bulimia Nervosa requires recurrent,
inappropriate compensatory behaviors in order to prevent weight gain, such as
self-induced vomiting; misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or other
medications; fasting; or excessive exercise. A person’s self-image is usually
directly correlated with their weight, with a great deal of attention focused
on how their body looks.
The level of severity of a
bulimia diagnosis is based on the frequency of inappropriate compensatory
behaviors (see below). The level of severity may be increased to reflect other
symptoms and the degree of disability caused to the person.
- Mild: An average
of 1–3 episodes of inappropriate compensatory behaviors per week.
- Moderate: An average
of 4–7 episodes of inappropriate compensatory behaviors per week.
- Severe: An average
of 8–13 episodes of inappropriate compensatory behaviors per week.
- Extreme: An average
of 14 or more episodes of inappropriate compensatory behaviors per week.
Body Mass
Calculator:
Body Mass Index or BMI is a
tool for indicating weight status in adults. It is a measure of a person’s
weight in relation to their height. Individuals with bulimia nervosa
typically are within the normal weight or overweight range (body mass index
[BMI] ≥ 18.5 and < 30 in adults).
Formerly, in the
fourth diagnostic manual (DSM-IV), there were two types of bulimia nervosa:
- Purging Type: The person
regularly engages in self-induced vomiting or the misuse of
laxatives, diuretics, or enemas
- Non-purging Type: The person has used other inappropriate compensatory behaviors, such as fasting or excessive exercise, but has not regularly engaged in self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/anorexia-anorexia-nervosa-symptoms/
Anorexia (Anorexia Nervosa) Symptoms
People who intentionally starve themselves suffer from an eating
disorder called anorexia nervosa. The disorder, which usually
begins in young people around the time of puberty, involves extreme weight loss
that is less than what is considered minimally normal. Many people with the
disorder look emaciated but are convinced they are overweight. Sometimes
they must be hospitalized to prevent starvation.
People with anorexia
typically starve themselves, even though they suffer terribly from hunger
pains. One of the most frightening aspects of the disorder is that people
with anorexia continue to think they are overweight even when they are
bone-thin. For reasons not yet understood, they become terrified of
gaining any weight.
Food and weight become
obsessions. For some, the compulsiveness shows up in strange eating rituals or
the refusal to eat in front of others. It is not uncommon for people with
anorexia to collect recipes and prepare gourmet feasts for family and friends,
but not partake in the meals themselves. They may adhere to strict exercise
routines to keep off weight. Loss of monthly menstrual periods is typical in
women with the disorder. Men with anorexia often become impotent.
Specific
Symptoms of Anorexia
A person who suffers from
this disorder is typically characterized by their refusal to maintain a body
weight which is consistent with their build, age and height. The minimum level
of severity is based, for adults, on current body mass index (BMI) (see below)
or, for children and adolescents, on BMI percentile. The ranges below are
derived from World Health Organization categories for thinness in adults; for
children and adolescents, corresponding BMI percentiles should be used.
The individual usually experiences an
intense and overwhelming fear of gaining weight or becoming fat.
This fear is regardless of the person’s actual weight, and will often continue
even when the person is near death from starvation. It is related to a person’s
poor self-image, which is also a symptom of this disorder. The individual suffering
from this disorder believes that their body weight, shape and size is directly
related to how good they feel about themselves and their worth as a human being.
Persons with this disorder often deny the seriousness of their condition and
can not objectively evaluate their own weight.
Many women with anorexia
develop amenorrhea, or the absence of her menstrual period, but this is no
longer a required criteria in the updated 2013 DSM-5 to receive an anorexia
diagnosis.
There are two types of anorexia nervosa:
- Restricting type— The person
restricts their food intake on their own and does not engage in
binge-eating or purging behavior.
- Binge eating/purging type — The person self-induces vomiting
or misuses laxatives, diuretics, or enemas.
Body Mass
Calculator:
Body Mass Index or BMI is
a tool for indicating weight status in adults. It is a measure of a person’s
weight in relation to their height. Below are the BMI ranges corresponding to
degree of severity in anorexia.
- Mild: BMI ≥ 17 kg/m2
- Moderate: BMI 16–16.99
kg/m2
- Severe: BMI 15–15.99 kg/m2
- Extreme: BMI < 15 kg/m2
Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder
The defining characteristic of binge eating disorder is
recurrent episodes of binge eating that occur, on average, at least once per
month (for at least 3 months). Binge eating is eating an abnormally more amount
of food than a person would normally eat in a similar period of time. The
specific type of food doesn’t matter — what matters is the sheer amount of food
consumed in one sitting.
People with binge-eating
disorder (BED) often feel ashamed and embarrassed by their eating issues, and
may attempt to conceal their symptoms. Binge eating usually occurs in secrecy,
or at least as inconspicuously as possible. After a binge eating episode, people
with this disorder often feel depressed and ashamed of themselves.
The prevalence of binge
eating disorder is 1.6 percent for females and 0.8 percent for males.
Specific
Symptoms of Binge-Eating Disorder
1. Recurrent episodes of
binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both of the
following:
- Eating,
in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2 hour period), an amount
of food that is definitely larger than what most people would eat in a
similar period of time under similar circumstances.
- A
sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feeling
that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating).
2. The binge-eating
episodes are associated with 3 or more of the following:
- Eating
much more rapidly than normal.
- Eating
until feeling uncomfortably full.
- Eating
large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry.
- Eating
alone because of feeling embarrassed by how much one is eating.
- Feeling
disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty afterward.
3. Marked distress
regarding binge eating is present.
4. The binge eating
occurs, on average, at least once a week for 3 months.
5. The binge eating is not
associated with the recurrent use of inappripriate compensatory behavior, as in
bulimia, and does not occur exclusively during the course of bulimia or
anorexia.
Specify if:
In partial remission: After full criteria for binge-eating disorder were previously
met, binge eating occurs at an average frequency of less than one episode per
week for a sustained period of time.
In full remission: After full criteria for binge-eating disorder were previously
met, none of the criteria have been met for a sustained period of time.
Severity is also noted in
the diagnosis, from mild to extreme:
- Mild:
1-3 binge-eating episodes per week
- Moderate:
4-7 episodes
- Severe:
8-13 episodes
Extreme:
14 or more episodes
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