Individuals with eating disorders will often go to great lengths to conceal their behaviour and its effects on their body. As a result, the signs and symptoms associated with eating disorders may go unnoticed by others. It is important to remember that one need not display all, or even any, of these indications for the illness to be taking its toll on one's health. Furthermore, one need not be underweight, or even at a 'normal' weight, for these symptoms to develop.
The tell-tale indications of an eating disorder include, but are not limited to:
A dramatic
loss of weight in a relatively short period of time.
Wearing
over-sized clothes or multiple layers of clothing in order to hide one's body
shape and/or weight.
Pre-occupation with weight and constant complaining of weight problems.
Obsession
with calories and the fat and/or carbohydrate content of food.
Frequent
trips to the bathroom immediately following meals (sometimes accompanied with
water running in the bathroom for a long period of time to hide the sound of
vomiting).
Visible
food restriction and self-starvation.
Visible
bingeing and/or purging.
Use or
hiding use of diet pills, laxatives, ipecac syrup (can cause immediate death!)
or enemas.
Isolation.
Fear of eating around and with others.
Unusual
food rituals such as shifting the food around on the plate to look eaten;
cutting food into tiny pieces; making sure the fork avoids contact with the lips
(using teeth to scrap food off the fork or spoon); chewing food and spitting it
out, but not swallowing; dropping food into napkin on lap to later throw away.
Hiding food
in strange places (closets, cabinets, suitcases, under the bed) to avoid eating
(Anorexia) or to eat at a later time (Bulimia).
Flushing
uneaten food down the toilet (can cause sewage problems).
Vague or
secretive eating patterns.
Keeping a
"food diary" or lists that consists of food and/or behaviours (i.e., purging,
restricting, calories consumed, exercise, etc.).
Preoccupation with thoughts of food, weight and cooking.
Visiting
websites that promote unhealthy ways to lose weight.
Reading
books about weight loss and eating disorders.
Self-defeating statements after food consumption.
Hair loss.
Pale or
"grey" appearance to the skin.
Dizziness
and headaches.
Frequent
soar throats and/or swollen glands.
Low
self-esteem. Feeling worthless. Often putting themself down and complaining of
being "too stupid" or "too fat" and saying they don't matter. Need for
acceptance and approval from others.
Complaints
of often feeling cold.
Low blood
pressure.
Loss of
menstrual cycle.
Constipation or incontinence.
Bruised or
calluses knuckles; bloodshot or bleeding in the eyes; light bruising under the
eyes and on the cheeks.
Perfectionism.
Loss of
sexual desire or promiscuous relations.
Mood
swings. Depression. Fatigue.
Insomnia.
Poor sleeping habits