Do I Have An Eating Disorder?

Eating disorders are considered as complex forms of mental illnesses. Anybody, irrespective of gender, age or background can start to experience one. Most common types of eating disorders include anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder.

Ask yourself “do I have an eating disorder”. But how can you be fully convinced that either you have it or don’t? The following set of questions, that you again need to ask yourself will help understand if you behave in a way that exhibits propensities towards you having developed food disorders. You should pay attention and respond back to the questions with honest answers. Only then can you make headway to the right anorexia, bulimia or binge eating treatment followed by a successful recovery.

·         Do I possess eating habits which are dissimilar in comparison to my family and friends? (Yes)

·         Can I live through a day without having to worry about what I will or won’t eat? (No)

·         Do I have a preference to eat alone so that no one gets to see me eating? (Yes)

·         Do I often make excuses like “I have already eaten” or “I am not feeling well”? (Yes)

·         Do I often have unmanageable eating binges when I consume a lot of food and later I deliberately vomit? (Yes)

·         Do I cut food into small portions or hide food? (Yes)

·         Do I have a conceived notion about “safe” foods that I can eat and “unsafe” foods which I feel aren’t good for my health? (Yes)

·         Do I end up furious when others become interested in knowing what I eat or put pressure on me to eat more? (Yes)

·         Am I always afraid that my fears about food and eating would never be understood by anyone? (Yes)

·         Do I enjoy cooking foods for others but rarely eat them myself? (Yes)

·         Do I fast for long periods of time and eat very little to control my weight? (Yes)

·         Do I frequently hear it from my friends that I am thin, yet I don’t believe them because I think I’m fat? (Yes)

·         Do I press the panic button when I discover that I’ve gained weight? (Yes)

·         Do I resort to using laxatives or diuretics as a way to keep my weight under control? (Yes)

·         Do I have a mind-boggling apprehension of putting on weight? (Yes)

·         Do I engage in immoderate exercise to stay in shape and end up getting restless if by chance I miss a workout? (Yes)

·         Am I incapable to maintain a healthy and consistent weight appropriate to my age, height and build? (Yes)

·         Do my menstrual periods stop or become irregular because of no certain medical reasons? (Yes)

·         Do I spend extensive hours reading about dieting, calorie counting exercising or fitness? (Yes)

·         Do I feel depressed and bad-tempered and like to spend most of my time in solitude? (Yes)

·         Do I show tendencies to be a perfectionist and become irritable when things aren’t perfect? (Yes)

If your answers are in congruence to the ones put in parenthesis beside each question then in all earnest probability you’re struck down with an eating disorder. The earlier you get a comprehensive anorexia, bulimia, obesity disorder or binge eating disorder treatment, the better are your chances of a fast recovery.