Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are both eating disorders in which a person tries to lose weight in unhealthful means.

According to the National Found of Mental Health, nigh 0.half-dozen% of adults in the U.s. experienced anorexia betwixt 2001 and 2003, compared to 0.3% who experienced bulimia.

There are essential differences betwixt anorexia and bulimia, and it is possible for a person to have both at the same time.

In this commodity, acquire more than almost the symptoms of the two conditions, their differences, and when to see a doc.

a young man looking thoughtfully out of a window because he may have anorexia or bulimia Share on Pinterest
Anorexia and bulimia both involve people trying to lose weight in unhealthful ways.

People with anorexia and bulimia may fixate on weight and appearance, and they may have a distorted body image. Both conditions event in a person trying to lose weight using unhealthy strategies.

There are key differences between anorexia and bulimia. People with anorexia tend to adopt farthermost diets. They may restrict their food intake to a caste that can pb to malnourishment and fifty-fifty death.

Some people with anorexia practise to excess. If a person is already malnourished, this amount of practice may cause them to faint or feel other potentially severe adverse effects. As well, a person with anorexia may vomit or take laxatives to lose weight.

The primary characteristic of bulimia is episodes of binge eating followed past 'purging.' An episode may involve overeating and after airsickness, using laxatives, or administering enemas to get rid of the calories consumed.

Larn more about the differences between the symptoms of anorexia and bulimia beneath.

A person with either disorder may be a perfectionist and fixate on pleasing others. Some enquiry points to distinctions in the psychological makeup of people with these disorders.

For instance, the authors of a 2016 study found that, compared to those with anorexia, people with bulimia are more likely to:

  • take fathers with very high expectations
  • have a history of overweight in adolescence
  • have grown upward in families that emphasized fitness and staying in shape

The primary symptom of anorexia is restricting food intake with extreme dieting. The master symptom of bulimia is compensating for episodes of overeating by trying to purge the food.

A person may engage in either type of behavior in secret, but anorexia and bulimia tin can also cause singled-out symptoms that are more likely to be apparent to others.

Anorexia can cause a person to:

  • lose weight rapidly
  • avoid meals
  • swallow very little at meals
  • try to hibernate how much they swallow
  • have brittle hair and nails
  • fixate on their weight
  • develop anemia
  • have constipation
  • experience weakness
  • feel fainting and fatigue
  • stop menstruating, which doctors telephone call amenorrhea
  • develop infertility
  • experience organ failure

Some signs and symptoms of bulimia include:

  • frequent overeating
  • eating in secret
  • disappearing after meals
  • having a bloated throat or neck
  • developing acid reflux
  • having oral health bug, such as tooth loss or broken teeth
  • experiencing severe dehydration
  • having electrolyte imbalances, which tin can cause health problems

People of all torso types and weights can have eating disorders. However, anorexia tends to cause more rapid weight loss.

No objective test — such as bloodwork or an X-ray — can definitively betoken to an eating disorder. Instead, a doctor makes the diagnosis based on a person'southward symptoms.

To diagnose anorexia or bulimia, the doctor will ask about the person'due south symptoms, and they may also inquire family members and other loved ones about their observations.

If a doctor believes that a person has anorexia, they will attempt to diagnose the blazon. One type primarily involves restricting food intake, while another involves episodes of overeating and purging. If the person has experienced at least one of these episodes in the past iii months, the doctor volition probable make a diagnosis of binge eating and purging anorexia.

In guild for a person to receive a diagnosis of bulimia, they must engage in binge eating and unhealthful compensatory behavior at least once a week for at least iii months, on boilerplate. The doctor will allocate the severity based on the average number of episodes of compensatory behavior per week.

Diagnosis tin be challenging considering many people with eating disorders attempt to muffle their symptoms. Even when a person with an eating disorder knows that they are sick, they may exist too afraid of gaining weight to seek help.

Support and encouragement from loved ones tin be critical, helping a person receive an authentic diagnosis and intervention early. This is specially truthful for children and adolescents, whose parents or caregivers may have to accompany them when they seek handling.

Some medical tests tin can assistance with a diagnosis, especially when health problems issue from an eating disorder. For example, the health of a person'southward tooth enamel tin can sometimes indicate the severity of bulimia.

Treatment of eating disorders has a few goals, including:

  • addressing any health consequences of the disorder
  • tackling underlying psychological issues, such as depression, low self-esteem, or trauma, which may have triggered the disordered eating behaviors
  • restoring a salubrious body weight

People with eating disorders need comprehensive treatment that addresses the concrete and psychological symptoms. For this reason, many people choose inpatient or intensive outpatient treatment programs.

Effective handling can include:

  • nutritional counseling to help correct nutritional imbalances and maintain a healthy body weight
  • medical treatment for the physiological complications of eating disorders, such as anemia or acid reflux
  • back up groups to draw on the experiences of others
  • therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or centre movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), which tin address trauma
  • medication for underlying mental health conditions such every bit low and anxiety
  • hospitalization, if the person is having thoughts of suicide or has severe health problems, such as organ failure

Recovering from an eating disorder takes time. Even after a person adopts healthful eating habits, they may continue to experience complications such equally infertility, poor oral health, and anemia.

Some people use disordered eating to proceeds a sense of command or cope with emotional stress. Recovery focuses on helping a person adopt new coping skills.

Many people who have experienced disordered eating benefit from long-term support. Information technology tin help to return to therapy or support groups fifty-fifty after long absences, specially during times of stress.

People with eating disorders demand support, non judgment, to recover. Negative messages virtually appearance and trunk image tin contribute to the run a risk of developing an eating disorder.

This ways that friends, family unit members, and society as a whole tin can play a role in helping people recover from eating disorders.

Below are strategies for supporting a person who is recovering from an eating disorder:

  • Avoid mentioning their appearance or weight. Do not assume that all weight loss is positive. Instead of focusing on their looks, find other topics. Try complimenting the person on their personality or achievements, rather than their body.
  • Practise not talk nearly dieting, exercise, or food. Labeling certain foods equally "skilful" or "bad" can trigger disordered eating for people in recovery.
  • Help them feel comfortable talking well-nigh their feelings. People with eating disorders may feel ashamed of their emotions and struggle to articulate them.
  • Never ridicule or approximate a person well-nigh their eating disorder.
  • Encourage loved ones with eating disorders to seek aid. Limited love and back up, and offering to help them find a doctor or go with them to therapy.

Eating disorders tin can be deadly. Rates of bloodshed are high among people with these conditions, especially anorexia, compared with people who have other psychiatric disorders. An older analysis of inquiry, from 2004, reported that five% of people with anorexia die from the condition.

A person with an eating disorder is not choosing to harm themselves. Instead, they take a dangerous medical condition that can become a health emergency.

Prompt treatment of eating disorders saves lives. Anyone who thinks that they may have an eating disorder should seek help from a doctor or therapist. If a person suspects that someone has an eating disorder, it is vital to encourage them to seek help without casting blame or judgment.