To a large part of the general population, eating disorders are viewed as something vastly different from other disorders like anxiety, depression, OCD, or PTSD. Eating disorders are associated with the body, despite being a psychological disorder.
Because they’re psychological in nature, most early symptoms of an eating disorder show up in thoughts and behaviors. It’s important to note that eating disorders do not go from nonexistent to extremely severe with no inbetween. There are several indicators pointing towards the development of an eating disorder. And the moment you notice eating disorder behaviors in yourself or someone else, you can start moving towards recovery.
In this article, we’ll look at:
- Why it’s so important to catch eating disorder symptoms early
- Why physical appearance is not a good indicator of an eating disorder, especially in the early stages of development
- Noticing eating disorder signs in yourself
- Noticing eating disorder symptoms in someone else
Why Early Eating Disorder Detection is So Important: Eating Disorder Prevention
Eating disorders are like sand: If you start digging yourself out of it quickly, it’s much easier to escape. But if you continue without acting to challenge an eating disorder, it will be much more difficult to escape from it. You will be much farther away from a place of health and wellness, and will have to spend much more time and energy climbing back up to that place.
The risk of serious physical and psychological damage increases as eating disorder behaviors become more frequent and are done over a longer period of time. The body can only be strained so much physically. And the psychological damage caused by an eating disorder is possibly even more difficult to treat.
Age is also a factor when it comes to eating disorder recovery. The younger an eating disorder patient is, the more likely it is that they will make a full recovery.
Related: Not sure what to do if your teen doesn’t want to go to treatment? Click here for tips on how to get them the help they need.
Relapse is also impacted by time that an individual lives with an eating disorder — the longer someone has had an eating disorder present in their lives, the more likely the chance of relapse.
Essentially, if you notice symptoms early, you have a better chance of minimizing the severity of an eating disorder. And, if caught early enough, you may be able to prevent yourself or someone else from letting those symptoms turn into a full blown eating disorder.
Why Physical Signs are Not Early Symptoms of an Eating Disorder
Many people miss, or willingly ignore, the signs of an eating disorder because a person “looks fine.” If you are the one developing an eating disorder, you may not believe that you have one until you’re a certain weight, or you have a certain prevalence of symptoms, behaviors, or side effects.
However, this mentality causes several problems. Waiting until you reach some physical point where you deem that you do actually “have a problem” will make the recovery process much longer and more difficult.
What if you never do reach some physical indicator of an eating disorder? Many individuals with eating disorders don’t actually reach the severely low weight or “look” that eating disorders are associated with. If those physical signs never show up, does that mean that you should never get help?
Of course not — why? Because eating disorders are a mental disease. This is also why many eating disorders show up in thoughts and behaviors.
Early Symptoms of an Eating Disorder
Anyone can develop an eating disorder at any age. But the psychological symptoms of a budding eating disorder can be detected almost all the time, if you know what to look for.
Many eating disorders start out as “just a diet.” You just want to eat more healthy, lose a little weight, or become more fit. While your intentions may start out as reasonable or innocent, even positive, they can quickly spiral into these kinds of thoughts and behaviors.
FOOD RELATED EARLY SIGNS OF AN EATING DISORDER
You may be developing an eating disorder if you think or do some of the following:
- See some foods as “good” and others as “bad”
- Feeling extremely guilty for eating foods deemed “bad”
- Eat the same foods all the time
- Become unwilling to try new foods
- Bring your own foods to events where food will be provided
- Feel compelled to know the calorie content of everything you eat
- Feel compelled to use a calorie counting app and religiously log everything you eat
- Measure/weigh out all of your food
- Become rigid about mealtimes
- Become rigid about the place you eat, what kind of silverware you have, etc.
Someone you know may be developing an eating disorder if you notice that they do or say some of the following:
- Become secretive about eating
- Constantly talk about their diet
- Eat the same foods all the time
- Become rigid about mealtimes, where and how meals are eaten, etc.
- Start to distance themselves from events surrounding food
- Turn down offers of food they once enjoyed
- Become irritable or defensive when asked about eating patterns
- Rush to the bathroom immediately after meals, usually in a panic
- Become defensive or avoidant when asked about the cabinets being emptied or about missing food
- Are spending a very large amount of money on food
A person does not have to check off all of these boxes to have an eating disorder. In fact, a person may do things that are not even on this list that are considered disordered.
BODY IMAGE RELATED EARLY SIGNS OF AN EATING DISORDER
You may be developing an eating disorder if your body image causes you to think or do the following:
- Feel the need to weigh yourself frequently (more than once a week)
- Feel the need to feel measure parts of your body
- Feel parts of your body to “check” the shape of them
- Feel distress when looking at the mirror, harshly judging yourself for the parts of your body you don’t like
- Look at your reflection more often, in places such as shop windows or car mirrors
- Constantly compare your body with others
- Dress in baggier clothes to hide the shape of your body
- Feel distress about the size of your clothing
- Believe that others either like or dislike you just because of your body shape or weight
Someone you know may be developing an eating disorder or body dysmorphic disorder if you notice that they:
- Wear very baggy clothes, even if it’s hot outside
- Constantly worry aloud about the look or feel of their body
- Weigh themselves often, especially in secret
- Stare in the mirror for unusually long periods of time
- Often complain or worry about the way they look in comparison to others
- Often engage in negative self-talk when it comes to their appearance
- Tell you that the only reason people like or dislike them is because of their body (especially when it comes to romantic relationships)
EXERCISE RELATED EARLY SIGNS OF AN EATING DISORDER
You may be developing an unhealthy relationship with exercise if you:
- Have a very rigid exercise schedule
- Meticulously plan out where and how you will exercise, even if on vacation
- Feel extreme guilt about deviating from your exercise schedule
- Believe that exercise is a way of “earning” food
- Exercise even if you are sick or injured
- Don’t take any rest days to give your body a break
- Exercise for the sole purpose of burning calories, even if your chosen form of exercise is one that you hate doing
You can tell if someone else is developing an exercise problem if they exercise:
- In dangerous weather
- More than once a day
- Even when sick or injured
- When they feel they have “eaten too much”
- When they use language like “earning food” when talking about exercise
- At inappropriate times, such as right before an unfinished assignment is due
- In secret
Related: You may ask: “Some people are just really into exercise, and that’s not dangerous, is it?” But there is a line between loving exercise and being addicted to it. Click here to learn the difference between the two.
Noticing these early eating disordered thoughts and behaviors is crucial for slowing down the development of an eating disorder, or preventing it altogether. But no matter when you notice the signs, know that you are still capable of making a full, lasting recovery — if you reach out for help.
If you or someone you love is suffering from an eating disorder, take the first step today and talk to talk to someone about recovery or simply learn more about the eating disorder recovery programs we offer.
