Spotting the Signs: Early Indicators of Anorexia and How Therapy Can Help

Feb 21

What is Anorexia?

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder and some of the biggest markers include restricting calorie-intake well below what a person needs to live a happy and healthy life, fear of gaining weight and often has a distorted image of one’s body (possible body dysmorphia - learn more about body image therapy here). It is imperative to remember that Anorexia is a mental health disorder that CAN, and eventually will have physical consequences. This means that the development of Anorexia precedes anything physical that you may or may not see. If you can’t see Anorexia, then how do you know if you or a loved one has it? How do you know when it’s time to get Anorexia Therapy?

What Society has Wrong about Anorexia

As an Anorexia Therapist, I find that many of my clients who are seeking me out for Anorexia Therapy are still in denial that they even have an eating disorder. One reason for this is because we have normalized and glorified some behaviors that are associated with Anorexia. Another reason is because we have come up with an image of what we think Anorexia should look like. Here’s a secret - Anorexia rarely looks the way society believes it to look. Our education system has failed us in understanding what Anorexia truly is and how it truly shows up in the life of someone who’s suffering. This holds sufferers back from recognizing that they have a problem, causing them not to seek out the help they need from an Anorexia Therapist.

Now that we’ve talked a bit about what Anorexia is and how society has been misinformed about it, let’s talk about some of the early warning signs that indicate that you or a loved one may be suffering with Anorexia:

Early Warning Signs of Anorexia

Here are some of the warning signs that someone who’s struggling with Anorexia may display.

False beliefs: As a result of the misinformation we have as a society and the failure of our education system, sufferers often will have some of the following thoughts, that are false beliefs, which minimize the suffering and invalidates the experience of the sufferer. Let’s look at some of these false beliefs:

“I don’t look like I have Anorexia, therefore I don’t have it.”
“I do eat, so therefore, I can’t have Anorexia. A person with Anorexia doesn’t eat.”
“I’m just dieting, what’s wrong with that? Everyone does it.”
“I know this may not be the healthiest way to go about it, but I’ll stop when (insert whatever goal you have here).”
“That person has Anorexia and I don’t look like or act like that person, therefore, I do not have Anorexia.”

These are just a few of the false beliefs. If you find any of these thoughts are familiar, you could benefit from Anorexia Therapy. An Anorexia Therapist can help you to work through these thoughts that minimize your experience and help you to develop a healthier relationship with yourself, food and your body.

Thoughts: These are some thoughts that are common for someone who is beginning to suffer with Anorexia. This is not an exhaustive list.

“Some foods are good and some are bad. Bad foods are off-limits”
Development of food rules: ie. “I can’t eat this food,” “I can’t eat past this time,” “I can’t eat this food group,” “I can’t eat this food group more than once a day,” “I’ll save my calories for the weekend,” “I can only eat if I exercise this much.”
“I shouldn’t have this food.”
“I shouldn’t drink my calories.”
“I can’t control myself around food (or a certain type of food).”
“I don’t deserve to eat.”
“People think I’m fat and that I can’t control myself around food.”

Behavioral signs: Please note that not everyone who has Anorexia suffers in the exact same way. Not everyone will engage in all of these behaviors and this is not an exhaustive list of behaviors.

Avoiding social events where food will be served
Isolating themselves: especially avoiding meal-times with others or events where food is at the center (ie: a dinner party or a celebration with dessert)
Lying about food such as saying “I already ate” when they haven’t
Increased or new irritability
Hiding uneaten food
Playing with their food more than usual
Excessive water drinking before or at meals
Calorie-counting
Measuring food
Traditional dieting behavior: this has become so normalized that it’s hard to pick up on this, but this often will precede more extreme behaviors
Expressing dissatisfaction with one’s body: again, this has become so normalized. Watch out for this in combination with changes in eating or behaviors around food.
Body-checking: this can be done in many different ways. Look out if you or a loved one is checking their bodies in different ways or more often. Examples of body-checking include weighing self, looking in the mirror, trying on clothes and comparing fits, measuring self, etc.

If you find that you or a loved one exhibits any of these behaviors or other inordinary behaviors around food, it’s time to get help from an Anorexia Therapist.

Emotions: This is by no means an exhaustive list, however these are some common feelings someone suffering with Anorexia will experience:

Elation: it is not uncommon to feel a sense of elation especially at the beginning of their anorexia where the sufferer feels this pseudo-sense of control.
Guilt: especially around eating
Anxiety: around food, an upcoming event with food, an upcoming event where people may comment on their eating or body and just overall anxiety
Depression
Agitation
Moodiness
Withdrawn
Exhausted
Shame: if they feel like they’ve lost control

If you have noticed any of these emotions come up accompanied by any of these false beliefs, thoughts or behaviors, it’s time to get help from an Anorexia Therapist.

When should Anorexia Therapy begin?

As you can see in the title of this blog post, these are some early indicators of Anorexia. This is not an exhaustive list, but these are often very common early on. As soon as you notice ANY of these thoughts, false beliefs, behaviors or emotions, my recommendation is that it’s time to get help from an Anorexia Therapist. Study after study shows us that the earlier an eating disorder is caught and treated, the much better the prognosis. You do NOT need to wait until you meet a certain marker (as what was previously believe about atypical anorexia). If you wait, not only do you suffer longer, you risk developing severe and possibly irreversible health issues as well as needing much more treatment which may be longer or more intense than if you got help now. If you are suffering in any way, it’s time to get Anorexia Therapy.

Ready to get help from an Anorexia Therapist?

If you are ready to start feeling better, click here to submit a contact form in order to set up your free 15-minute phone consultation call with me, an Anorexia Therapist, to see how I can help you recover from Anorexia.

*Disclaimer* - I am not a medical doctor and this post does not constitute as medical advice. This post is derived from my experience working with clients who struggle with Anorexia, research and collaborating with medical professionals.

Stephanie Van Schaick