- Over concern or fixation with body and weight
- Distorted body image
- Rapid weight loss or weight gain
- Constant dieting and fixation with food’s calories, fat, etc.
- Avoiding social functions where food will be served
- Denying hunger as a way to avoid eating
- Isolating and withdrawing from friends and family
- Wanting to eat alone
- Playing with food on plate- cutting up food into small pieces, moving food around the plate
- Depression, reports of being tired or not sleeping well
- Fluctuating from fasting to over-eating
- Feeling cold in warm environments
- Feeling disoriented and difficulty concentrating
- Cuts and calluses around the top of finger joints
- Irritability and anxiety around mealtimes or outings where food will be served
- Using food for emotional support
- Rigid food rules: “good foods vs bad foods”
- Anxiously over-eating “unhealthy” food
- Frequent use of the restroom around/during/after mealtimes
- Wearing large clothes
- Sudden or frequent exercising behaviors
- Rituals around meals: needing mealtimes to be at specific times, overseeing how meals are prepared and other controlling behaviors around food
- Increased reports in stomach illnesses/viruses
These are just some of the symptoms you may notice in your loved ones, if you are concerned that someone you know may have an eating disorder, NEDA (National Eating Disorder Association) is a great resource for support on how to talk to someone suffering from an eating disorder and help with how to find treatment.
At Therapeutic Oasis, we treat eating disorders for individuals of all ages, offering comprehensive treatment modalities of individual therapy, nutrition therapy, group therapy, meal support and much more.