Eating disorders are psychological disorders affecting a person's emotions, behaviors, thoughts and physical wellness.

A person with an eating disorder can develop harmful behaviors such as restricting food intake, purging after eating , uncontrollable eating or exercising to much. They begin to have irrational, unhealthy thoughts which can lead to emotional distress.

People with eating disorder may experience:

• low self esteem

• mood swings

• depression

• distorted views on how their body looks

• difficulty opening up about their issues

• they may have trouble controlling themselves

• they may have a serious concern over their body, weight and food

• they may have dieted

Anorexia Nervosa-where someone restricts food intake resulting in a very low and unhealthy weight, develops irrational fears of gaining weight. People with this condition often feel as though their is a voice inside their heads telling them what to do and not giving them a choice. The way they see themselves becomes distorted and many fail to realize that their extremely low weight can be life threatening. Due to their phobia of gaining weight they will begin to avoid anything that will cause weight gain.

Bulimia Nervosa- if someone is diagnosed with bulimia it means they often binge eat where they cannot control their intake. A binge is described as eating large quantities of food, in an uncontrollable and unplanned manner within a two hour period. This period of binge eating is followed by dangerous activities like causing themselves to vomit or abusing medications that prevent weight gain. This disorders stems from a fear of weight gain as well. It can often begin with a diet that begins to control their eating habits. Someone with bulimia normally has a regular body weight which is why the disorder can go unnoticed for a long time. This makes it treatment more difficult.

Binge Eating Disorder-this disorder causes a person to binge eat as a coping mechanism of underlying issues. It causes them to repeatedly binge eat in which they will eat rapidly to the point where they feel uncomfortably full. They will often eat large quantities of food even though they do not fell hungry. They often feel embarrassed by the amount they eat which leads them to eat alone to avoid judgment from others and feeling disgusted with themselves after a binge eating period. Although people with this disorder do not purge, they will often fast or go on diets frequently. They also tend to binge eat in secret- in front of others, they tend to maintain a healthy diet.

Eating disorders can be caused by low self esteem. They feel the need to meet the expectations of other. This may be why eating disorders are common during teenage years where the opinions of others are deemed extremely important. They can also develop as a coping mechanism for something traumatic that may have happened to them e.g. loss , bullying, stress etc. They are not a form of attention seeking and do not begin as a choice.