Eating Disorders

Anorexia nervosa (anorexia: loss of appetite, nervosa: nervous) is characterised by an intense fear of being "fat" or of gaining weight despite being at a low weight.

People suffering from anorexia try to control their weight to become or to stay thin. This exaggerated control plays an important role in their thoughts and leads to a number of behaviours, such as calculating calories, weighing food, weighing themselves several times a week or day, etc.
The person becomes increasingly strict about what they will or will not eat. There are often feelings of shame or guilt after eating.

Une personne qui souffre d’anorexie mentale présente également une dysmorphobie. Elle se voit très grosse, même lorsqu’elle est maigre.
Chez les filles, la perte de poids peut entraîner des irrégularités voire un arrêt des règles.

Bulimia is characterised by periods of uncontrollable excessive eating (or binges) followed by compensatory behaviours to keep the weight off. In other words, the person suffering from bulimia loses control of their eating.
A binge is described as eating a large quantity of food in a very short time, even though the person does not necessarily feel hungry. These episodes may occur at times of particular emotional stress. Following these compulsive eating episodes, the person displays "compensatory" behaviours, i.e. behaviours aimed at eliminating the food they have ingested (e.g. self-induced vomiting, exercising very intensively, etc.).
These moments are accompanied by great guilt, low self-esteem and physical and psychological discomfort.
As with anorexia nervosa, bulimia sufferers are often dissatisfied with their body image and obsess about their weight and food.

It can be difficult to detect whether someone is suffering from bulimia because they may appear to be in good health. They may be of "normal" weight or considered "overweight".