Eating disorders

It is the run up to the exams, and you have just munched your way through a whole packet of chocolate biscuits while revising pharmacology. Does this mean you have an eating disorder? Well, a lot depends on what you do next. If you realise that you are nervous and bored and eating for comfort but do not worry too much about the excess calories you have just eaten, you are “normal.” If you vow to get yourself into a training regimen after the exams and live only on mineral water, salads, and cottage cheese for the next month, you might be borderline normal. However, if you rush to the toilet and stick your fingers down your throat, feeling guilty and panic stricken, then you may be at risk of developing an eating disorder.

Eating disorders - anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) - are bad news. They cause much mental as well as physical damage1 2 and tend to become chronic.34 Anorexia nervosa causes more deaths than any other psychiatric illness, mostly through suicide and cardiac arrhythmias,5 and eating disorders in general are the third most common chronic illness in young adults after asthma and obesity.6