Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is characterised by a restriction of food intake which leads to the person being underweight for their height or age. They may have an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat and often have a distorted view of their body image. By restricting their food intake, the person may feel ‘in control’. The person’s self-worth can be largely or entirely based on their weight or shape. A person with anorexia nervosa may also engage in compulsive or excessive exercise as a way to control their weight. There are two sub-types of anorexia nervosa. ‘Restrictive’, in which the person restricts their food intake and ‘binge-purge’, where the person restricts their food intake but also engages in episodes of eating a large amount of food and then engaging in purging behaviours, such as self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic use or over-exercise.