Anorexia nervosa People with this disorder see themselves as overweight even though they are dangerously thin. The process of eating becomes an obsession, and unusual eating habits develop, such as avoiding food or carefully weighing and portioning food. They may repeatedly check their body weight and engage in compulsive exercise, vomiting and abuse of laxatives.

• Resistance to maintaining body weight at or above a minimal normal weight for age and height.
• Intense fear of gaining weight even though underweight.
• Body image problems.
• Absence of menstruation.

Bulimia nervosa People with bulimia usually weigh within the normal range for their age and height. However, they may fear gaining weight or feel intensely dissatisfied with their bodies. People with bulimia often binge in secret and feel relief after purging.

• Recurrent episodes of binge eating characterized by eating an excessive amount of food within a short period of time, typically two hours or fewer and by a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode.
• Self-induced vomiting or misuse of laxatives, fasting or excessive exercise.
• Binging and purging behaviors occur, on average, at least twice a week for three months.
• Body image problems.

• Preoccupation with food.
• Swollen salivary glands.
• Broken blood vessels in the eyes.