Anorexia Nervosa: Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by extreme food restriction, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted body image. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI). emotional symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa include “irritability, social withdrawal, lack of mood or emotion, not able to understand the seriousness of the situation, fear of eating in public and obsessions with food and exercise”, and physical symptoms include “irregularities or loss of menstruation, constipation and abdominal pain, irregular heart rhythms, low blood pressure, dehydration and trouble sleeping.”

Bulimia Nervosa: Bulimia Nervosa involves cycles of binge eating followed by compensatory purging behaviors such as vomiting, excessive exercise, or laxative use. NAMI identifies the emotional markers of Bulimia Nervosa as “low self-esteem overly linked to body image, feelings of being out of control, feeling guilty or shameful about eating and withdrawal from friends and family”. Binging and purging can negatively affect the physical body parts included in eating and digesting, potentially causing harm to teeth due to vomiting, acid reflux, and dehydration can cause cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure.

Binge Eating Disorder: Binge Eating Disorder, or BED, is characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food, often rapidly and to the point of discomfort, without regular use of compensatory behaviors.