Eating Disorder specialist

 

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Anorexia Nervosa — Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders

CCED provides clinically proven treatment that supports both the behavioral and emotional processes of Anorexia Nervosa. We encourage you to speak with our Trusted Specialist.

Anorexia Nervosa is not a "diet gone bad". Although the behavior may begin with a diet program, the diet itself is not responsible for the start of the Eating Disorder. Instead, Anorexia Nervosa is a painful internal experience of fear, associated both with food and with the perception of one’s own body.

Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia Treatment

Most people who have Anorexia Nervosa will require treatment that supports both the behavioral process of increasing weight and food intake and the emotional process of targeting the negative thoughts and perceptions to work towards recovery.

Signs of Anorexia Nervosa

  • An intense fear of gaining weight, or a refusal to maintain normal body weight
  • An inaccurate perception of body weight, shape, or size  
  • A strong preoccupation with food
  • Weight loss/control typically through limiting of food intake, but may also include purging (self-induced vomiting)
  • Over-exercise
  • Misuse of diuretics, diet pills or laxatives

Anorexia Effects

Adults are likely to experience a drop in weight, while adolescents or children may fail to gain and "fall off" their expected weight-growth pattern. Women experience either a delay in starting menstruation, or a loss of menstrual functioning (amenorrhea). By definition, individuals with Anorexia Nervosa are below normal minimal weight standards.

Anorexia Nervosa — Restricting Type

This describes individuals who have lost or controlled their weight primarily through limiting food or calorie intake, as well as excessive exercise.

Anorexia Nervosa — Binge/Purge Type

This describes individuals who engage in binge eating and/or purging (self-induced vomiting or the use of diuretics or laxatives), while restricting the amount of food or calories that they eat in an effort to reduce or control weight.