Could It Be an Eating Disorder?

Eating Disorder Awareness Week is February 24-March 2, 2025, and parents might have questions. “My teen’s behavior around food as been different lately…could it be anorexia? Bulimia? Binge eating disorder?”

When it comes to eating disorders, the distinction most clinicians aim to make is whether we are dealing with an eating disorder or disordered eating. Disordered eating, while still problematic, is not as advanced as an eating disorder. It is possible to see many forms of disordered eating occur without an eating disorder developing. This is in part because food is often a method that someone who feels that they do not have much control can exercise some form of control. However, when disordered eating becomes pathological, difficult to stop, or is paired with other behaviors and persists to a point of being physically dangerous or unhealthy, we then identify an eating disorder. 

Disordered eating can be addressed via therapy that focuses not only on the eating itself, but on the underlying triggers that cause the behavior. Oftentimes disordered eating comes from a place of anxiety or depression, so the therapist will address these underlying causes while addressing the eating in tandem. In this situation the disordered eating is a coping mechanism that has gone awry. By addressing the underlying issue, we are able to replace this coping mechanism with a healthier alternative. 

In eating disorders, the trigger often is connected more strongly to body image and food, as well as underlying control issues. Someone struggling with an eating disorder is not only coping by adjusting their food or weight, and often feel that they must do this. The problem becomes the food itself, and this problem becomes larger than any other that the person may be dealing with. When this Behavior becomes more important than being healthy and we see physical changes that are markedly unhealthy as well as behaviors that are unhealthy, that is when we are more inclined to identify an eating disorder. Eating Disorders require specialized treatment, and are not resolved by simply addressing the underlying concerns. 

For parents, it can be very difficult to discern whether they are dealing with and eating disorder or disordered eating, because the difference is often fairly cloaked and difficult to discern. This is in no small part to the fact that most people who are struggling with either issue tend not to be forthcoming about it. Some worrying signs to be conscious of include but are not limited to rapid weight loss, obsessive calorie counting, restrictive eating, obsessive exercising, wearing clothing that disguises the body, and aversions to looking at one's own body. If you're concerned that your child could have an eating disorder, consulting a therapist will allow them to help you discern if you are dealing with disordered eating and coping mechanisms or an eating disorder and can better recommend a path forward. 

If you have concerns about your child, please feel free to reach out to Mindful Healing.