Eating Disorders

An eating disorder is a mental health condition where you use the control of food to cope with feelings and other situations.

Unhealthy eating behaviours may include eating too much or too little. You might also worry about your weight or body shape.

These eating habits and behaviours can affect you physically, mentally, and socially. With treatment, most people can recover from an eating disorder.

Types of Eating Disorders

There are a number of different types of eating disorder. The most common ones are: 

• Anorexia nervosa, where a person tries to keep their weight as low as possible by strictly controlling and limiting what they eat
• Bulimia, where a person overeats and then tries to avoid gaining weight by ‘purging’ – for example, by vomiting or taking laxatives
• Binge eating, where a person feels they have to overeat through regular binges

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