Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder. Someone who is considered anorexic will starve themselves and exercise excessively. Anorexics obsess over calorie intake and have a severe fear of gaining weight.
There is no specific cause of anorexia. However, it is known that food restriction begins a distorted body image of oneself or insecurities. This quickly spiral into an obsession with food, starving, and losing weight.
Symptoms of someone who suffers from anorexia include:
-extreme weight loss
-hair loss
-dizziness/loss of consciousness
-fatigue
-insomnia
-loss of menstruation (females only)
-low blood pressure

-AGE
Younger people are more vulnerable to anorexia because of social and physical changes associated with teenage years.
-FRIENDS AND FAMILY
People with friends or relatives that suffer from anorexia are more likely to become anorexic than others.
-JOBS AND/OR ACTIVITIES
For dancers, gymnasts, wrestlers, models, and actors, being thin is a requirement for success.
-EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY
People with a low self esteem and unhealthy body image are much more likely to be "triggered" by small things that wouldn't bother someone else.
-MEDIA/SOCIETY
The glamorization of stick thin models covering every magazine that you see at the grocery store check out places a very strong image in the mind of young people: you aren't good enough if you don't look like a swimsuit model and happiness is associated with being skinny.

-People who suffer from anorexia go to great lengths to disguise their disorder. An anorexic may cut their food into pieces or chew it up and spit it into a napkin to make it look like they're eating.
-Anorexics will resort to the use of laxatives and diuretics to lose as much weight as possible.
-Anorexia is life threatening.
-Anorexia can cause anemia, organ failure, and osteoporosis (weakening of the bones).
-Anorexia will cause hair to fall out and nails to grow thin and break.

Bulimia is an eating disorder also used for extreme, unhealthy weight loss. Someone who is bulimic will binge and purge. This is where they stuff themselves with as much food as possible, and then force themselves to throw up afterwards.
Similar to anorexia and binge eating disorders, bulimia doesn't have one exact cause. It is a psychological eating disorder. It may start with someone's feeling unhappy or insecure with their body image. This may lead to binging and purging, which eventually turns into a very unhealthy way to deal with stress, depression, and anxiety.

Bulimia poses multiple dangerous health risks. These include:
-electrolyte imbalance (leading to heart issues)
-severe tooth decay
-chronic sore throat
-digestive problems
-dehydration

-85-90% of people who suffer from bulimia are female. Similar to other eating disorders, there are men who suffer as well, but they're less common.
-Often, bulimics will resort to the use of laxatives or diuretics to lose weight.
-Some bulimics report bingeing and purging several times a week, others report bingeing and purging several times in one day.
-Bulimia can be treated with nutritional counseling to develop healthier eating habits.

In contrast to the pervious two, binge eating disorders are not derived from a desire to lose weight. Binge eating is an unhealthy was to cope with stress, depression, and anxiety.

Eating disorders are closely linked to anxiety disorders and depression, and in some cases, are treated as such. It is not uncommon for someone with an eating disorder to suffer from severe depression. It is also not uncommon for these people to self harm as well. This only proves further how important it is to advocate for friends and family members. Reporting someone who you suspect has an eating disorder is extremely time sensitive. By doing so, you could save their life.

Eating disorders have been more glamorized in the past 10 years than ever because of a new 'thinspiration' movement made popular by social media. This idea targets young people especially. Not only is the internet covered with ads and spam full of pictures of ultra-thin girls, but there are actually pro eating disorder websites. These are designed to "encourage" and "motivate" people to lose weight with anorexia and bulimia. This would be a more extreme example of media manipulating body image, but one thing has been made very clear: the thinspo is everywhere, whether you want to see it or not.

Although all eating disorders are different, they are treated similarly to other mental disorders. In extreme cases, the patient may require hospitalization. After that, through lots of counseling and therapy, people can overcome their disorder. Learning how to cope with challenges in a healthy way will become a huge part of the persons new lifestyle. With support from friends and family, anybody with an eating disorder can recover and continue on to live a happier and healthier life.