What are all of the stages of anorexia and at what stage is a person considered anorexic?
Answer Stage One is the Achievement Stage. This is when a person decides to go on a diet to lose weight. The underlying desire is to be accepted by peers; a way to “fit in” and possibly answer the pangs of low self-esteem. Simply wanting to diet is not considered pathological. Many normal people go on diets and many normal people will go off diets. The Anorexic, who starts out like a normal person, will grasp the concept of losing weight as a great accomplishment and transform normal dieting to superdieting. This growing sense of achievement and praise from peers solidifies the Anorexic’s restrictive eating practices. The feelings of being virtuous and successful are far more important to the Anorexic than mere feelings of hunger. Stage Two is the Security-Compulsive Stage. The Anorexic no longer has a “goal weight”, and, ironically, begins to feel fatter and fatter. The Anorexic will also view others as being thinner, whether they are or not. Levenkron says that body distortion is nec
