What is the definition of an eating disorder?
An eating disorder is a mental illness comprised of a specific set of symptoms. This includes abnormal eating behaviours such as binging and purging, taking diuretics and laxatives. It also involves severe dietary restrictions such as not eating for a period of eight hours on a regular basis with the intent of losing weight. Individuals suffering from eating disorders have very specific psychological beliefs and attitudes about their own weight. Most importantly an individual with an eating disorder will base their self-esteem on control of their own weight. One of the major physical consequences to having an eating disorder is having abnormal or infrequent periods. In the UK, 60% of people suffering from eating disorders can be described as having a partial or atypical eating disorder and such individuals do not fit within tightly defined disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Out of all categories of mental health disorders, eating disorders has the highest mortality rate.
