Why do people not fit perfectly into one eating disorder category or another?
Many people who suffer from eating disorders tend to move from one category of eating disorders (see question 1) to another. Often a person tries to starve herself/himself in an effort to lose weight and becomes obsessed with food. She tries to control her relationship with food by avoiding food and any food-related experiences. However, when food is finally consumed, she quickly loses control of how much she eats, since she is in a state of self-induced starvation. When she realizes one of her worst fear has happened, she may relieve the guilt by purging. Thus, not eating (“restriction”) may convert itself into eating large quantities of food, then throwing up (“binge/purge cycle”).
