Eating Disorders and Mental Illness

By Emily Battaglia

Eating disorders are mental health conditions, and are commonly accompanied by other mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Eating disorders are often life-threatening and present in several distinct forms. The three most common are anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating. For individuals with eating disorders, early diagnosis and treatment are extremely important. The longer an eating disorder progresses, the greater the physical and psychological toll on the individual. Physical damage to the body can be irreversible if an eating disorder persists for too long. Although the relationship between eating disorders and other forms of mental illness has not been established, it has been shown that effective treatment for eating disorders must address any co-occurring mental illness or substance abuse.

Like other mental illnesses, the causes of eating disorders are not fully understood. However, some risk factors have been identified. Young females (ages 12 to 25) are the most likely to develop eating disorders, although older women, boys, and men do suffer from these conditions. According to recent research, approximately 75% of anorexics and bulimics, and 60% of binge-eaters are female. Other significant risk factors include:

• Perfectionistic personality type;
• Inability to cope with change;
• Mental illness or family history of mental illness;
• Body-focused occupation (for instance, an athlete or model);
• History of sexual abuse;
• Early puberty;
• Dysfunctional parent-child interaction; and
• Socioeconomic status (higher status is correlated with anorexia, while lower status may be linked to bulimia).

Mental illness can represent a serious threat to physical health. This is especially true in the case of eating disorders. Anorexia has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric illness. Anorexics and bulimics often suffer from osteoporosis, developing brittle bones. The starvation undergone by anorexics can injure the heart, brain, and liver. Anorexics often develop slowed pulse rates and low blood pressure, which can lead to arrhythmia or even heart failure. Starving individuals display low-level depression, an inability to concentrate or process complex thoughts, and may have epileptic fits as a consequence of calcium deficiency in the brain. Anorexics often suffer from hair loss (on the head), dry skin, kidney stones, high cholesterol, and constipation. Most of the physical effects from bulimia result from excessive vomiting and/or use of laxatives. Bulimics experience severe tooth decay, salivary gland infections, esophageal bleeding, stomach ulcers, and constipation, among other things. Binge-eaters primarily suffer from obesity and obesity-related health conditions such as type-2 diabetes.

Certain mental illnesses are strongly linked to eating disorders. Most frequently, disordered eaters show problems with depression and anxiety. Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and panic disorder.

In addition to depression and anxiety, disordered eaters show high frequency of obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder. Another mental condition that is strongly linked with eating disorders is body dysmorphic disorder. Individuals with this illness distort their physical appearance, fixating on real or imagined imperfections; they have trouble controlling negative thoughts about their appearance and often take extreme measures to conceal or correct these imperfections.

Reference
Eating Disorders. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, National Mental Health Information Center, 2003. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/ken98-0047/default.asp

Anorexia Nervosa. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). 2003.

Scholten, Amy, MPH. Risk Factors for Eating Disorders. Aurora Health Care. 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from http://www.aurorahealthcare.org.