Other Anxiety Disorders. Other anxiety disorders associated with both bulimia and anorexia include:
- Phobias. Phobias often precede the onset of the eating disorder. Social phobias, in which a person is fearful about being humiliated in public, are common in both types of eating disorders.
- Panic Disorder. Panic disorder often follows the onset of an eating disorder. It is characterized by periodic attacks of anxiety or terror (panic attacks).
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some patients with serious eating disorders report a past traumatic event (such as sexual, physical, or emotional abuse), and exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) -- an anxiety disorder that occurs in response to life-threatening circumstances.
Depression. Depression is common in anorexia and bulimia. Major depression is unlikely to be a cause of eating disorders, however, because treating and relieving depression rarely cures an eating disorder. In addition, depression often improves after anorexic patients begin to gain weight.
Being Overweight
Extreme eating disorder behaviors, including use of diet pills, laxatives, diuretics, and vomiting, are reported more often in overweight than normal weight teenagers.
Body Image Disorders
Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) involves a distorted view of one's body that is caused by social, psychologic, or possibly biologic factors. It is often associated with anorexia or bulimia, but it can also occur without any eating disorder. People with this disorder commonly suffer from emotional disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. As part of obsessive thinking, some people with BDD may obsess about a perceived deformity in one area of their body, and may repeatedly seek cosmetic surgery to "correct" it. People with BDD are also at higher risk for suicidal thinking and attempts.
Muscle Dysmorphia. Muscle dysmorphia is a form of body dysmorphic disorder in which the obsession involves musculature and muscle mass. It tends to occur in men who perceive themselves as being underdeveloped or "puny," which results in excessive body building, preoccupation with diet, and social problems. Such individuals are prone to eating disorders and other unhealthy behaviors, including the use of anabolic steroids.
Excessive Physical Activity
Highly competitive athletes are often perfectionists, a trait common among people with eating disorders.
Previous Section
Review Date: 02/18/2011
Reviewed By: David B. Merrill, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry,
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New
York, NY. Also reviewed by Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief,
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician,
Massachusetts General Hospital; and David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical
Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
