A KlearMinds therapist can provide you with a safe space to explore and understand what drives your eating disorder and how to stop it from negatively impacting your life. Our eating disorder therapists can help you:

Bulimia: Characterised by binge eating followed by purging. During bingeing, people feel like they have no control over their eating and that they can’t stop. After eating, due to guilt, shame or an intense fear of weight gain, purging is done to get rid of calories. Common purging behaviours include: forced vomiting, fasting, using laxatives, diuretics or enemas and excessive exercise. Bulimia also involves being preoccupied with weight and body shape, with severe and harsh self-judgement of personal appearance.

Symptoms may appear very similar to those of anorexia or binge eating. Side effects of bulimia may include: an inflamed and sore throat, swollen salivary glands, worn tooth enamel, tooth decay, acid reflux, gut irritation and dehydration. In severe cases, bulimia can also create an imbalance in levels of electrolytes, such as sodium, potassium, and calcium. This can cause a stroke or heart attack.

Binge-eating disorder (BED): Often involves eating large amounts of food rapidly and until uncomfortably full, despite not feeling hungry. When bingeing, it feels like there’s no control over eating. After a binge, people often feel a great deal of guilt, disgust or shame. People with BED have symptoms similar to those of bulimia, however, they do not restrict calories or use purging behaviours after a binge eating episode.

Often after a binge-eating episode occurs, a person with BED fears gaining weight and tries to severely limit eating for periods of time. This then often leads to increased urges to binge, setting up an unhealthy cycle. Embarrassment can lead to eating alone to hide bingeing. People with BED may eat more ultra-processed foods than whole foods. This may increase the risk of complications such as heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

Anorexia: Characterised by an abnormally low body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight and distorted body image. To prevent weight gain or to continue losing weight, people with anorexia may control calorie intake by vomiting after eating or by misusing laxatives, diet aids, diuretics or enemas. They may also try to lose weight by exercising excessively. No matter how much weight is lost, the person continues to fear weight gain, often equating thinness with self-worth.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms are often present. For instance, many people with anorexia are preoccupied with constant thoughts about food. Some may obsessively collect recipes or hoard food. They may also have difficulty eating in public and have a strong desire to control their environment, limiting their ability to be spontaneous. Over time, people living with anorexia may experience brittle hair and nails, thinning bones, and infertility. In severe cases, anorexia can result in heart, brain, or multi-organ failure and death.

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (AFRID): People with ARFID experience a lack of interest in eating or a distaste for certain smells, tastes, colours, textures, or temperatures. Common symptoms include: avoidance or restriction of food that prevents the person from eating enough calories or nutrients, eating habits that interfere with typical social functions, such as eating with others, weight loss or poor development for age and height, nutrient deficiencies or dependence on supplements or tube feeding.

People with this disorder don’t have fears about gaining weight or body size. They may however worry about what can happen when eating. For example, they may have a fear of choking or vomiting, or they may worry about getting stomach problems. Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder can be diagnosed in all ages, but it’s more common in younger children. The disorder can result in major weight loss or failure to gain weight in childhood. This may lead to problems with growth, development and functioning in daily life.