Mental illness doesn’t just refer to problems like depression, bi-polar disorder, and autism—eating disorders are also a silent predator that does affect the African-American community.

For years people have thought that eating disorders don’t affect people of color because often times people of color accept beauty in all shapes and sizes and don’t always believe that small sizes are the best sizes to be.  In reality, eating disorders don’t discriminate when it comes to race, culture, size, or sex.

Below you will find the three most common eating disorders and the symptoms of each so that you can help yourself or a loved one if you suspect that someone is suffering from anorexia nervosa, binge eating, or bulimia.

1. Anorexia nervosa: extreme fear of gaining weight, extreme weight loss, distorted body image (thinking one is fat when they actually are very thin), denial that one is struggling with a disease, and for women the absence of thee consecutive menstrual cycles.

2. Binge eating: overeating compared to one’s normal food intake, does not involve purging, discomfort after food intake, eating when not hungry, after binge eating one usually feels ashamed, disgusted, or depressed about overeating.  Binge eating disorder is usually coupled with other mental illnesses like anxiety disorders, depression, self injury (self mutilation), or substance abuse.

3. Bulimia: difficult to detect because most that suffer from bulimia are overweight or normal weight.  This disorder is coupled with the compulsion to binge, and then after binging, purging efforts like self induced vomiting, laxatives, or enemas are used to get rid of weight. Other efforts to counteract the binging include extreme exercise or fasting.

This is a small list of what defines each eating disorder mentioned.  To read more on eating disorders speak to your doctor, or read more on http://www.nami.org if you suspect that you or a loved one may need professional help in battling an eating disorder.

TAGS: eating disorders, Mental Illness