Eating Disorders: Your GoodRx Guide
Comprehensive information for you or a loved one — including treatment options and discounts on popular medications.
Eating disorders are mental health conditions that can affect your body image, weight, and eating habits. There are many types of eating disorders. The most common are:
Anorexia nervosa (AN): People with anorexia often have a distorted body image and a low body weight. As part of their illness, some people with AN binge eat. Some people also purge using vomiting, exercise, or laxatives.
Bulimia nervosa (BN): People with bulimia have cycles of binge eating and purging. People with bulimia can have bodies of all shapes and sizes. If they have a very low body weight, they are usually more likely to be misdiagnosed with anorexia nervosa.
Binge eating disorder (BED): Binge eating disorder causes people to have repeated episodes of binge eating. These episodes cause feelings of shame, distress, or depression, and usually happen at least once per week.
Though eating disorders are especially common in young women, they can affect people of all ages, genders, and ethnicities. Eating disorders can also affect all different body types. You cannot tell whether someone has an eating disorder just by looking at them.
We don’t know exactly what causes eating disorders. But we do know this: Eating disorders are not caused by “bad habits” or “poor choices.” Just like many other medical conditions, it’s likely that eating disorders are caused by a combination of factors.
Factors that can make you more likely to get an eating disorder include:
Having a family member with an eating disorder
Having a family member with mental illness
Going on a lot of diets
Having diabetes type 1
Your genes (DNA)
Your brain function
Identifying as a “perfectionist”
Having an anxiety disorder
Having obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Having a poor body image
Being exposed to certain cultural messages
Being bullied or teased
Experiencing trauma
Having parents or caregivers who experienced trauma
In some research, 60% of people with an eating disorder said that they were bullied.
Certain groups of people may also be more likely to develop eating disorders, or may experience eating disorders differently. These include:
Athletes
People with disabilities
Jewish people
People who are LGBTQ+
Men and boys
Older adults
BIPOC
Most people feel self-conscious about their body and appearance from time to time. But the difference is: Eating disorders are more than just passing thoughts. They are mental health conditions that affect how you think, behave, and function.
Here are some things you might notice if you have an eating disorder:
You seem to worry about your body weight and shape more than other people worry about theirs.
You often feel unhappy with your body shape and size.
You feel anxious about gaining weight.
You diet or change your eating habits a lot.
You sometimes feel unable to control how much food you eat.
You feel bad after eating, or hide your eating habits.
Some people with an eating disorder also try to control their body weight and shape by:
Throwing up
Exercising a lot
Using laxatives
Using diuretics (water pills)
Going without food or water
Eating fewer than 1,200 calories a day
If any of these fit you, it’s possible that you could have an eating disorder — especially if these thoughts, feelings, or behaviors affect your health or day-to-day life.
Compare prices and information on the most popular Eating Disorders medications.
The first step in getting a diagnosis is to talk to your healthcare provider about your concerns. Though it can be hard to start the conversation, getting diagnosed can help you recover, and protect you from having other health problems.
In the U.S. alone, almost 30 million people will be diagnosed with an eating disorder sometime during their life.
If you’re not sure whether you need professional help, the National Eating Disorders Association has a free online screening tool that can help you decide.
When you meet with a provider, they will want to hear about your:
Eating patterns
Attitude about exercise, eating, and body image
Family history of eating disorders
Family history of mental illness
Family history of obesity
Ability to function at work, school, and/or home
Your provider will also measure your weight, height, and blood pressure, and do a physical exam. They may suggest additional tests, like:
Blood tests
Urine tests
Electrocardiogram
CT scan
X-rays
MRI
All of this information — the interview, the exam, and tests — can help your provider determine whether you have an eating disorder. Your exact diagnosis will depend on your symptoms and current health.
Medication can help you recover from an eating disorder, especially when combined with talk therapy and nutritional counseling.
Many different types of medications are used to treat eating disorders. The right medication for you will depend on your symptoms, and what you and your provider would like to see change.
Prescription medications used to treat eating disorders include:
Antidepressants
Antipsychotics
Seizure medications
Stimulants
Some of these medications can also help you manage other conditions that can go along with an eating disorder — like anxiety, depression, and ADHD.
Your medical team might also recommend nutritional supplements, especially if you have other health problems from your eating disorder. This might include:
Talk therapy is one of the most important parts of eating disorder treatment. There are many different types of talk therapy that are used to treat eating disorders:
Individual therapy
Group therapy
Family therapy
Therapy can help you understand and control your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It can also help you understand how your interactions with other people — including your family — affect your eating disorder.
Nutrition education is a key part of eating disorder treatment. Working with a dietitian or nutritionist can help you understand your food behaviors, and they can help make a food plan designed to support your physical and emotional health.
When combined with medication and therapy, certain complementary and alternative medicine treatments can help with recovery. Talk to your provider about whether any of these could be right for you:
Massage
Light therapy
Acupuncture
Relaxation therapy
Just like any chronic illness, an eating disorder can be hard to live with. An eating disorder can affect your physical and mental health, self-image, and relationships.
Many people find that it’s helpful to have a strong “treatment team” to support them on the road to recovery. This might include:
A primary care provider
A therapist
A dietician or nutritionist
A case manager
A psychiatrist
Your treatment team can help guide you in your medical care, and offer support and encouragement along the way.
It’s also helpful to connect with other people who have an eating disorder. Connecting with the eating disorder community can help you find resources and be a source for hope and inspiration.
In some cases, people with eating disorders need a higher level of care than their clinic or provider’s office can provide. If you need more day-to-day care, you may benefit from a day program or residential (overnight) program. Talk to your provider about whether these options are right for you.
If you think that you — or someone you care about — might have an eating disorder, help is always available. Here are some trusted confidential resources:
Other options include talking to a trusted family member, teacher, or friend. Many people also reach out to a professional who understands eating disorders, like a therapist.
If you think that you — or someone you care about — might have an eating disorder, help is always available. Here are some trusted confidential resources:
Other options include talking to a trusted family member, teacher, or friend. Many people also reach out to a professional who understands eating disorders, like a therapist.
Eating disorders are common. It’s likely that you will have a friend or family member that has one during their lifetime. And it can be hard to know how to help, especially since it can feel uncomfortable to talk to someone directly about their eating habits, weight, or body image.
Start by educating yourself about eating disorders, so that you can be a good source of support. You can also help by listening in an open, non-judgmental way, and by helping them find good medical care.
You can find more suggestions for talking to a loved one — and encouraging them to get help — on this resource page from the National Eating Disorders Association.
Eating disorders can affect people of all ages, but symptoms often start in teenagers and young adults. In a recent study of 806 people with eating disorders, about 75% of people with anorexia were younger than 22 when they first had symptoms, and about 83% of people with bulimia were younger than 24. Binge eating disorder also seems to start in the late teens to early 20s for many people.
Yes — though recovery is different for everyone. Your recovery may depend on the type of eating disorder you have, your age, and the treatment you receive.
Some people have eating disorder symptoms for many years, or experience other mental health symptoms. Others may recover for periods of time, but experience relapses (where their symptoms return for a while). And some people recover fully from their eating disorder, and do not have symptoms for the rest of their life.
Yes. Eating disorders are serious illnesses that can affect your mental and physical health. Just like other medical conditions, an untreated eating disorder can have health consequences — and can even lead to hospitalization or death.
Academy for Eating Disorders. (2020). Social & economic cost of eating disorders in the United States.
Aigner, M., et al. (2011). World federation of societies of biological psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of eating disorders. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry.
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