Up to 24 million people of all ages and genders are suffering from an eating disorder and even more are being diagnosed every minute. There are three types of eating disorders, Anorexia-Nervosa (when people obsess about their weight/food intake resulting in a lack or loss of appetite for food), Bulimia-Nervosa (when people secretly binge and then purge in hopes to get rid of the extra calories), and Binge-eating (frequently consuming unusually large amounts of food at once). All three of these disorders are equally dangerous and found throughout the United States. Eating disorders are usually accompanied by other mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), mood disorders, and Borderline Personality Disorder.

Depression is the most commonly found mental illness associated with eating disorders. In some cases, people who are already dealing with Depression may look towards Anorexia, bulimia, or binge-eating as a distraction from their depressed state. In other cases, people who are already suffering from an eating disorder may become depressed from a negative body image and/or a low self-esteem. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders states, “Almost 50% of people with eating disorders meet the criteria for depression”. Both depression and eating disorders are dangerous alone, but when accompanying each other, they are even more dangerous and harder to recover from.

Anxiety and OCD are also mental illnesses that are often found accompanied with eating disorders. Sometimes individuals feel the need to turn to eating disorders because of a large amount of pressure they may be put under. They feel anxious and continuously worry, so having control of their eating habits is a way for them to deal with their anxieties. As with OCD; anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating all become a routine. After a certain amount of time, it becomes a habit and they continuously do their eating “routine” every day at the same time and obsess over it just like individuals with OCD would do with other things.

Mood disorders also appear in the midst of eating disorders quite frequently. Patients suffering from an eating disorder may begin to experience mood swings and occasionally anger issues as well. The frustration aroused from obsessing over food, weight, and body image for so long can lead to sudden outbursts of rage and tears even if that individual was just happy and smiling the minute before. If they originally had a mood disorder, it is quite common for them to now develop an eating disorder due to the unusual mood patterns and frustration they are experiencing.
Recently, researchers have found that the relationship between Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and eating disorders has received an increased amount of attention. A Borderline Personality Disorder is a mental health condition in which an individual has long-term, unstable emotions that often result in impulsive actions and chaotic relationships with people. The Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders stated, “Studies show that 25% to 54% of individuals with an eating disorder also meet the diagnostic criteria for BPD”. The co-occurrence of these two disorders may be cause by the individual’s inability to deal with negative emotions. These people have not only an unhealthy (sometimes fatal) eating disorder, but also a personality disorder that corrupts their thought process and plants bad emotions and behaviors into their mind.

Furthermore, eating disorders are extremely dangerous and when accompanied by other mental illness it can be more difficult to recover. Lorraine Savage states in Eating Disorders, “50%-75% of patients with Anorexia or Bulimia also have Depression and/or Anxiety.” (53). Over half of the patients have another mental illness accompanying their eating disorder and only a few percentage of that population has gotten treatment for both. If they do not receive treatment for either of their disorders, the disorders will only continue to worsen and become stronger resulting in it being harder to recover from it the future. Aside from the obvious physical appearance changes your body goes through when suffering through an eating disorder, there are also many internal changes that can permanently damage your body even after recovery from the disorder. Some examples of this are the following; heart disease, effects on fertility and pregnancy, effects on bones and growth, neurological problems, blood problems, and many more. Some may argue that only one treatment is needed when dealing with an eating disorder as well as another mental illness but this is not the case. It is very important for patients suffering with eating disorders to get checked for other mental illnesses as well, so that they can receive treatment for both. Getting rid of one will not eliminate the other, so it is urgent to notice these changes in behavior and do what is necessary to resolve the issue.