Please note that EDAM is not a treatment provider for those with eating disorders, or a crisis response resource, and this website is not meant to replace treatment. Please use our Providers tab to connect with a therapist, dietician, medical professional, or program.
Because recognizing and getting help early is so crucial, we urge you to do so as soon as you notice the behaviors or thoughts below. Even if you feel in control of your eating or thoughts about your body, if they are getting in the way of daily living, school or work performance, or relationships, seeking help now could give you the best chance of recovery.
Significantly restricting your food for the purpose of losing weight.
Spending a lot of time thinking about food, eating or weight, so that it gets in the way of doing things you’d normally do.
Thinking constantly about how you should look or what you should weigh that is hard to set aside or change.
Having very rigid expectations for weight or clothing size that don’t allow for normal and fluctuating weight and size changes.
Having high anxiety or feeling very depressed about gaining weight or looking the way you do.
Hearing others frequently say you’re thin, but perceiving that you are heavy.
Binging—meaning eating large amounts until you are feeling very over-filled, together with an out-of-control feeling.
Losing more than 15% of your usual body weight in a short period of time.
Signals to get medical help immediately:
Vomiting on purpose, exercising, taking laxatives, or doing other things that are meant to compensate for calories you’ve eaten.
Feeling faint or dizzy, passing out, having heart palpitations, or feeling weak after a long period of not eating or limiting your eating.
Noticing new fine, downy hair growth on your face and other body areas, feeling frequently cold.
Noticing that you are no longer menstruating.
Feeling suicidal, hopeless, or out of control due to your eating or weight.
