What is the difference between anorexia and bulimia

The social and media demand that we have about how our body should look so that it is "perfect", that is, so that meet the standard of beauty that advertising and consumerism have invented and imposed on us, he has resulted in grave problems with our self-esteem and our own acceptance.

These problems turn into frustrations and insecurities because of the way we perceive our body, but at other times they end in serious eating disorders. The best known are anorexia and bulimia and they are quite different. Learn about the difference between anorexia and bulimia and detect their symptoms.

What are eating disorders?

Eating disorders or eating disorders They are extreme manifestations of emotional disorders that originate in our social, psychological and biological environment, since it is a body self-image distorted, excessive fear of weight gain and volume change in the body due to an image or established beauty standard to which we have given more values. The most famous of these diseases are anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN).

There is a difference between anorexia and bulimia, but the two share psychological factors typical of an eating disorder: low self-esteem, difficulty in perceiving and accepting oneself, low ability to cope with problems and frustration. People with this problem are overly critical of their body and have a high desire for perfectionism that is never achievable.

If to all this we add the demands of society and publicity for the cult of a totally slim body And the values ​​of beauty, superiority, happiness and success that are associated with it, you have the inevitable mix for an eating disorder.

Most worryingly, the numbers of people suffering from anorexia and bulimia continue to rise, especially in adolescents. This is the age at which we build our identity, with women especially being the most affected in a ratio of 10 to 1 compared to men.

• Related article: "35 'body positive' phrases to love yourself and your body”

Difference between anorexia and bulimia

While these two eating disorders are characterized by a rejection or fear of body weight, they manifest in two completely different ways. Here we explain the difference between anorexia and bulimia.

Anorexy

When we talk about anorexia nervosa we refer to those people who have a total fear and rejection of weight gain, so they practice self-starvation (self-denying meals) as a weight loss mechanism, terribly affecting the Health; weight loss becomes an obsession and it brings metabolic, renal, cardiovascular and dermatological complications.

This weight loss occurs abruptly, leaving the person below healthy lows in a short time. There are those who stop eating completely, but it may also be that they eat very little, consuming only a few foods and water, for which the body does not receive any nutrients. In the most extreme cases, people with it can use laxatives to lose weight even faster.

The most worrying thing about this condition is that despite having reached the lower limits of weight, these people cannot see how thin they are. On the contrary, when they are in front of the mirror they still think that they have to lose more weight, due to the distorted self-image they have and that makes them suffer emotionally as well. We see this eating disorder especially in adolescent women, but more and more adult women are beginning to suffer from it.

Bulimia

The main difference between anorexia and bulimia is that although in both we find a obsession with keeping weight down, people with bulimia eat, unlike people with anorexia who suffer from self-starvation or eat very little.

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder in which people have cyclical moments of binge eating in which they eat food out of control. Then they compensate for these excesses with purges so as not to gain weight, such as vomiting, excessive hours of exercise, abuse of laxatives and even eating again in many hours can be restricted.

People with bulimia also have a extreme fixation on your body image, but in this case the weight loss is slower and does not become noticeable abruptly, due to the binge eating they have.

A big difference between anorexia and bulimia is that, in general, people with anorexia nervosa have histories of eating disorders such as obesity in their family. In the case of people with bulimia, these are unmet emotional needs that they try to satisfy with uncontrolled food intake, which must then be eliminated to maintain weight.

Anxiety, sadness and depression are common factors in people who suffer from anorexia and bulimia.

• Related article: "8 signs of depression you might be ignoring”

Symptoms and consequences of eating disorders

As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, eating disorders are the result of a long list of symptoms of different types. These symptoms, rather than being different between anorexia and bulimia, are rather shared by the two diseases to a greater or lesser extent and we can divide them into three groups: psychological, behavioral and emotional

Psychological symptoms include obsession with weight and excessive fear of gaining weight; negative thoughts about diet, body image, and weight; distortion in one's own body image; diminished creative and concentration abilities, and abstraction in thoughts.

From behavior, symptoms include restrictive diets or binge eating, refusal of certain foods, use of extreme methods to eliminate consumed foods such as taking laxatives or making yourself vomit, obsessive-compulsive behaviors and social isolation.

On an emotional level, the symptoms are depression, anxiety, deep sadness, phobias and in some cases suicidal ideas.

Now that you know the difference between anorexia and bulimia, its causes and its devastating consequences, ask for help if you, a family member or your friends may be suffering from any of these diseases. There are many assistance centers that you can go to in your city.

• Related article: "How to love yourself? 6 tips for self-love”

Bibliographic references

• Apfeldorfer, G. (2009). Anorexia, bulimia, obesity. Mexico DF: XXI century.
• Escursell, R. M. R. (2017). Anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders. Madrid: Pyramid Editions.