There are also other eating disorders that do not fit the full definition of anorexia or bulimia. While anorexia and bulimia may stem from similar personality characteristics, the psychological symptoms can be different. Anorexics tend to feel elated and initially in control, and believe they are greatly admired and envied by their friends. In fact, they often feel emotionally and physically drained. They experience many fears about gaining weight, and use much of their time and energy in their obsession about weight, eating, and exercise.
Anorexics often deny that they have a problem.
In contrast, bulimics tend to feel, at least initially, that they have the perfect weight control formula. They fear being discovered or observed while binging or purging, and they often feel significant guilt about what they are doing. People with bulimia often feel depressed, and may also feel moody, anxious, helpless, and frightened. In general, people with eating disorders are trying to feel in control. They are often preoccupied with the need to please others, and have a deep need to be loved, but may fear being loved and nurtured, or being sexually intimate.