Some personality types are more vulnerable to eating disorders than others. There may be genetic predisposition for anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive. There is a strong correlation between obsessive-compulsive, social anxiety and eating disorder. People with eating disorders tend to be perfectionist. These traits are not necessarily bad, it is how you use them in life, McGill said.
Anorexics see the world as black and white, and no shades of gray.
Everything is either good or bad, a success or a failure, fat or thin. I think it is great to always want something better, but I think if you make yourself feel miserable because you do not achieve a certain ideal that is probably not even achievable is tragedy, McGill added. Some people with eating disorders say they feel smothered in their families. Others feel abandoned, misunderstood, and alone. Parents who overvalue physical appearance can inadvertently contribute to an eating disorder.