But there's not a lot of openness and awareness. Mortality statistics for those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, the most deadly of the three main types of eating disorders, vary from 6 to 18 percent. Roughly half are suicides. Roughly half of all anorexics develop bulimia, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Unlike anorexia, bulimia isn't necessarily accompanied by dramatic weight loss.
Bulimics can experience radical fluctuations in weight.
The condition typically is marked by binge eating and then purging the food by vomiting, using laxatives or exercising compulsively. Binge eating is a newly recognized condition in which a person overeats but doesn't vomit. You're in control, but you're really out of control. Local teachers say undernourished young people exhibiting symptoms of eating disorders have passed out in class. Some skip class, complaining about headaches and dizziness.