In addition, two psychiatric eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia, are on the increase among teenage girls and young women and often run in families. In the United States, as many as 10 in 100 young women suffer from an eating disorder. These two eating disorders also occur in boys, but much less often. The child and adolescent psychiatrist is trained to evaluate, diagnose, and treat these psychiatric disorders which are characterized by a preoccupation with food and a distortion of body image.
Parents frequently ask how to identify symptoms of anorexia nervosa and bulimia.
Unfortunately, many teenagers successfully hide these serious and sometimes fatal disorders from their families for many months or years. At the same time, she suffers from low self-esteem, irrationally believing she is fat regardless of how thin she becomes. In a relentless pursuit to be thin, the girl starves herself. This often reaches the point of serious damage to the body, and in a small number of cases may lead to death. These binges may alternate with severe diets, resulting in dramatic weight fluctuations.