Sufferers dare not let people get too close to them in case their real self, which they dislike, is discovered. They cannot tolerate any disruption of their rigid daily routine, which often includes long periods of physical exercise designed to keep weight down, fixed eating times, and carefully hidden arrangements for bingeing and purging. Shared meals and social occasions are shunned for fear of exposing the problem. For the same reason, sufferers will often reject offers of help. All this leads to increased social isolation.
Some sufferers become extremely thrifty, only buying what can be justified as an absolute necessity.
Some, just as with overeating, may overspend, and get into debt. In addition to social isolation, the victims suffer from self disgust, guilt and shame, fear of change, and feelings of inadequacy and rejection. They are lonely, desperate and depressed, and may consider suicide as the only way to end the nightmare. Sufferers of both Anorexia and Bulimia need to realise that they have a serious problem, and require encouragement to take personal responsibility in seeking help. They must learn to accept their strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures, as part of a balance leading to a normal happy existence.