What Are the Symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa?

Anorexia nervosa is a psychological disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight, depressed mood, and self-imposed severe dietary restriction or refusal to eat—leading to significant weight loss, malnutrition, and an inability or unwillingness to maintain even a minimally healthy body weight.

In the early stages, individuals with anorexia nervosa do not necessarily experience severely diminished appetite; in fact, they may sometimes feel quite hungry. However, when it comes time to eat, they often feel unable to consume food—even small amounts may induce early satiety, abdominal distension, and bloating. Some patients report aversion to food upon seeing it, even when experiencing hunger, yet still force themselves to eat minimal amounts to obtain essential energy.

In early-stage anorexia nervosa, individuals may lose interest in foods they previously enjoyed and experience markedly reduced appetite. Even when forcing themselves to eat, they may develop nausea or vomiting—a highly unhealthy physiological response. Prolonged persistence of this state inflicts serious harm on the body. As the illness progresses, patients may develop edema due to weight loss, severe depletion of body fat, cold intolerance, and gastric coldness. Hormonal imbalances may ensue, resulting in hair thinning, reduced body hair, impaired cardiac function, bradycardia (abnormally slow heart rate), hypotension (low blood pressure), prolonged heart rate intervals, syncope (fainting), and, in severe cases, life-threatening complications.