CATEGORY A: FEELINGS

1. Are you a type A, or a perfectionist or overachiever?
2. Do you do things to please people and have a hard time saying no?
3. Do you second guess or question your judgements or actions?
4. Do you hide your feelings for fear of being judged negatively?
5. Do people come to you with their problems and are you considered “the strong one” who everyone will come to with problems, and/or you never seem to talk much about your own?
6. Do you think life would be better and/or people would like you more if you were thin/thinner?
7. Do you feel down , hopeless , angry often and /or feel tired with lack of motivation?
8. Do you have trouble sleeping?
9. Have you ever been diagnosed with clinical depression, attentive deficit disorder, manic depression, bipolar II disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, or dissociative identity disorder, or any other psychological/neurological illness?

SECTION B : ACTIONS

“PURGING” IS DEFINED AS ANY BEHAVIOR USED TO TRY TO RID THE BODY OF FOOD (AND SOMETIMES FEELINGS) – THIS INCLUDES SELF-INDUCED VOMITING, RESTRICTION AND STARVATION OR FASTING PERIODS AFTER BINGING, COMPULSIVELY EXERCISING, TAKING LAXATIVES OR DIURETICS, ETC.

1. Do you restrict your food intake, binge and /or purge and/or compulsively exercise when you are feeling lonely, badly about yourself or about a situation, or when you are feeling emotional pressures?
2. While eating, self-starving, or binging and/or purging do you feel better like you are in control?
3. Do you feel guilty following a binge and/or purge episode, after eating or during and/or after periods of restriction/self-starvation?
4. When eating do you ever feel out of control or like you will lose control and not be able to stop; and/or do you try to avoid eating because of this fear?
5. Do you drink a lot of water, tea or coffee, eat a lot of candy or junk food and/or gum, smoke, and/or take caffeine pills as an attempt to control appetite and/or feel more energetic?
6. Do you weigh yourself often and does the number on the scale change your mood and/or how you feel for the day?
7. Do you abuse alcohol, drugs or prescription medication, and/or practice in self-hurting behavior such as cutting?
8. Are you constantly “on a diet”, and/or counting calories and fat grams; and/or do you feel like you’ve tried every “fad diet” or “lose weight quick” scheme?
9. Do you set weight-goals for yourself only to find when you reach it that you want to lose more?
10. Do you lie about your eating behaviors, hide them from others at all costs, and/or would you lie or steal to see they could continue?
11. Do you Compulsively Overeat (eat even if you are not hungry)
12. Do you chew your food and then spit it out?
13. Are you temperature sensitive (always feel cold or hot), and/or do you get tingling in you extremities (hands and feet)?
14. Do you find that you bruise easily, have a very high tolerance for pain, and/or you are extremely noise sensitive (even only slightly loud noises irritate you).
15. Do you suffer any of the following: heart palpitations and/or chest pains; fainting spells, blackouts or dizziness; chronic lower back pain, headaches or lightheadedness, tingling in arms or legs, numbness in face or other parts of the body, joint pain, excitability, mood swings, hyperactivity; low blood pressure and/or body temperature or escalated blood pressure or cholesterol; and/or chronically sick with cold or flu symptoms
16. Do you suffer any of the following: disruption in menstrual cycle and/or irregularity, infertility, decreased sex drive, irritability; lack of ability to concentrate, blurred vision; kidney and/or urinary tract infections; sore throats, dental problems; stomach cramping, blood in stools or vomit, diarrhea, constipation and/or incontinence (loss of bowel control); insomnia, fatigue, and/or anxiety or depression?

It isn’t just your body fat that gets lost, it’s your muscle and bone, and brain tissue, too. Anorectics have empty spaces that show up on brain scans where they have literally lost brain weight.

If you answered yes to 8 or more questions you are at high risk of an eating disorder.  Call to get help now 613-829-7100