Without timely, professional treatment, anorexia can result in a number of negative long-term effects, including:

• Loss/interruption of periods in women
• Infertility in women
• Seizures
• Problems with bones, hair and teeth due to a lack of calcium and other vital nutrients within your diet. This could also lead to enduring physical health conditions such as osteoporosis
• Heart and kidney problems - this is due to a lack of vital nutrients and low calorie intake, which puts pressure on the heart
• Organ failure and subsequent death

• Having an overwhelming and irrational fear of putting on weight, and an unwillingness to put on weight
• Feeling as though you are fat, when other people say that you are thin. For example, thinking that certain parts of your body are too ‘fat’, even though you are underweight – this could also be a sign of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)
• Having an obsession with looking a certain way and striving for a certain body shape
• Spending a lot of time thinking about food, and feeling as though this has taken over your life
• Experiencing guilt and shame when you eat
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Self-harm
• Panic attacks
• Anxiety attacks
• Suicidal thoughts
• Anger, irritability and impatience – finding that you get angry for no reason and taking this out on those who are closest to you
• Mood swings
• Feeling tearful and emotionally tired – finding that you are crying more than usual and become emotional for no apparent reason
• Difficulty concentrating due a lack of energy
• Low self-esteem and a reduction in confidence
• Inability to make rational decisions
• Exacerbation of any existing mental health problems such as anxiety, depression or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

• Severe or significant weight loss over a short period of time
• Extreme tiredness and exhaustion due to starvation
• Sleep disturbances, including insomnia
• Dizziness
• Dry/yellowish skin
• Always feeling cold
• Heart palpitations and bradycardia (abnormally low heart rate)
• Dehydration
• Headaches
• Tooth decay, bad breath and scars on the knuckles as a result of induced vomiting
• Low blood pressure
• Constipation
• Abdominal pain
• Loss of sexual urges - this could be due to a lack of body confidence

• Limiting the amount that you eat and drink as a way of controlling calorie intake and body shape
• Obsessively counting calories
• Repeatedly weighing yourself
• Exercising more than normal in an attempt to burn off the calories that you have consumed
• Making yourself vomit after eating
• Taking laxatives or diuretics (medication that removes fluid from the body)
• Visiting pro-anorexia (pro-‘ana’) websites or social media platforms
• Carrying out certain rituals when you eat such as cutting your food into tiny pieces, eating using certain plates/cutlery, chewing a certain number of times, or chewing food and then spitting it out
• Obsessively checking food labels and weighing your food portions
• Having a list of foods that you won’t allow yourself to eat
• Denying that you have a problem, both to yourself and others
• Throwing food away and telling people that you have eaten it
• Making excuses for not eating such as “I’ve already eaten”, “I’m not hungry”, or “I don’t feel very well”
• Telling others that you are vegetarian or wheat/lactose intolerant so that you can eliminate more food and calories from your meals
• Minimising the impact of your low body weight on your health
• Telling people that they are making too much fuss about your eating habits
• Placing the blame for your unhealthy eating habits on other people or situations in your life, such as “I can’t eat because my job is so stressful”
• Wearing baggy clothes to conceal the extent of your weight loss
• Social withdrawal and isolation – not wanting to meet with family and friends, in order to avoid eating, or answering questions about your eating habits
• Reduced school or work performance

Below are some tips that you can use to help you to better manage and cope with the early signs of anorexia:

• Understand and admit that you have a problem – this is a crucial first step to beating the condition
• Accept that your eating behaviours are dangerous and will need to change in order to enable you to recover
• Accept help from family, friends and professionals, recognising that these individuals only want the best for you
• Surround yourself with positive influences and remove any temptations to relapse
• Make a step-by-step plan to conquering your anorexia with a health professional
• Be honest with yourself and your family and friends about your condition, and how you want to change