Anorexia Nervosa

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I read recently that it is more common for autistic people to have that eating disorder. I just wanted to know what percentage of may have eating disorders.

Currently I believe they might be mistaking the symptoms of malnutrion for symptoms of autism. Rather than there actually being a real link. But I've had a bit of a mingle in the past with "dieting addiction" a more suited term for my particular situation.

So what are your thoughts?

I had anorexia on and off for a long time. During the most intense period, it was very much an all consuming obsession, where I got great comfort from writing out all the numbers, adding things up, making lists, reading reams of nutritional information... to me, I can see the connection, when it is at that sort of obsessional level. I have also read a few articles that suggested as many as 20% of anorexic females could be classed as being on the spectrum

I'm not sure what the rates for the general autistic population are, but I currently have a diagnosed eating disorder.

I have very bad atitudes about food, i am quite fixated on getting fat (im underweight) and tend to feel very guilty after eating unhealthy food, I miss a lot of meals because I just don't care much for eating.

I was diagnosed with anorexia several years ago, but it's in remission now. While malnourised, I was definitely more obsessive and less social.

I also have a poor attitude to food. I don't eat enough every day and get confused about whether I'm hungry or not. I have been through times where I have eaten almost nothing for days through a combination of physical and mental discomfort about eating. I know I have to and I do try to, but just thinking about how I'm going to get enough food in me each day causes me to worry more. I also want to excersise, but not to lose weight - to try to help make me tired and less tense, but then I worry that I'm using even more calories and still not really taking in enough.

I tend to be more able to eat food later in the day, but then I am thinking about lying in bed, trying to allow myself to sleep, but potentially having too much food inside me. I want to eat healthy foods, but I also want to eat anything just to feel better that I have eaten. However, I am bad at preparing food for myself - anything that requires more preparation than a Pop Tart can put me off. Thinking of which, I should probably put one of those on now.

I am very underweight (which I think might have more to do with my fast metabolism than a small appetite), and I've actually had feelings that I was getting fat, or that I would end up getting fat as I grew older. However, these fears haven't really affected my eating patterns. Though I do somewhat have the fear of getting fat, I don't think it would be enough to formally diagnose me as anorexic.

I dont think that an NT with anorexia could be mistaken to be autistic as autism is something your born with not something you develop later in life. You would develop autistic traits before you started starving yourself.

I've never been diagnosed with anorexia but I've lived with it on and off. When I was a teenager I only allowed myself 100 calories a day at one point, mainly eating instant mash potato and mushrooms which have nearly any calories. I somehow still managed to function but my parents were still extremely worried. My mother took me to the doctor but all he said was being a teenager was hard and if I was feeling down I should talk to someone.

I'm a lot more healthy now but the thought of getting fat terrifies me. Having children has made me a lot more sensible with food too. You need a lot of energy to care for and have fun with them. I do still forget to eat sometimes but having to cook for other people makes it less likely.

I'll eat more when I'm stress and I think I might have hypoglycemia but other than that I never had a real issue regarding eating. I do have those occasions when I just don't eat. I notice that whenever I am on painkillers due to my period, I will barely eat at all and prefer to preserve my current energy through sleep instead. I have attempted diets in the past but not successfully. If I'm lucky, I'll find myself cutting back and eating more natural and low calorie foods without even realizing it but then again I like to walk and stim alot so that takes the edge off.

It could be my aspie nature but I never understood the concept of anorexia and how someone can be so obsessed with being skinny even after they've gone beyond the point of skin and bones. Common sense would dictate that there's a certain point you want to get to weight-wise and should be maintained once you get there. Common sense would also dictate that if your ribs start showing, you've gone a bit too far. I just never got this about people at all.

If all teenagers were expected to be super skinny at their age the cafeterias at school would only serve you a leaf of lettuce. This is not the case as teenagers bodywise are still developing and anorexia and other thinning disorders only hinder that. Teenagers are poorly educated on the concept of what a real diet consist of and whether you're skinny, average weight, or fat really is just the luck of the draw by nature. There's no real way to determine or control what your natural body size will be, in my opinion.

I think for most people with anorexia is not so much about being skinny, but more of a coping mechanism. If you feel your life is totally out of control then you control the one thing which other people cant - your weight. Its ultimatly your decision what does and doesn't go into your body. A lot of autistic people can often feel their life is out of control as they cant quite seem to fit in however much they try and suffer from low self esteem, and loosing weight could be seen as a way of improving oneself. Theres a lot more psycology to it than just wanting to be thin.
Theres a good explanation here:
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/anorexi ... atment.htm

I was at a loss to pick the right option.

I have never wanted to be skinny or tried to diet to lose weight, much less taken it to the extreme that anorexics do. I've never used food for comfort either, or really attached any strong emotions to what I eat. Occasionally I eat chocolate when I want comfort, but much less than most NT women I've known.

However, sensory issues and executive dysfunction tend to make me undereat, and it's a chronic struggle to make sure I eat enough. I don't feel hunger normally - I get vague stomach pains, but actually have less desire to eat when I'm hungry. I mostly recognize when I need to eat by when I start feeling dizzy and out of it (hypoglycemic). And executive dysfunction means that I have no idea what time it is and get wrapped up in doing things and forget to stop for meals. And when I do stop for meals, I can't think of what to eat.

I usually cope by having a package of meal replacements (Ensure, Boost, etc) and if I can't think of anything else to eat I drink one of those. But if I lived alone I'd probably starve.

I could see autistics getting misdiagnosed with anorexia if someone thought they were deliberately acting that way when they couldn't help it.

You're right. Eating Disorders are addictions, and addictions are never about what the person is addicted to. It's about the feelings behind the actions.

Well I have no issue with eating........but sometimes I don't really have an appetite because of depression and anxiety so it can be hard for me to eat even if I am hungry. For instance If I am hungry and planning to eat but then something sets off my anxiety then the thought of eating will become nauseating. But yeah I don't think I need to lose weight or anything like that........either way I think I am a bit underweight.

I never had issues with food, I am skinny mainly due to consistent working out and genetics. I do want to stay skinny but I love food way too much to give it up or try to starve myself. I knew a these twin girls in HS which later I highly suspected were AS. They fit a lot of female aspie stereotypes. These girls were very skinny, I thought they had eating disorders. They would eat but eat very little. People would occationally take concern for the fact that they were soo skinny but they justified it as that is the way they naturally are. I really dont know, but they looked unhealthy skinny. With me at least, u can tell Im healthy skinny, Im on the low end of normal weight range. These girls were like 88lbs and 5'3.

It's a mental illness. No sane person would starve themselves to be skinny or think of themselves as fat when they're not nor even think people look great if they are skin and bones. No sane person be afraid to eat and fear they will get fat.

I think the problem is is society. They are so hung up on "thin" and have you ever noticed in magazines like seventeen how perfect their bodies are and in celebrity magazines, they do pages like worst and best looking bodies. It's a way to make people feel bad about themselves. It was also the way schools were teaching health to their students. I have heard that schools have found a better way of teaching it to students so they won't get eating disorders. I think the way they were teaching it was making students paranoid about getting fat so they start to eat healthy, do exercises, and they over do it and start to get obsessed about their bodies. They just get so afraid food becomes their enemy.

Also fashion companies say a size ten is fat and the average size in America is a size 14. In Hollywood if you don't wear a size 0, you're fat. So all these celebrities are pressured to be thin so they starve themselves. I am sure that also makes non celebrities feel bad about themselves so they develop an eating disorder.


I don't get skin and bones either and why people would want to look that way. But in their mind, they are still fat. That's why it's a mental illness. It's like a delusion they have. they look at themselves and in the mirror and see a fat person while the rest of us see a person who is literally dying and malnutrition and she is skin and bones and looks ugly. But yet it bugs me to see online when I see people write how some people try and fish for compliments by saying they are fat when they're not and that they're doing it to make others feel bad. Hello, don't they realize that person could have an eating disorder so they probably do think they're fat? I can't believe the ignorance out there on eating disorders. Goodness I wonder how many people out there thought this is what I was doing when I went through it. I was never skin and bones of course but people have always told me I was very skinny and too thin but I just saw I was fat and needed to lose more weight. Even how I looked in the photos, I didn't look skinny. So all I can say to these posts is suggest that person could have an eating disorder and explain to them that people with it see themselves as fat and don't think they're skinny at all. They are also not doing it to make others feel bad. I always hope that will cut that ignorance out of them so they would stop making that assumption.

I have had anorexia in the past. It truly is an awful thing and I wouldn't wish it upon anyway. I wouldn't say I have any problems with food now, though.