Is it possible to be anorexic but not be doing it on purpose?

Answer 1

Certainly. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by a distorted body image, low body weight, and an obsesive fear of gaining weight. One characteristic of most disease-related obsessions is that the obsessed one often does not recognize the obsession, but believes he or she is applying a valid view of reality. While others may suspect anorexia nervosa in a freind or acquaintance, it is possible that other causes are at work. Such suspicions should be referred to experts for complete diagnosis. Non-experts acting on such suspicions can be as damaging as the suspected disease in some cases.

Answer 2

Most eating disorders don't start out that way, so yes, it is possible. Usually, a person with an eating disorder just wants to lose a few pounds, but that isn't enough, so they want to lose a few more. By the time you realize you have an eating disorder, you've lost a drastic amount of weight. Another scenerio is a situation that I'm very familiar with; when I was in high school, I was on ADD medication for a short period of time. I didn't like being a jittery during the day, so I stopped taking it about 3 months after starting. I didn't realize that I had stopped eating breakfast and usually didn't eat lunch. When I stopped taking the medicine, my eating habits stayed the same. Then I got a part time job and started working from 4-10, 5 nights a week. In about 5 months total I had lost 70 pounds. I didn't even realize how bad I looked until after graduation and I went back to a normal weight, when I was looking at prom pictures. I wasn't meaning to be (basically) anorexic, I wasn't even trying to lose weight-it just kind of happened. But everything is normal now.