Do I Have an Eating Disorder? Thoughts from an Eating Disorder Therapist
If you're typing this into Google, you're probably not doing it casually.
Something feels off.
Maybe you're thinking: "I don't think it's that bad." Or "But I also don't think this is normal." Or "Other people struggle more than I do." Or my personal favorite, "Why can't I just get it together?"
First, take a little breath.
If your relationship with food is stressful, obsessive, secretive, compulsive, or filled with shame, that matters. You don't have to be underweight. You don't have to look sick. You don't have to be fainting or hospitalized.
The real question isn't "am I sick enough?"
It's this: Is this taking up too much space in my life?
What Actually Counts as an Eating Disorder?
Most people assume eating disorders are obvious. They're not.
Clinically, yes, there are diagnoses. Anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, ARFID, atypical anorexia. These are real categories, and they matter for treatment and insurance and all that. But what matters more than the label is this: are food and body thoughts running your day?
Are you skipping meals on purpose? Feeling out of control when you eat? Making up rules about what you can and can't have? Exercising to compensate? Avoiding social events because food will be there? Feeling intense guilt after eating?
You don't need all of these. You don't need the "classic" version. You need patterns plus distress. That's it.
Eating Disorder Symptoms People Don't Talk About Enough
When most people think about eating disorder warning signs, they picture someone who never eats or who's visibly struggling. But a lot of eating disorder symptoms are invisible.
You might look totally “fine” on the outside while your brain is screaming nonstop about calories, your body feels completely disconnected, and you're cycling through the same shame spiral after every meal. You might have what's called atypical anorexia, which is literally all the symptoms of anorexia without the underweight part.
Or, you might be dealing with binge eating disorder symptoms like eating large amounts rapidly, feeling out of control, and then drowning in shame afterward.
Bulimia symptoms can be hidden too. Purging doesn't always mean vomiting. It can be over-exercising, laxative use, or extreme restriction after eating. ARFID in adults often gets dismissed as "picky eating," but it's actually about fear or sensory overwhelm around food that genuinely limits what you can eat.
The point is, if you're constantly thinking "can I have an eating disorder?" or taking every eating disorder quiz you can find online, you're probably noticing something real.
"But I'm Not Underweight."
We hear this one constantly.
You can have an eating disorder at any weight. Full stop.
Many people who restrict heavily are not underweight. That doesn't make it less serious. It often makes it harder to get taken seriously. Weight is not a reliable measure of suffering.
If your mind is consumed, if your body feels dysregulated, if you feel trapped in cycles of restriction or bingeing, your weight does not disqualify you from needing help.
This is where the "am I sick enough" question comes in. And listen, if you're asking that question, you're already sick enough. You don't earn help by getting worse first.
Why Can't I Stop Thinking About Food?
This is one of those emotional search terms that shows up constantly because it's so confusing when you're in it. Why is food taking up so much mental space?
Here's what I see clinically. When food obsession takes over, it's usually not about food at all. It's about one of these things:
You've been restricting. Your body is not designed to tolerate chronic deprivation. At some point, biology overrides willpower. That rebound eating? That's not failure. That's survival. Your body is trying to keep you alive.
Food became regulation. If you grew up with emotional neglect, trauma, chaos, or pressure, food may have been one of the few reliable ways to soothe yourself. That makes sense. Your nervous system found something that worked. That's not weakness. That's adaptation.
Control feels safe. For a lot of people, restriction feels like control in a life that felt unpredictable. Especially if you learned early that staying in good graces meant managing yourself tightly. The compulsive eating or the rigid rules around food aren't random. They're protective.
Eating disorders are rarely just about food. They're usually about safety.
Why Do I Feel Out of Control Around Food?
This question breaks my heart because people carry so much shame about it.
Feeling out of control around food is not a character flaw. It's often a nervous system response.
If you're cycling between restriction and bingeing, that's not you being broken. That's what happens when your body gets the message that food is scarce and then suddenly has access. Your system panics and tries to stock up because it doesn't trust that food will be available consistently.
Or maybe you're using food to cope with overwhelm, loneliness, anxiety, or numbness. That's emotional eating, and it can absolutely slide into eating disorder territory when it becomes compulsive and filled with shame.
Here's the thing. Why can't I stop binge eating is a question that assumes you should be able to willpower your way out. But binge eating disorder symptoms aren't about willpower. They're about regulation. And regulation is something we can work on, but not by white-knuckling it.
Is It Just Disordered Eating?
Sometimes people minimize by saying, "It's just disordered eating."
Here's a simpler way to think about the difference between disordered eating vs eating disorder:
If it's occasional and not distressing, it's probably influenced by diet culture. We all live in a world that's weird about food. That impacts everyone to some degree.
If it's persistent, distressing, and interfering with your life, we're in eating disorder territory.
If you think about food constantly, structure your day around eating behaviors, avoid people because of meals, feel shame after almost every meal, or have intense fear of weight gain that dictates your choices, that's not casual… that's heavy.
Should I Take an Eating Disorder Quiz?
You can. There are screening tools online. They can help you reflect.
But they're not magic answers.
Click here to take our Free Disordered Eating Self Assessment.
If you're tempted to answer in a way that makes it seem "not that bad," that's information too. The part of you Googling "do I have an eating disorder" is probably already aware something isn't right.
When Is It Time to Get Help for an Eating Disorder?
You do not have to wait until things are extreme.
If food thoughts feel obsessive, if you feel out of control, if you feel ashamed all the time, if your body feels exhausted, if you keep cycling through the same patterns, that's enough.
You don't have to earn help by getting worse.
And honestly? Early intervention matters. The longer these patterns run, the more entrenched they become in your nervous system. Getting support now is not dramatic. It's smart.
What Eating Disorder Recovery Actually Looks Like
Recovery isn't just "eating normally."
It's learning how to regulate your nervous system without food. Untangling shame. Rebuilding trust with your body. Processing trauma if it's there. Letting go of rigid control slowly, safely.
It's messy. It's not linear. It's not aesthetic. But it's possible.
Eating disorder recovery often involves trauma-informed therapy because, again, these patterns are rarely just about food. Approaches like EMDR for eating disorders can help your body process the underlying stuff that's keeping you stuck. Somatic work helps you come back into your body instead of constantly trying to control or escape it.
If You're Still Unsure
If you're reading this thinking "It's not that bad" or "I should be able to fix this" or "Other people have it worse," I want you to hear this clearly:
If it's causing distress, it's valid. If it's consuming your mind, it's worth attention. If you're searching "do I have an eating disorder?" that search itself is information.
You don't have to wait for a crisis. You don't have to look a certain way. You don't have to prove you're sick enough.
You're allowed to want a peaceful relationship with food. And you're allowed to get support before it gets louder.
🧡,
If you're in Pennsylvania and struggling with food, body image, or eating disorder symptoms, let’ talk.
At Reclaim Therapy in Horsham, we specialize in trauma-informed eating disorder therapy using approaches like EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and Internal Family Systems. You don't have to have all the answers before reaching out. Schedule a consultation here and we'll figure it out together.