An eating disorder is an illness that consumes all aspects of a person's life. It is caused by a multitude of emotional factors and influences and has profound effects on the people suffering and their loved ones. There is a difference between dieting and an eating disorders. Dieting is about losing a small amount of weight and doing so healthfully, whether through exercise or a slightly modified diet that includes more nutritious foods. It is about losing weight so that how you feel on the outside will match how you feel on the inside. Eating disorders are about seeking approval from others. It is about extreme weight change without regard to what it does to the body. The whole self esteem is based on what you weigh and how you look.

There are many different types of eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa is defined as "a psychophysiological syndrome occurring...