What are the moods or emotions of an anorexic?

What are the moods or emotions of an anorexic?

Divya Kakaiya (Program Founder and Clinical Supervisor) gives expert video advice on: What are some of the physical symptoms of an anorexic?; What are some of the behaviors that an anorexic exhibits?; What are the moods or emotions of an anorexic? and more...

Lots and lots of denial. Anorexia is classically loaded with denial. Unless the person has been in illness for a long time, they can come around and they'll say, "I feel I'm really depressed, because I have this disease that just really doesn't go off my life, and I really cannot be able to do that much." Typically, denial is something that we'll see. Also, because of that denial they're able to maintain positive moods. The moods usually seen will be: "I'm on top of the world", "I have my game", "I feel good", "I'm in control", "don't mess with my food", "don't mess with my exercise", or "I'm okay." You'll see a very elated person that's happy about how things are going with them. They don't like it when professional providers, just like myself, come into the picture and trying to make a break into that denial. They're usually not too happy about that. Then it brings you down to some reality about the coping mechanism they use to deal with whatever going with their lives.