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Anorexia
Nervosa

Understanding anorexia nervosa

Eating disorders affect over one million Australians, and anorexia nervosa is among the most complex. It’s important to know that anorexia is not a choice — it’s a serious mental illness that impacts every aspect of life, including your physical health, emotions, and relationships.

Within the group of people experiencing anorexia nervosa, 80% are female, though it can affect anyone regardless of gender, age, or background.

If you’re reading this page, you may be trying to understand what you or someone you care about is going through. Recognising what’s happening is an important first step, and seeking support early can significantly improve the prospects of recovery.

Recognising the signs

Anorexia often begins with subtle changes in behaviour and mindset. Knowing what to look for can help you understand when it might be time to reach out for support.

Early warning signs

  • Dramatic, unexplained weight loss over a short period
  • Restrictive eating patterns, including calorie counting and meticulous meal planning
  • Developing elaborate excuses to avoid eating meals or social gatherings involving food
  • An intense, persistent fear of gaining weight, even when underweight
  • Excessive preoccupation with body weight, size, and food intake
  • Becoming increasingly critical of your appearance, even when others see you as thin

Physical symptoms

  • Noticeable thinning of hair, brittle nails, and pale complexion
  • Feeling cold all the time due to slowed metabolism and decreased body fat
  • Low energy, fatigue, and muscle weakness
  • Digestive problems, constipation, and bloating due to inadequate nutrition

Emotional symptoms

  • Persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or heightened anxiety about food, body image, and self-worth
  • Withdrawing from social situations, particularly those involving food
  • Intrusive, obsessive thoughts about food, weight, and body shape that dominate your thinking
  • Striving for unattainable standards of appearance and performance

Understanding the causes

Anorexia develops from a complex mix of psychological, environmental, and societal factors. Understanding these influences can help make sense of why this is happening — and importantly, help you see that it’s not your fault.

Psychological factors

  • Low self-esteem: Feelings of inadequacy and a negative self-image can fuel the desire to achieve a certain body shape as a way to boost self-esteem and gain a sense of control
  • Body dysmorphia: A distorted perception of your body shape and size, often causing you to see yourself as overweight even when objectively underweight
  • Obsessive-compulsive traits: Perfectionistic and ritualistic behaviours related to food, exercise, and body image
  • Emotional regulation: Using restrictive eating behaviours to cope with overwhelming emotions such as stress, anxiety, or sadness

Societal and cultural influences

  • Thin idealisation: Widespread portrayal of an unrealistic "thin ideal" in media and fashion promotes the belief that thinness equates to beauty and success
  • Social media impact: Filtered images and curated lifestyles can intensify body image concerns and perpetuate comparison with others
  • Peer pressure: A desire to fit in and conform to societal beauty standards can lead to adopting extreme dieting practices
  • Diet culture: Pervasive dieting messages and weight loss trends can normalise restrictive eating and fuel disordered eating patterns
  • Family dynamics: Dysfunctional family dynamics, including high levels of control or criticism, can contribute to the development of anorexia as a way to gain a sense of control and self-worth

Types of anorexia

Anorexia nervosa

This is the most recognised form, marked by a relentless pursuit of extreme thinness, often accompanied by a distorted body image. Common characteristics include:
  • Significant weight loss, often leading to being underweight
  • Intense, irrational fear of gaining weight or becoming "fat"
  • Distorted perception of body size and shape, seeing yourself as larger than you actually are
  • Extreme limitations on food intake, often involving calorie counting and avoidance of certain food groups
  • A compulsive need to engage in excessive physical activity to burn calories
  • Self-worth and self-esteem tied to achieving and maintaining a specific low weight

Atypical anorexia

Atypical anorexia presents a unique challenge because it doesn’t match the stereotypical image of extreme thinness. You might have a weight within or above the normal range, which can lead others — and even yourself — to underestimate what you’re going through.

Despite not meeting the low-weight criterion, individuals with atypical anorexia still experience the same psychological and behavioural symptoms, disordered eating patterns, and psychological distress. It can also lead to severe health consequences, including cardiovascular issues and bone health problems.

Both forms of anorexia require attention, understanding, and specialised treatment to address the underlying causes and support recovery.

When to seek help

If you recognise these patterns in yourself or someone you care about, it may be time to reach out for support.

Behavioural indicators

  • Obsessive focus on portion sizes, caloric intake, and rigid dietary rules
  • Regularly skipping meals or making excuses to avoid eating with others
  • Compulsive, relentless exercise routines to burn calories and control weight
  • Withdrawing from social events involving food
  • Concealing food or other habits related to disordered eating
  • Wearing oversized clothing to conceal weight loss and body shape
  • Engaging in elaborate rituals around eating, such as cutting food into tiny pieces or rearranging it on the plate
  • Visible distress or anxiety around meals

Red flags in body image and eating patterns

  • Expressing dissatisfaction with your body despite being underweight or extremely thin
  • Consistently using negative language when referring to your appearance, weight, or body shape
  • Frequent comparison of yourself to others, particularly those perceived as thin
  • Making weight loss a primary goal and measuring self-worth based on achieving or maintaining low weight
  • Developing rigid eating routines, avoiding certain foods, or insisting on specific eating rituals
  • Drastically cutting out entire food groups without any medical necessity
  • Expressing fear or anxiety around consuming particular foods due to their perceived impact on weight

Treatment at Wandi Nerida

Recovery from anorexia nervosa is absolutely possible. At Wandi Nerida, we provide specialised residential care that addresses the physical, psychological, and emotional aspects of the disorder in a supportive, home-like environment.

Our approach

Our multidisciplinary team — including psychiatrists, psychologists, dietitians, and medical doctors — work together to create a treatment plan tailored to your unique needs. We closely monitor your health, provide evidence-based therapies, and offer guidance to help you rebuild a healthy relationship with food.

Rather than prioritising short-term medical stabilisation in a clinical and time-limited way, we emphasise intensive psychotherapeutic, holistic, and person-centred support, along with practical skills for life beyond treatment.

Therapeutic approaches

We use evidence-based therapies to address the distorted thought patterns and behaviours associated with anorexia:

  • Cognitive-behavioural therapy for eating disorders (CBT-E): Helps you recognise and challenge negative beliefs about body image and food, promoting healthier coping mechanisms and self-perception
  • Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT): Particularly effective for individuals with co-occurring emotional dysregulation, equipping you with coping skills to manage distress and regulate emotions constructively
Nutritional rehabilitation

Our Accredited Practicing Dietitians support a non-diet, weight-neutral approach to treatment. This means that rather than focusing on weight targets and weight change during treatment, the primary dietetic goal is providing nutrition to support medical stabilisation and nutritional rehabilitation to address clinical malnutrition. We also focus on behaviour change to support a more positive relationship with food and eating. 

Medical management
Prolonged malnutrition and severe weight loss can lead to serious health complications, including electrolyte imbalances, cardiac abnormalities, bone density loss, gastrointestinal problems, and hormonal disturbances. Our medical professionals monitor and manage these throughout your treatment, conducting regular medical assessments, pathology tests, and physical examinations to track your health and identify any emerging concerns.
The value of lived experience
Many of our staff have their own lived experience of an eating disorder. This creates an environment of genuine understanding and empathy, establishing an immediate sense of rapport that extends beyond traditional clinical methods. They offer tangible proof that recovery is possible, providing you with hope and a pragmatic outlook on your own journey.

Recovery is possible

At Wandi Nerida, we believe recovery from anorexia is a reality — we’ve seen it time and again. Our approach goes beyond immediate symptom management to address the root causes and build lasting change.

Through evidence-based therapies, counselling, and ongoing support, we help you develop healthier coping mechanisms and the tools to recognise triggers, manage stress, and navigate challenges with confidence.

Our discharge planning involves your community team, and we provide post-discharge follow-up to support your continued progress. We celebrate every success and remain committed to fostering hope and healing.

Take the next step

If you or someone you care about is struggling with anorexia, know that you’re not alone and help is available. Seeking professional support is an important step on the path to recovery.
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