WeightLess
Borderline Anorexia
Although it is not an official diagnosis, there are an increasing number of young people who struggle with Borderline Anorexia. People who have what I am calling Borderline Anorexia are people who live on the edge of full-blown anorexia, without actually crossing that line. They maintain a very low weight but are not yet emaciated, and thus, they are conceiveably able to go "undetected" by parents, doctors and others. Often friends will know that the person is under-feeding their body and walking right on the edge of serious thinness, all the while maintaining some sort of intense control in which they attempt to avoid a diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa. Yet these people are very much "anorexic" in their eating habits, thinking, self-criticism, and physical health. People struggling with this flirtatious relationship with anorexia will and can suffer physically.
By under-feeding the body for long peroids of time, they risk chronic lower immune system functioning, permanent bone loss, infertility, dental problems, weakened muscle tissue, and an increased risk of suffering many ailments that they would not otherwise succum to. Due to the bone loss and weakened health, people with Borderline Anorexia behaviors are at a highly increased risk for fractures, sprains and broken bones. In other words, in a car accident someone with Borderline Anorexia would suffer much more serious damage than someone their same age who was not chronically under-feeding their body.
In addition to health risks, people with these Borderline Anorexia behaviors are also suffering psychologically. As in classic Anorexia, these people have a varity of psychological woes, such as: very low self-esteem, high & constant self-criticism, perfectionism (when one demands perfection from oneself), depression, anxiety, social isolation, harsh self-judgement, and, in general, a loss of the ability to enjoy things (anhedonia).
Of course, people with Borderline Anorexia behaviors are at an extremely high risk for full-blown Anorexia Nervosa. Because their bodies are already weakened, more severe disordered eating (including Bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder) can seriously threaten their health and well-being. Also, living on the edge of Anorexia greatly diminshes one's quality of life. People with Borderline Anorexia may also be in "recovery" from a recent bout with Anorexia Nervosa, and though they may be able to fool some professionals, ultimately, they are hurting themselves and depriving themselves (and their bodies) of a better quality life.
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