# Eating Disorders and Typology



## veg_out

I was just wondering whether eating disorders such as bulimia, binge-eating disorder, anorexia, EDNOS, and compulsive eating are more prominent in NF types, who are always trying to better themselves, as opposed to others. 
And whether it is more prominent in J types, as they tend to be more perfectionistic.

So basically, if you have an eating disorder, or know someone who does, what type are you/they? 

Thanks guys. roud:


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## veg_out

I'm an INFJ and have had bulimia for three years. My best friend is an ISFJ and is the same. My mother is an INFJ and has binge eating problems. Anyone else follow the same kind of trend?


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## Staffan

No eating disorder here. It seems to relate more to gender than personality. But I have read that anorexia is related to social status, something that people I know and who get in contact with these people in their work has confirmed. Working class girls rarely get anorexia.


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## The Nth Doctor

I think it would have more to do with enneagram types.


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## dagnytaggart

Staffan said:


> No eating disorder here. It seems to relate more to gender than personality. But I have read that anorexia is related to social status, something that people I know and who get in contact with these people in their work has confirmed. Working class girls rarely get anorexia.


Not true. I'm kind of weird about food and eating now, only 100 lbs at 5'11. I used to be 125, until I went through a financially tight time... Then I figured, since I'm not able to afford much food, EVERY single thing I DO spend money on for food, WILL be healthy.

Of course, I went overboard with that, and here I am today, still stuck in that mindset, still underweight, despite being financially comfortable.


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## hylogenesis

I've had issues with food in the past that haven't completely resolved...in regards to the enneagram statement made by...doctor-professor-tardis-pilot up yonder *points up*, my tritype is something like 6w5 1w2 2w1...so...what I'm saying is that I agree and if you are collecting data, I've offered you a piece you might find useful.


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## Staffan

dagnytaggart said:


> Not true. I'm kind of weird about food and eating now, only 100 lbs at 5'11. I used to be 125, until I went through a financially tight time... Then I figured, since I'm not able to afford much food, EVERY single thing I DO spend money on for food, WILL be healthy.
> 
> Of course, I went overboard with that, and here I am today, still stuck in that mindset, still underweight, despite being financially comfortable.


What is not true? The relation to gender or social status? And why is it not true?


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## dagnytaggart

Staffan said:


> What is not true? The relation to gender or social status? And why is it not true?


The social status. Because temporarily being in a low socioeconomic status is what caused my eating oddities. But even more so, I'm sure that working class people are just as susceptible - they're just not going to see a doctor to go get diagnosed for it.


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## ThornyBones

Haha, I've had some issues with this like with seemingly everything. 

I'm nuerotic to the bone no doubt about it!
But no, I used to take protein supplements and I guess binge eat to try and gain weight because of how skinny I was and how often I was made fun of for being as such. I've come to accept myself more though now but I still find myself feeling quite often like a pencil necked nerd. Also whe I was a kid I went through a short lived period where I did gain weight and then felt horrible because of how fat I felt and subsequently tried to starve myself. Even though I was probably at a healthy weight...

But it's like how they describe anorexia as in how the mirror can lie. 
I found that to be true with me often times. I can't really ever look in the mirror objectively and can only ever really see my projected self hatred.

I don't know how it comes into play with being a INFP though...
I suppose being hypersensitive to criticism and being so far off from ideal societal standards that I felt a great deal of pressure and desire to try and mask who I was and just try to be normal...
I suppose i somehow though that there was this great magical path towards the possibly of just...not sticking out and even the possibly of being accepted. 

Sorry to hear about your struggles with bulimia btw


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## Staffan

dagnytaggart said:


> The social status. Because temporarily being in a low socioeconomic status is what caused my eating oddities. But even more so, I'm sure that working class people are just as susceptible - they're just not going to see a doctor to go get diagnosed for it.


The research on this seems to indicate a connection. One such study was done on all Swedes born between 1972 and 1982, almost one million individuals. And it is pretty hard to go undiagnosed in Sweden with a condition that is so visible. Other studies have used control groups to eliminate selection bias.


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## velvetoveralls

I had BED (binge eating disorder) for many, many years, and I'm an INFJ.


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## firedell

I don't think any mental disorder can be easily pin pointed based on your type.


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## Tad Cooper

I'm anorexic and recovering, but am most likely an ISTP so I don't see a link...


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## Margot Ellis

i was 13 when i became disordered (ednos into anorexia into exercise bulimia into ednos again). 
as an INFP i am sensitive, but have a hard time conveying my emotions to others. i attempted to change myself without telling anyone or requesting opinions because i was unsatisfied/mentally compared myself to everyone and thought there was something weird about my body that i could never really place, or convey to others. i also didn't want to be perceived as weak because of my poor self image. therapy helped me to get in touch with my emotions and "talk" to them, but now when i relay them to others they tell me that i've changed. i haven't changed much--i've simply stopped working so hard at pretending. talking about how i negatively i feel no longer is like some sort of moral sin, now that i know that it doesn't mean i'm demanding attention.


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## pretyhowtown

Way to "P" to develop an eating disorder. Not perfectionistic enough about my body... But I have an anorexic self-image and always have. I think I may have been on the verge of body dysmorphic disorder as a teen.


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## mastermind23

INTP/J and used to be anorexic. I know another girl who I suspect is an INFJ who was and still is struggling with anorexia, and use to struggle with bulimia.


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## ParetoCaretheStare

I'm a four and have had exercise-bulimia as well as borderline anorexia as a preteen. It's as bad as alcoholism, doesn't ever go away. Thinking about what to eat sometimes takes up most of my day. It's sick, and other people notice it when I'm working, and causes others to be self-conscious as well, which is one of the reasons I haven't been able to keep a steady job. No one wants to work with an unstable girl.


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## breadandbutter

I'm an INFJ and while I don't consider myself having an eating disorder, I had a phase where I would starve myself for a few months. This phase is over but if I'm honest I actually want it back and I still feel guilty when I've eaten too much or proud when I've eaten almost nothing for a day. The only thing that is keeping me from getting into it again is my next year's roommate who has an eating disorder, I feel like I brought her into it with my behavior and I want her to get better.

I don't think eating disorders are a type thing. And I've talked to some serious cases, they claim that they're nothing but their disorder anymore, so they technically don't even feel like they have a personality.


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## castigat

I've had... problems, at best. In comparison to the rest of you, I'm sure it'll seem like a grain of salt, haha. I spent a lot of my younger years with body dysmorphia, and in high school it just kind of ballooned so I became even more perfectionistic about calorie counts and food intake and went down to about 132 at 5'9". Still 'healthy,' but at that point I wasn't even menstruating.
Anyway, I'm an INFP (and I'm not sure if it matters) and constantly feel on the verge of relapse.


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## Staffan

Just read a study with further information about anorexia and social dominance. The study found a link between anorexia and high levels of testosterone (in women). Typically people of this kind respond to a threat against their social status more strongly than others. One way respond could be to lose weight. It would explain why anorectic women tend to be white and have a relatively high socio-economic status.


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## nottie

I'm ENFP 974, and I was anorexic at one point. It was, however, never my biggest issue. (Is it ever the biggest issue?)

I'd guess that there _might_ be some type-relation, but not a big trend and it'd be impossible to correctly measure that on PerC - aka INXXland - properly. I'd also put more stock in the enneagram.


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## DeductiveReasoner

I know several girls with eating disorders, and all of them were NFs. I actually considered making a thread similar to this one, because of my observations.


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## koalaroo

INTP, but 1w9-5w6-3w4 Enneagram tritype (triple competent type). I'm certain I have body dysmorphic disorder, and even at my thinnest I looked in the mirror and saw a "fat" person who was "unacceptable".


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## Lesley Drakken

I have the overeating habits associated with average-unhealthy 9s. Sometimes my repressed sense of self prevents me from feeling full and I just keep packing the food away.


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## Thalassa

I wonder if Ni and Si types are more likely to have eating disorders such as anorexia, because they would prize fixation of control, mind over matter. This just occurred to me as I was contemplating what sort of person thinks it's a good idea to shut themselves down in a hole for three days with no food, no water, and no light just to say they did have that level of mental and spiritual control. I realized the answer was Ni dom. Then I realized that both Ni and Si doms would both be highly likely to think it was badass to be able to train themselves not to eat, like it would be a point of pride for them, an exercise of the mind.

Does this mean that Pe doms are more likely to binge and purge, following their impulses and later regretting their impulses?

Then overeating I think could be a jolly Se adventure or a depressing Si repetitive pattern. I know that's biased of me to see it as a happier thing in Se types just enjoying food too much and Si types doing it sheerly out of habit, but seriously I've seen Si types do weird fucking shit with food that baffles. Like I know this old man who EATS THE SAME THING EVERY DAY. It's like, dude, that is _fucking disgusting,_even doctors tell you not to eat the same foods every day for nutritional reasons. He lives off of frozen pasta dinners, cereal, chocolate chip cookies and the occasional Subway sandwich. His sheer consumption of microwavable pasta seems enormously unhealthy, I would totally vomit from the sheer banality and overkill of the thing. I also have an obese ESFJ friend who cried, not because she couldn't have her favorite foods, but because she perceived being able to eat junk food and fast food as "being normal, like everybody else."


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## Danse Macabre

nottie said:


> I'm ENFP 974, and I was anorexic at one point. It was, however, never my biggest issue. (Is it ever the biggest issue?)


Anorexia seems like a symptom of another issue. That makes it sound less serious than it is, but I think that's the case. 

Usually it's because someone feels a lack of control. So that's not always a personality thing. 
That being said, to me Ne drives me insane. All of the possibilities I'm constantly thinking of.. and the calculating I'm doing of everyone and their actions and words and feelings... I find it overwhelming and terrifying. Cause I'm thinking of all of the possibilities and the future that _I have no control over. _That thought kind of paralyses me. I often feel like my mind is exploding O_O The only thing I feel like I can be certain of and feel in complete control over is my weight.
So for me: Eating Disorder = Super Ne not counterbalanced by any T + Depression + Anxiety

So I'm sure everyone has different reasons but to me, I think N is a deadly combo when it's with depression and low self esteem. I don't like to say that one type is more prone to something than others because generalisations are so annoying... but I think NFs definitely have a bit of a weakness to mental illness in general - or at least that's what the people on this site suggest.


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## 3053

I am a bulimic INFP :3


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## A_Small_Potatos_Mind

Staffan said:


> Just read a study with further information about anorexia and social dominance. The study found a link between anorexia and high levels of testosterone (in women). Typically people of this kind respond to a threat against their social status more strongly than others. One way respond could be to lose weight. It would explain why anorectic women tend to be white and have a relatively high socio-economic status.


Seems legit.

From an INFJ male standpoint I've never had any issues with my body. I do enjoy exercising for some reason, I have no clue where this comes from, but it has nothing to do with being a perfectionist...However, I tend to get ultra competitive when playing sports though. I guess I'm a douchebag?? :crazy:


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## Katriona1992

One of my INFP friends used to have anorexia. She was a teen model that eventually took it too far. Poor girl...I really felt for her especially since I knew she gets screamed at if she came in "overweight". As in, people who she worked for actually told her off for being 55kg (122 pounds) when she is 185cm (6'1)! That is disgusting imo and her "boss" should really be the one forced to lose that weight!

Imo, sports/fitness models > normal size 0 models all day, everyday.


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## Doll

INFJ, 4w3. I still struggle with anorexia, abuse of weight loss pills, and extreme calorie-limiting diets. You know something's wrong when you're counting calories in mouthwash. 

I associated being thin with being glamarous and being noticed; it was an obsession from my teenage years that spun out of control and resulted in a continuous struggle. It's not something you _ever_ completely get over.

The only other person I knew with an eating disorder was also a 4w3 (or 3w4). I don't know about a connection to MBTI.


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## Curiously

I'm an INFJ-5w4 and I had full-blown anorexia for two years in college. After getting through that, I have some disordered eating habits and I am certain I have body dysmorphia. I'll look at pictures of myself from a year to four months ago and notice that I was slender, if not outright skinny, but it's strange I didn't think I was thin enough back then and my mind would always remind myself that I could lose another 3-5 pounds. 

I grew up subscribing to high fashion magazines like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and W, so I guess I have this aesthetic eye bent on the haute couture model figure (minimal to non-existent curves, sharp edges got by protruding bones, etc). While I still appreciate that look, I'm also recognizing and noticing beauty in other shapes, seeing just how lovely curves are. Really, a healthy, well-functioning body is becoming much more attractive to me. Perhaps this is a subtle form of maturation on my end, I'm not sure, but I'm much less fixated on getting my body to look and be a certain way; I simply want to be healthy, inside and out.

I usually remain relatively mum on discussing my experience with disordered eating because it's something I feel a bit ashamed about, but I think this kind of disorder is insidious and given much more power than it deserves because so many suffering or affected by it remain silent and view it as a dirty little secret. Maybe I need to break my silence on it, and I thank others who have shared their own experiences on this matter. As corny as this sounds, I know I will recover from it because I'm starting to love who I really am more. I hope others will start recovering from their struggles, too.


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## milti

I don't know if I have an eating "disorder" as such, but I am a poor eater. I'm picky about what I eat at home (but when I go outside I'll eat normally) and have some odd eating behaviours. When I was a child (and even when I was in my teens) I would like eating things that are not... um... meant for eating. :tongue: 
Anyway, I've grown up with vegetarianism and I don't eat meat and rarely take egg either (I hate egg yolk!) I don't like having to bite/chew much. :tongue:

Not an eating disorder, then, but some worrying habits that my parents have tried for years to understand.
Oh, and I also have a ton of vitamin supplements because my immunity is poor and that's the only way I don't fall ill.

I'm an INFP.


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## Lesley Drakken

I've heard that type 9s often under or over eat because of the numbness we experience. It seems to fit me, I can eat and eat and not feel full. I also have a horrible comfort eating habit.


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## Up and Away

I don't really like eating.

I find that if I work out hard as crap, then my blood glucose gets low real quick as my muscles suck up the sugar from my cells, and then I have to rush to the kitchen and wolf down food lol.

Working out= forced eating.


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## deseauxs

I'm an ENFP, and while I didn't have a diagnosed disorder, I did definitely have some eating issues for about a year. I ate around one meal a day, and on some days, ate little to nothing. I counted all my calories, and admittedly tried making myself puke several times, though these attempts thankfully never worked out. I was very self-critical of my body, and I'm sure I had some body dysmorphia going on.


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## Kriash

When I was younger I had more bulimic tendencies, now I tend to compulsively eat. I am an INFP.
My cousin (who is like a brother to me) also had similar issues, especially when we were younger. He is also an INFP. Neither of our relationships with food have really improved, they've just morphed. Where my intake of food has rocketed up with no purging, his has almost completely diminished. I think part of the opposite paths we've taken has to do with the directions our lives have gone. My cousin switched his issue for heavy drug use, so I think we both are still on the road to trying to steady ourselves and get healthy.
I'm sure that although certain types may have some similarities in this, it really links back to the individuals internal issues and past experiences.


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## RaidenPrime

It is possible the NF types are more prone to developing self-image issues due to wanting to please others with their appearance. Or maybe they're just too harsh on their self/appearance, or dislike eating under stress.

Anyone can get these disorders though. I became anorexic when one of my best friends committed suicide, because of the extreme guilt I was going through (since I had felt responsible for it even though I wasn't). I'm recovering, though.


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## Staffan

omniblade said:


> It is possible the NF types are more prone to developing self-image issues due to wanting to please others with their appearance. Or maybe they're just too harsh on their self/appearance, or dislike eating under stress.
> 
> Anyone can get these disorders though. I became anorexic when one of my best friends committed suicide, because of the extreme guilt I was going through (since I had felt responsible for it even though I wasn't). I'm recovering, though.


While anyone can get them it seems like these disorders have a biological basis - straight guys rarely become anorectic. Anorexia is linked to perfectionism and according to new research also testosterone (in females) whereas bulimia is related to impulsivity and sensation seeking. But what psychologists call "strong situations" can also be a factor. The death of a friend is a major life event that can make anyone lose their balance.


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## Vianna

I am an INFP and had bulimia for 2years... I think anorexia would be more for J types, because of their typical selfcontrol. I stoped with bulimia and for almost 2 years I felt great and had no issues with food, but before this summer I loose some weight and I wasn't even on a diet, so it made me think about my body again and I wanted to loose some more. In the end I loose about 15lbs and until now I want to loose more 15lbs, but can't find enough will power to make it :-/ .


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## Tofs06

I'm an INFP and i guess that being one, I have perfectionist tendencies. I've been anorectic for 3 years until i felt the need for normality in life again. I dont know... i think there's something wrong with me. i mean i could normally go on a whole day without food and yet i dont feel in the leaast bit hungry. Why is that??


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## ParetoCaretheStare

INFP most likely...struggled with anorexia and exercise bulimia during my preteen years when The Atkins Diet came to be as well as America's Next Top Model. Being a preteen, I obviously found myself comparing my body to those girls (everyone watched that show, the name of our country was planted right into the name itself. So yes, I do blame the media, but eating disorders have been a part of human culture for centuries, whether we want to admit it or not. I think it's a form of natural genocide. Who is intelligent enough to understand that it's unhealthy? Who's depressed enough to not care enough and keep doing it because they choose to treat their body in such a way, and are more materialistic and focused on things rather than people who do love them? 

Idealism causes a lot of superficiality, which is one of the unfortunate parts of being an INFP. There's a lot of critical judgment involved in the way we perceive ourselves, due to the way others perceived us, and as a result it's how we are molded to perceive the world: in the same exact manner.


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## Worth Lessemo

I have had a pervasive history of disordered eating, just to put myself out there. I am better now, and have not had a problem for about a year and a half. Since then I realize that I have had some outside factors such as mental health and environment playing a role. In terms of your question though, typology, I would say that at my *social isolation (I)* and my *stubbornness for independence (J)* were big factors in making things pervasive. Also, as a whole *(INTJ) I was very very secretive*, so getting help was more challenging. It took longer and more energy had to go into being more open. Another point as *(INTJ) I did not care what others thought of me*, which allowed me to be underweight (look different) or have different extreme behaviours without questioning the system or social norms. *(N) I attracted intuitive*-low self esteem friendships for security during some low points, and that didn't help. 

Hopefully these points will be helpful and provide perspective on a different type. I think any type will have their different challenges. Personally I found that (T) thinking helped me get over it and move on. I think that rationalizing my behaviour was a huge protective factor over time as I intervened on myself.


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## Worth Lessemo

A good question to curve the discussion might be your type followed by the main fixation behind the disordered eating? Not everyone displays the same behaviour for the same reasons.

For example, I never once questioned my physical competence. I didn't think that I was fat.


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## mastermind23

> Personally I found that (T) thinking helped me get over it and move on. I think that rationalizing my behaviour was a huge protective factor over time as I intervened on myself.


Exactly what I think helped me get over it and never to go back to that state. Your story is very similar to mine @Worth Lessemo.



> A good question to curve the discussion might be your type followed by the main fixation behind the disordered eating? Not everyone displays the same behaviour for the same reasons.


For me it was actually wanting to differentiate myself from my enviroment (which I saw as reflecting many values I found negative and abhorrent and which I thought were externally manifested in people who lack self-control in both food, as well as, in other ways), also control (of course, a biggie), and wanting to move ahead in life and bring about some sort of a change (for my life was at a standstill losing its direction and purpose and things being quite muddled in terms of everything)...and I saw thinness bought by self-control of anorexia as emmulating a more desired version of me. Realized during time that change towards what you want to be and the respect you want bestowed upon you has to come from within, primarily, as generic as that sounds, and that me working on my self-esteem/respect is what is needed, and not the ED.


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## Haydn

Tofs06 said:


> I'm an INFP and i guess that being one, I have perfectionist tendencies. I've been anorectic for 3 years until i felt the need for normality in life again. I dont know... i think there's something wrong with me. i mean i could normally go on a whole day without food and yet i dont feel in the leaast bit hungry. Why is that??


I do not know much about anorexia but it certainly is fascinating to an overeater. I can do the whole day without food and not feel hunger thing too and I have wondered about that as well. The less I eat, the less I want to eat. I hardly ever feel hunger even if I do not eat much but I am generally an overeater because I like food for the sensation effects (probably Se inferior related) and I comfort eat as well. I am never going to be an anorexic in this life...I am more likely to need a Jerry Springer style intervention where they have to knock down a wall to get me out of the house because I got so obese. Thankfully, I am a natural hourglass mesomorph who exercises vigorously nearly daily and that, so far, is keeping my weight steady despite the excessive eating. 

I often wonder if anorexics all had over controlling/over involved or overprotective parents?


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## Worth Lessemo

@ Haydn, I don't think parents have too much of a factor. But, then again, self esteem as a nervous system is trained over a history of psychosocial encounters. Who and what you surround yourself with really does matter sometimes. 

When I got out of my childhood I ended up dating an model, and that did not help very much. It probably hurt just as much as it felt good in a physical-prowess kind of way.

I would say having strong protective factors, something you can articulate as resiliency, helps fortify self esteem when it suffers from ordinary wear and tear. Also bigger blows. I had to be creative in coming up with things while in a relationship, and that really took patience.


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## Birdonawire

I am an ISTJ, enneagram type 1 I think and I have struggled with disordered eating and body dysmorphic issues since around age 13. I was diagnosed as anorexic at 15. I think a lot of it had to do with being surrounded by other perfectionists as friends. I always felt I wasn't as smart as a lot if them but being thin and pretty was something to possibly get over on them.


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## Danse Macabre

Worth Lessemo said:


> =In terms of your question though, typology, I would say that at my *social isolation (I)* and my *stubbornness for independence (J)* were big factors in making things pervasive. Also, as a whole *(INTJ) I was very very secretive*, so getting help was more challenging. It took longer and more energy had to go into being more open. Another point as *(INTJ) I did not care what others thought of me*, which allowed me to be underweight (look different) or have different extreme behaviours without questioning the system or social norms. *(N) I attracted intuitive*-low self esteem friendships for security during some low points, and that didn't help.
> 
> Hopefully these points will be helpful and provide perspective on a different type. I think any type will have their different challenges. Personally I found that (T) thinking helped me get over it and move on. I think that rationalizing my behaviour was a huge protective factor over time as I intervened on myself.


I think that the characteristics you mention are present in most, if not all people with eating disorders. Mine made me secretive, and I am so closed off even I don't know how I feel 95% of the time. I didn't care that my behaviours were weird and didn't harshly judge myself. Only now looking back do I think "Well actually, that was pretty freaking strange"... but I don't feel embarrassed or regret it. 

A motivation for me to lose weight was so people would leave me alone. Like, maybe they'd see me and think "Woah she's fucked" and not talk to me. And I didn't and haven't made friendships with people since I've been sick. I've only pushed people away. 

I'm in inpatient treatment for my eating disorder right now and what I've noticed in all of us girls is extreme perfectionism, obsessive tendencies, anxiety (not tied to the ED), and most of all, the feeling that other people's needs and feelings are more important than their own. 

Like you say though each different type has will have difference challenges and I think that although the characteristics and causes for the ED are not very related to type, the reasons for recovery are. For me, I need to believe that my life has purpose and that it's worth me living. I need to feel like I'm having a positive impact on the world and value myself. That's a very NFfy thing, I think.


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## Worth Lessemo

Danse Macabre said:


> I think that the characteristics you mention are present in most, if not all people with eating disorders. Mine made me secretive, and I am so closed off even I don't know how I feel 95% of the time. I didn't care that my behaviours were weird and didn't harshly judge myself. Only now looking back do I think "Well actually, that was pretty freaking strange"... but I don't feel embarrassed or regret it.
> 
> A motivation for me to lose weight was so people would leave me alone. Like, maybe they'd see me and think "Woah she's fucked" and not talk to me. And I didn't and haven't made friendships with people since I've been sick. I've only pushed people away.
> 
> I'm in inpatient treatment for my eating disorder right now and what I've noticed in all of us girls is extreme perfectionism, obsessive tendencies, anxiety (not tied to the ED), and most of all, the feeling that other people's needs and feelings are more important than their own.
> 
> Like you say though each different type has will have difference challenges and I think that although the characteristics and causes for the ED are not very related to type, the reasons for recovery are. For me, I need to believe that my life has purpose and that it's worth me living. I need to feel like I'm having a positive impact on the world and value myself. That's a very NFfy thing, I think.


This was powerful. Thanks for sharing. 

Its actually really hard to look back on mental health issues and disseminate between factors like environment and personality. I know perfectionism is a trait in itself. It's hard to work with. 

I know that putting other people's causes, values, and needs first was something I got better with my purging the idea that there was much value in it at all. I think (Te) that I cross examined a lot of the things I was putting before myself with rules, criteria, and filters. When my own friends started breaking their own respect for themselves, mostly by contradiction, it made it easier to move on and find (construct) a new value system. I'm kind of a bitch now ha! But, still I try to examine in myself the "threshold" that needs to be met in value-incompetence before I need to call it (whatever I'm putting my needs second for) quits; that threshold is usually far too high.


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## Worth Lessemo

I reread and see myself as a workaholic, perhaps.


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## Danse Macabre

Worth Lessemo said:


> I think (Te) that I cross examined a lot of the things I was putting before myself with rules, criteria, and filters. When my own friends started breaking their own respect for themselves, mostly by contradiction, it made it easier to move on and find (construct) a new value system. I'm kind of a bitch now ha! But, still I try to examine in myself the "threshold" that needs to be met in value-incompetence before I need to call it (whatever I'm putting my needs second for) quits; that threshold is usually far too high.


That's an interesting thought. I put other people's needs above their own because they value their lives and I don't value mine. However, if I think about it, my purpose in life is to help others and theirs are often a lot more selfish... which would make my life more useful than theirs. 

Ok I'm not sure if that made sense or not as I'm a little benzo-ified. But that is definitely an interesting thought...


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## Senny

ISTJ/6w5- Borderline anorexia; mostly because I don't like the "full" feeling you get when you eat. I am also really picky about what I will eat, so that probably doesn't help.


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## DomNapoleon

Just a little clarification: eating disorders have nothing to do with personality types. Eating disorders are triggered by mental problems: they are the outcome of a disorder/flaw/malfunction of your personality (in place of being a trait of your self) and since the person can't overcome they natural, it must search for outside help. Pathological illness isn't object of typology.


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## Dauntless

mastermind23 said:


> INTP/J and used to be anorexic. I know another girl who I suspect is an INFJ who was and still is struggling with anorexia, and use to struggle with bulimia.



I'm. INFJ, I came very close to anorexia


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## basementbugs

Very belated post here, but it's about 5.30 am and I'm bored and should be sleeping (which I'm obviously not doing ), and I've just returned to PerC after disappearing for quite a number of months, so I'm obsessively looking through stuff I've missed. Haha.

Anyway. I'm 28, an INFP and Type Four (4w5, 5w4, 1w9, sp/sx), and I've struggled with a really severe eating disorder for 13+ years now. Other mental health stuff as well (OCD, major depression, anxiety, social anxiety, panic attacks, BPD, and suspected -- but not yet diagnosed -- ADD), but the eating disorder has been my biggest hurdle and the thing that's wreaked the most havoc in my life. There's been a lot of permanent damage done to my body, unfortunately. I'm not sure I ever see myself recovering fully... but I would like to have a bit more of a life beyond this. An eating disorder is a living hell.

I must say, understanding more about my personality (as well as other factors in my life) has certainly made me realise how "perfect" a candidate I was for developing an ED. Seems kinda like I was just a ticking time bomb...


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## ENFyay

It all depends what you use your NF or J functions for I guess.

NF could lead to anorexia because you'd always want to look slimmer, BUT NF could also lead to just eating really healthy overall because you want to live as long and healthy as possible!

Same with J, J-people like to stick to routines, this may cause people have a hard time breaking bad food habits but on the other hand it could cause people to be religious about a very healthy diet!


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## Danse Macabre

ENFyay said:


> NF could lead to anorexia because you'd always want to look slimmer, BUT NF could also lead to just eating really healthy overall because you want to live as long and healthy as possible!
> 
> Same with J, J-people like to stick to routines, this may cause people have a hard time breaking bad food habits but on the other hand it could cause people to be religious about a very healthy diet!


Anorexia isn't driven by wanting to look a certain way, it's the sufferer's desperate attempt to control their lives in the most basic and fundamental way possible. 

Since getting anorexia, I am extremely obsessed with routine around food. I'm not a routine person but anorexia makes you completely obsessive and compulsive, habits are set in stone and flexibility is not an option.


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## ENFyay

Danse Macabre said:


> Anorexia isn't driven by wanting to look a certain way, it's the sufferer's desperate attempt to control their lives in the most basic and fundamental way possible.
> 
> Since getting anorexia, I am extremely obsessed with routine around food. I'm not a routine person but anorexia makes you completely obsessive and compulsive, habits are set in stone and flexibility is not an option.


Okay, you obviously know much more about it than I do, so forgive my flawed thinking, but don't you think that by having a judgemental personality you'd be more inclined to get anorexia in the first place, because you want to be in control of things?


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## Danse Macabre

ENFyay said:


> Okay, you obviously know much more about it than I do, so forgive my flawed thinking, but don't you think that by having a judgemental personality you'd be more inclined to get anorexia in the first place, because you want to be in control of things?


Hmmm.. I'm not sure. I think that it's not so much driven by a need for control as it is driven by life circumstances that make the person feel out of control. That might sound like it's the same thing but it's really not. The "out of control" feeling that drives someone to develop an eating disorder is often caused by feeling used and abused by other people, like our feelings and thoughts aren't considered or valued, that we don't deserve what other people deserve and that we'll never be good enough. 

Because I've been hospitalised a few times for my anorexia I know a lot of people with it, and what we all seem to have in common is:
- Unstable family lives
- More often than not, abuse
- Perfectionists 
- High Achievers 
- Low self worth or esteem 
- Depression and/or anxiety
- Gymnasts or dancers as children

Personality/mbti wise you can't really pick any common themes. It's all the above stuff.


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## ENFyay

Danse Macabre said:


> Hmmm.. I'm not sure. I think that it's not so much driven by a need for control as it is driven by life circumstances that make the person feel out of control. That might sound like it's the same thing but it's really not. The "out of control" feeling that drives someone to develop an eating disorder is often caused by feeling used and abused by other people, like our feelings and thoughts aren't considered or valued, that we don't deserve what other people deserve and that we'll never be good enough.
> 
> Because I've been hospitalised a few times for my anorexia I know a lot of people with it, and what we all seem to have in common is:
> - Unstable family lives
> - More often than not, abuse
> - Perfectionists
> - High Achievers
> - Low self worth or esteem
> - Depression and/or anxiety
> - Gymnasts or dancers as children
> 
> Personality/mbti wise you can't really pick any common themes. It's all the above stuff.


I suppose that's really true. The problem that I usually see with self esteem issues is that you keep making up imperfections about yourself no matter how unrealistic they are. You can be unhappy and insecure about your hair, skin, body, it just doesn't seem to matter.. I've found with both friends and myself that when people are insecure, they always seem to make up all kinds of insecurities (mostly appearance-wise) about themselves that are a hundred times as bad in their view as they are in the eyes of other people.

For example, some people are unhappy about their skin, go to a dermatologist and get the problem fixed, but shortly after they find something new that they don't like about themselves and it just keeps repeating itsself all the time.


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## LadyO.W.BernieBro

l did struggle with one, fortunately it was never bad enough for me to be professionally treated though more than once my weight was mentioned by a doctor and l was questioned about it.

l can't explain what really caused me to overcome it, and l don't want to sound arrogant. My last major episode was around 23.

Having an obsessive personality usually goes hand in hand, thought the obsession can have different motivations. l was honestly more self-obsessed. Not really obsessed with societal standards or external things. l was truly obsessed with myself, and also not dealing with deeper personal issues.

l will say, though,l'm still on the fence about my type but when l was in the grips of ED, l was VERY, very Fi. Extremely. Otherwise l'm pretty rational and also was before l developed ED(around 13). l may be ENFP who fell into the grips of Fi.

l was driven by feeling misunderstood and "different", mostly. l didn't realize how adolescent my personal behavior and thought process was for a long time, and even when l did, it still took a awhile to really break out of. 

My behavior became more withdrawn, l wouldn't say that actually made me an introvert though.

For me personally, l was so obsessive that it's the first thing you would have noticed, The Fi was so deep within, it wasn't really visible. So l may have even appeared like an INTJ.

Anyway, disordered eating ad anorexic behavior can and does exist among all the types, l would say a few specific types are more likely to develop life-long issues with it though.

l would have to second the previous ENFP poster, somehow, as bad as it got, it never became my entire life. l had a friend with it and we developed this sick codependent relationship, but she was worse than me and most likely ISFJ or INFJ.

So l'm note sure, maybe introverts or J types, or especially IxxJ will be come more consumed by it.


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## basementbugs

I honestly see my eating disorder reflected more in my Enneagram type than I do in my MBTI type, I think. (And like others have mentioned, any personality type can develop an eating disorder, of course.) I'm 100% sure I'm an INFP, but I'm also one of those people who's been 100% immersed in my disorder, which has been very severe at times, for many many years now. My Enneagram (4w5, 5w4, 1w9) is where I see my eating disorder more... the interplay of the 4w5 and 1w9 are quite prominent, I'd say.


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