Learn what a typical Anorexia prognosis is at Consumer Reports Health.

Anorexia

What will happen to me?

If you or someone close to you has anorexia, you are probably wondering what may happen and if it's possible to recover.

The good news is that many people get over anorexia. But it's hard work. And it can take many months or even years.

You're much more likely to recover if you get professional help. To read more, see What treatments work for anorexia?

It's very hard to say for sure what will happen to you as an individual. Anorexia is a personal thing. Here are some of the ways it's different for different people.

Source:
American Psychiatric Association.
Eating disorders.
In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th edition. American Psychiatric Press, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.; 2000.

Your anorexia may last only a few months, and then you completely recover.
Your anorexia may come and go. You may gain weight for a while, only to lose it again later.
You may develop anorexia gradually, and it may stay with you for many years.
You may get worse quickly, until the illness becomes very serious. You can die from anorexia.

Here's what we know about anorexia from research studies.

About half of the people with anorexia recover.

Source:
American Psychiatric Association Work Group on Eating Disorders.
Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with eating disorders (revision).
American Journal of Psychiatry. 2000; 157 (supplement 1): S1-S39.

²

Source:
Herzog DB, Nussbaum KM, Marmor AK.
Comorbidity and outcome in eating disorders.
Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 1996; 19: 843-859.

³ This means they're able to stay at a healthy weight for their age and height, and if they're female, their periods start again.
But it's hard to recover from the other symptoms of anorexia. About two-thirds of people who've had anorexia never stop worrying about food and their weight. About 40 in 100 people who have had anorexia still binge on food and make themselves throw up from time to time.

Source:
American Psychiatric Association Work Group on Eating Disorders.
Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with eating disorders (revision).
American Journal of Psychiatry. 2000; 157 (supplement 1): S1-S39.

²
With time and treatment, you can understand and control the thoughts and feelings that go along with anorexia. This might mean you feel less guilty or feel happier with your body.
About 20 in 100 people who have anorexia do not get better. They stay underweight and their other symptoms don't get better either.

Source:
American Psychiatric Association Work Group on Eating Disorders.
Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with eating disorders (revision).
American Journal of Psychiatry. 2000; 157 (supplement 1): S1-S39.

²

Source:
Herzog DB, Nussbaum KM, Marmor AK.
Comorbidity and outcome in eating disorders.
Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 1996; 19: 843-859.

³
People with anorexia are more likely to be depressed than people who don't have anorexia.

Source:
Wentz E, Gillberg C, Gillberg IC, et al.
Ten-year follow-up of adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa: psychiatric disorders and overall functioning scales.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines. 2001; 42: 613-622.

⁴
Up to half the people who had anorexia as teenagers may still have problems in social situations when they become adults.

Source:
Wentz E, Gillberg C, Gillberg IC, et al.
Ten-year follow-up of adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa: psychiatric disorders and overall functioning scales.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines. 2001; 42: 613-622.

⁴
Recovery takes time. Two-thirds of people with eating disorders say they've been ill for between one and 15 years.

Source:
National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
Eating disorder info: general informmation.
Available at http://www.anad.org/22385/22406.html (accessed on 12 January 2009).

⁵
Some people die from anorexia. Each year, about 1 in 100 people who have this illness die from it.

Source:
American Psychiatric Association Work Group on Eating Disorders.
Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with eating disorders (revision).
American Journal of Psychiatry. 2000; 157 (supplement 1): S1-S39.

²

You have a better chance of getting better if:

Source:
American Psychiatric Association Work Group on Eating Disorders.
Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with eating disorders (revision).
American Journal of Psychiatry. 2000; 157 (supplement 1): S1-S39.

You are not severely underweight
You are young and have had anorexia only for a short while
You get treated soon after the anorexia starts
Treatment for anorexia has worked for you before
You have a good relationship with your family
You don't make yourself throw up.

Starving your body of food can be very harmful, especially if you've been doing it for a long time. See What anorexia can do to your body for more about this.

Making yourself vomit or taking laxatives to try to control your weight can be very harmful, too. For more information, see Problems caused by purging.

Sources for the information on this page:

American Psychiatric Association.Eating disorders.In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th edition. American Psychiatric Press, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.; 2000.

American Psychiatric Association Work Group on Eating Disorders.Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with eating disorders (revision).American Journal of Psychiatry. 2000; 157 (supplement 1): S1-S39.

Herzog DB, Nussbaum KM, Marmor AK.Comorbidity and outcome in eating disorders.Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 1996; 19: 843-859.

Wentz E, Gillberg C, Gillberg IC, et al.Ten-year follow-up of adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa: psychiatric disorders and overall functioning scales.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines. 2001; 42: 613-622.

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.Eating disorder info: general informmation.Available at http://www.anad.org/22385/22406.html (accessed on 12 January 2009).

This information was last updated on Feb 09, 2009

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