![\"Dear](\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/new-dear-bella.png\" "\\"Dear")
I am a 13-year-old and I think I have an eating disorder because I make myself sick after every meal I eat.<\/p>\nI am a 13-year-old and I think I have an eating disorder because I make myself sick after every meal I eat.<\/p>\n
My parents don’t know anything about it this and I am very afraid to tell them.<\/p>\n
My friend told me to see a counselor about it but I just don’t feel comfortable telling some stranger my problem.<\/p>\n
I presently weigh 95 pounds and I am 5-ft,3-in tall. I know this is underweight for my age and height but I am scared to eat.<\/p>\n
I have always been a picky eater since I was eight years old and the problem just got worse.<\/p>\n
I once tried committing suicide, because of bullying in school.<\/p>\n
Please help, I don’t know what to do.<\/p>\n
Scared<\/strong><\/p>\n —————————————————————————————————————————————-<\/p>\n Dear Scared,<\/p>\n It is difficult to know if you have a diagnosable eating disorder. Whether or not you have an eating disorder would be best determined by having a psychiatric evaluation.<\/p>\n It does seem as though you may be struggling with disordered eating. I define disordered eating as having an abnormal relationship with food. Your inability to control your behavior around food would qualify as disordered eating.<\/p>\n My recommendation is first you talk to your parents and to consult a therapist. I\u2019m suggesting therapy for several reasons. The first is to determine if you have a mental health disorder. A therapist can evaluate your symptoms and determine if you match the clinical criteria for an eating disorder diagnosis.<\/p>\n Secondly, a therapist can assist you in developing the necessary skills to control your behavior towards food.<\/p>\n You need to address this problem as soon as you possibly can before it can have destructive effects on your body.<\/p>\n Bella<\/strong><\/p>\n Have a problem? Write to Dear Bella at dominicanewsonline@gmail.com. Dear Bella is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. All letters are subject to editing and the editor has the right to not publish an article if it does not meet the company\u2019s editorial standards. Also, the advice given is not necessarily expert advice, and is basically an opinion, therefore we accept no liability that result from giving any opinion. As such we encourage you to seek the advice of a professional counselor<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I am a 13-year-old and I think I have an eating disorder because I make myself sick after every meal I eat. My parents don’t know anything about it this and I am very afraid to tell them. My friend…","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":55632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dear-bella"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n