Body image & weight concerns
Fear of weight gain, feeling fat, and the degree to which shape or weight influences self-evaluation.
Clinical concern check
Eating Disorder Concerns Check
Check eating and body-image warning signs over the past 3 months with a symptom-focused assessment based on EDDS-5 items. Your plain-language result, concern areas, safety guidance, and next steps are free.
What this doesFocused self-checkTimeAbout 5–8 minutesPrivacyNo signupResultFree full result
Free full result18 symptom itemsAbout 5–8 minutesAdults 18+No signup
No weight or height entry · no account · no email · full basic result is free
Useful before signupSee the complete basic result first.
Privacy-conscious adaptationNo weight, height, highest weight, sex, or free-text story is requested.
Method visibleBased on freely available EDDS-5 symptom items 1–18.
Instrument registrySee source, adaptation and limitations →What you will do
Answer about the past 3 months.
The check covers body-image concerns, loss-of-control eating, behaviors used to counteract eating or weight gain, distressing night eating, and impact on daily life.
- The first eligibility question is not scored.
- Loss-of-control follow-up questions appear only when they apply.
- Frequency questions use a compact selector so the assessment stays usable on mobile.
- The result uses a transparent descriptive concern summary—not a hidden diagnostic algorithm.
What the check looks at
Six areas that can signal a need to look more closely.
Eating disorders can affect people of different body sizes, sexes, ages, and backgrounds. A person's appearance cannot tell you whether an eating disorder is present.
Loss-of-control eating
Episodes of unusually large eating accompanied by the feeling that you could not stop or control the amount eaten.
Binge-related features
Eating rapidly, eating until uncomfortably full, eating when not physically hungry, secrecy, guilt, and distress when loss-of-control eating is present.
Compensatory behaviors
Vomiting, laxative/diuretic use, fasting, or intense exercise used to counteract eating or weight gain.
Distressing night eating
Night-eating episodes that are experienced as distressing.
Daily-life impact
How much eating or body-image problems interfere with relationships, work, or school.
How the free result works
It tells you what showed up—without pretending to diagnose you.
The result identifies which of six concern areas crossed transparent development thresholds. That count is a DesperateMinds descriptive summary, not an official EDDS-5 diagnostic score or clinical cutoff.
The plain-language answer, all six areas, safety guidance, limitations, and next steps remain free.
Why a professional assessment can add more
Eating-disorder evaluation includes medical as well as psychological context.
A qualified clinician may need to consider physical health, changes in eating and weight over time, medications, other mental-health symptoms, and laboratory or medical findings. An online questionnaire cannot do that.
!
Some eating-disorder behaviors can become medically dangerous.
Forced vomiting, laxative misuse, severe restriction, and other eating-disorder behaviors can contribute to dehydration, electrolyte problems, and other serious complications. If you are medically unwell or in immediate danger, seek urgent medical care rather than relying on an online result.
Sources and instrument governance
Why we are using EDDS-5 cautiously.
- PhenX Toolkit — Eating Disorder Screener for DSM-5 (EDDS-5)
- 2024 EDDS-5 validation against SCID-5 in U.S. veterans
- NIMH — Eating disorders: signs, health consequences, and treatment
PhenX lists the EDDS-5 protocol as freely available with permission not required for use. Recent validation work found poor diagnostic sensitivity in a diverse veteran sample, so this development product does not present the EDDS-5 as a definitive online diagnostic tool. Independent qualified clinical review remains required before the service is offered.
Frequently asked questions
Before you use an eating-disorder concerns check
Does this tell me whether I have an eating disorder?
No. It highlights concern patterns that may be worth discussing. Diagnosis requires fuller clinical and often medical assessment.
Why don't you ask for my weight or BMI?
The full EDDS-5 includes weight, height, highest weight, sex, and age for diagnostic classification. This educational version intentionally omits those fields for privacy and does not run that diagnostic algorithm.
Can someone have an eating disorder at any body size?
Yes. Eating disorders can affect people at different body weights and appearances, and you cannot tell whether someone has an eating disorder simply by looking at them.
What if my result looks low but I am still worried?
Do not let a lower online result overrule a persistent concern. A qualified professional can evaluate symptoms that a brief check may miss.
Interpret the pattern carefully
An eating-disorder concern check cannot tell whether someone is “sick enough”
Eating disorders can occur at any body size, and medical risk is not reliably visible from appearance. A concern check is most useful for noticing patterns that deserve discussion, not for deciding whether a person qualifies for care.
| Concern area | Why follow-up may matter |
|---|---|
| Restriction | Rigid rules, skipped meals or fear around eating can become increasingly impairing. |
| Bingeing or loss of control | Frequency, distress, triggers and compensatory behavior all affect interpretation. |
| Compensatory behavior | Vomiting, fasting, medication misuse or compulsive exercise can carry medical risk. |
| Physical symptoms | Fainting, weakness, dehydration or heart symptoms require medical attention rather than more online screening. |
Use the result to describe what is happening and seek appropriate care when patterns are persistent, escalating or medically concerning. Read eating-disorder warning signs and help and disordered eating vs eating disorder.
What to do after an eating-disorder concern check
Write down the behaviors that worry you most, how often they occur, whether they are becoming more rigid or frequent, and any physical symptoms. You do not need to wait for weight loss or a high online score before asking for help.
Medical symptoms such as fainting, severe weakness, dehydration or heart concerns need medical assessment. For persistent eating-disorder patterns, seek a clinician with appropriate eating-disorder expertise where available.
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Assessment privacy and limits
No payment or email is required to complete this free screening experience. Results are educational and should not be treated as a diagnosis or substitute for professional assessment.