Crash Course Psychology #33: Eating and Body Dysmorphic Disorders

Define and distinguish the three main categories of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.

Identify psychological and social factors (such as need for control, perfectionism, and cultural/media influence) that contribute to eating disorders.

Explain how body dysmorphic disorder relates to obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Because this topic covers eating disorders and body image directly, review your school's guidance on sensitive-topic content and consider previewing the episode yourself before assigning it to a class.

Have students watch the linked video and answer the questions as homework, then use class time for discussion rather than re-explaining content already covered in the video.

Pair this worksheet with a broader unit on psychological disorders so students see eating and body dysmorphic disorders in the context of other conditions covered in the Crash Course Psychology series.

Note-taking from video — students extract specific facts (definitions, statistics, causal factors) from a psychology video to answer direct questions.

Psychological disorder classification — students distinguish between related but distinct conditions (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, body dysmorphic disorder) using their defining characteristics.

Explaining causation — several questions ask students to explain contributing factors (e.g., neurotransmitters, cultural influence) rather than just recall a definition.