An eating disorder can qualify as a disability in Canada when its psychological or physical effects prevent you from working safely, consistently and reliably.
Eating disorders are serious medical conditions that can affect concentration, judgment, energy, strength, mood and physical health. Treatment appointments, meal support and periods of medical stabilization may also make regular employment difficult.
A diagnosis alone does not automatically qualify you for disability benefits. Your insurer must consider your symptoms, treatment, related medical conditions and whether you can sustain your actual job duties over time.
If your short-term or long-term disability claim has been denied or cut off, the disability lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP can review the insurer’s decision during a free consultation.
On This Page:
- Are Eating Disorders Disabilities?
- Types of Eating Disorders
- How Eating Disorders Affect Work
- Disability Benefits
- Proving Your Claim
- Why Claims Are Denied
- Frequently Asked Questions
Is an Eating Disorder Considered a Disability?
Yes. An eating disorder can be considered a disability when its symptoms substantially limit your ability to work or complete important daily activities.
Potentially disabling effects may include:
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Severe fatigue, weakness or reduced stamina
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Difficulty concentrating, remembering information or making decisions
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Anxiety, depression or obsessive thoughts
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Dizziness, faintness or poor balance
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Heart, digestive or electrolyte complications
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Sleep disruption and mood instability
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Recurring absences for treatment or medical monitoring
Is an Eating Disorder a Permanent Disability?
An eating disorder may be long-term or recurring, but its symptoms and effect on employment can change with treatment.
You do not have to prove that you will never recover or return to work. You may qualify for disability benefits for as long as your condition prevents you from working under the terms of your insurance policy.
Can a Relapsing Eating Disorder Be a Disability?
Yes. Recovery may include periods of improvement followed by a return or worsening of symptoms.
A brief period of stabilization does not necessarily establish that you can immediately resume full-time work without risking another decline.
What Eating Disorders Can Qualify for Disability Benefits?
Any diagnosed eating disorder may support a disability claim when its psychological or physical effects prevent reliable employment.
Is Anorexia a Disability?
Anorexia nervosa can qualify as a disability when restricted eating, psychological symptoms or related medical complications prevent you from working.
Anorexia may cause muscle weakness, fatigue, low blood pressure, slowed heart rate, difficulty concentrating and sensitivity to cold.
Persistent thoughts about food, weight or body image may also interfere with attention, decision-making and the ability to complete normal daily activities.
The insurer should not rely on appearance alone. A person may experience significant psychological and functional limitations even when the insurer believes their weight has improved or stabilized.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia involves recurring cycles of binge eating followed by attempts to compensate, which may include vomiting, restricting food, over-exercising or using laxatives or diuretics.
Potential complications include dehydration, digestive problems and electrolyte imbalances. Episodes may also cause shame, distress, exhaustion and difficulty maintaining a predictable work schedule.
Binge-Eating Disorder
Binge-eating disorder involves recurring episodes of eating unusually large amounts while feeling unable to control the behaviour.
The condition may cause significant distress, anxiety, depression, sleep problems and difficulty concentrating. The insurer should assess the psychological and functional effects rather than make assumptions based on body size.
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders
Some people experience serious eating-disorder symptoms without meeting every diagnostic criterion for anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating disorder.
An insurer should consider the actual symptoms, medical complications and work limitations rather than deny a claim because the diagnosis is less familiar.
How Can an Eating Disorder Affect Your Ability to Work?
Eating disorders can affect physical, office, professional, customer-facing and safety-sensitive occupations.
Fatigue and Physical Weakness
Inadequate nutrition, dehydration or other medical complications may cause fatigue, dizziness, weakness and reduced stamina.
These symptoms may interfere with walking, lifting, standing or completing a full shift. They may also make driving, machinery or work at heights unsafe.
Concentration and Decision-Making
Obsessive thoughts, anxiety, depression and inadequate nutrition may affect concentration, memory and judgment.
These limitations can interfere with detailed work, deadlines, professional decisions and communication with clients or coworkers.
Attendance and Treatment
Treatment may involve frequent appointments with doctors, therapists, dietitians or specialized eating-disorder programs.
Some people require residential care, day treatment or hospitalization. Others may be medically unable to work while establishing regular nutrition and addressing serious complications.
Workplace Triggers
Workplace stress, irregular shifts, missed meals, appearance-focused environments and comments about food or weight may aggravate symptoms.
Depending on medical advice and the job, possible accommodations may include a consistent schedule, protected meal breaks, time for treatment, reduced duties or a gradual return to work.
Accommodation may not be enough when your symptoms remain severe or unpredictable.
Can You Get Disability Benefits for an Eating Disorder?
You may qualify for disability benefits when an eating disorder and its related conditions prevent you from performing your occupation.
Short-Term Disability Benefits
Short-term disability benefits for mental health conditions may replace part of your income while you participate in treatment, stabilize medically or remain temporarily unable to work.
Long-Term Disability Benefits
Long-term disability benefits may become available when your limitations continue beyond the short-term disability period.
Many LTD policies initially consider whether you can perform your own occupation. Later, the insurer may assess whether you can perform another suitable occupation.
The insurer should consider whether your physical health, concentration, attendance requirements and treatment schedule allow you to sustain another job reliably.
CPP Disability Benefits
You may qualify for CPP Disability benefits if your eating disorder and complete medical condition regularly prevent substantially gainful work.
Your disability must generally be long-term or indefinite, and you must have made enough valid CPP contributions.
Disability Tax Credit
An eating-disorder diagnosis does not automatically qualify for the Disability Tax Credit.
A person may potentially qualify through severe and prolonged limitations in mental functions necessary for everyday life or through the cumulative effect of significant limitations in multiple eligible categories.
The CRA also has a feeding category, but it is not simply a test of appetite, food restriction or whether someone has an eating disorder. It generally considers whether the person can prepare food or feed themselves and whether the restriction meets the CRA’s severity, frequency and duration requirements.
How Do You Prove an Eating Disorder Disability Claim?
A strong claim should document both the psychological and physical effects of the condition.
Helpful evidence may include:
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Records from your family doctor, psychiatrist or psychologist
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Reports from an eating-disorder specialist or treatment program
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Dietitian and therapist records
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Bloodwork, vital signs and other medical investigations
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Emergency-room or hospitalization records
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Specific cognitive, physical, attendance and safety restrictions
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A detailed description of your occupational duties
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Failed accommodations or return-to-work attempts
Explain More Than Weight or Laboratory Results
Weight, bloodwork and vital signs may provide important evidence without fully measuring your ability to work.
Medical records should also explain anxiety, obsessive thoughts, concentration difficulties, fatigue, treatment demands and the risk of deterioration.
Address Related Medical Conditions
Eating disorders may exist alongside depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder or other medical complications.
The insurer should consider your complete medical condition rather than assessing each symptom in isolation.
Document Your Treatment Efforts
Keep records of referrals, treatment programs, counselling, nutritional support and attempts to follow medical recommendations.
Document wait lists, lack of available specialized care, treatment costs, side effects and other barriers outside your control.
Document Unsuccessful Returns to Work
A brief or part-time return does not necessarily prove sustained work capacity.
Record the hours and duties attempted, symptoms that worsened and why the arrangement was reduced or stopped.
Why Are Eating Disorder Disability Claims Denied?
An insurer may accept the diagnosis but argue that the available evidence does not prove you remain unable to work.
Common denial reasons include:
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Your weight or laboratory results have improved
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You have not been hospitalized
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The insurer describes eating behaviours as voluntary choices
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The insurer says treatment should allow you to return to work
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You are accused of failing to follow treatment
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The insurer says you can perform sedentary or remote work
The Insurer Says Your Weight Has Improved
Weight restoration or stabilization may be an important part of recovery without resolving psychological symptoms, cognitive limitations or the risk of relapse.
The insurer should consider whether you can sustain regular work while continuing medically necessary treatment.
The Insurer Says You Were Never Hospitalized
Hospitalization is not a requirement for private disability benefits.
Many people receive outpatient or community-based treatment while continuing to experience severe functional limitations.
The Insurer Treats the Condition as a Choice
Eating disorders are medical conditions involving psychological disturbance and disordered eating.
The insurer should assess the medical evidence rather than dismiss symptoms as a lifestyle choice or lack of motivation.
The Insurer Says You Failed to Follow Treatment
Disability policies often require claimants to participate in reasonable treatment.
However, interrupted treatment or difficulty following a meal plan should be considered in the context of the condition, access to specialized care and recommendations from the treatment team.
The Insurer Says You Can Perform Desk Work
The ability to sit does not establish the ability to perform sedentary work.
Office work still requires concentration, judgment, attendance, communication and the ability to maintain productivity throughout the day.
What Should You Do After a Denial?
Save the denial letter, continue receiving appropriate treatment and request a complete copy of your disability policy.
Speak with a disability lawyer before submitting an internal appeal. The same insurer that denied your claim will review it, and legal deadlines may continue to run.
Learn more about what to do when your long-term disability claim is denied.
When Should You Seek Urgent Medical Help?
Eating disorders can cause serious medical complications.
Seek urgent medical attention for symptoms such as fainting, chest pain, confusion, severe weakness, vomiting blood, an irregular heartbeat or an inability to keep down food or fluids.
Immediate health and safety should take priority over insurance forms or disability paperwork.
Frequently Asked Questions About Eating Disorders and Disability
Is an eating disorder considered a disability?
An eating disorder can be considered a disability when its psychological or physical effects substantially limit your ability to work or complete important daily activities.
Is anorexia considered a disability?
Anorexia may qualify when restricted eating, obsessive thoughts, fatigue, weakness or medical complications prevent safe and reliable employment.
Can bulimia qualify for disability benefits?
Potentially. Bulimia may qualify when its psychological effects, treatment requirements or physical complications prevent you from working.
Can binge-eating disorder qualify for disability?
Potentially. The insurer should consider related distress, mental health symptoms, treatment and functional limitations rather than relying on assumptions about appearance or weight.
Do you have to be hospitalized to qualify?
No. Disability insurance generally considers your ability to perform your occupation. Hospitalization is not required.
Can an eating disorder qualify for CPP Disability?
It may qualify when the eating disorder and your complete medical condition regularly prevent substantially gainful work and meet the CPP requirements.
Can an eating disorder qualify for the DTC?
Potentially. Eligibility depends on severe and prolonged functional limitations in an eligible category or qualifying cumulative limitations—not the diagnosis alone.
Get Help With a Denied Eating Disorder Disability Claim
Managing treatment and working toward recovery is difficult enough. Fighting with an insurance company can add financial pressure at a vulnerable time.
Samfiru Tumarkin LLP represents people with denied and terminated disability claims throughout Canada, excluding Quebec.
Contact us for a free consultation if your short-term or long-term disability claim has been denied or cut off.