Eating Disorders ~ Bulimia.

Hi Guys!

This weeks post is about Bulimia. I am writing this from a psychological theory perspective and my experience.

An eating disorder is defined in the APA as abnormal eating habits that threaten your health or even your life which include Anorexia, Bulimia and BED (Binge Eating Disorder). At the heart of Bulimia there is an intense fear of gaining weight and a pursuit of thinness which can sometimes be deadly. 

Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by binge eating and efforts to prevent weight gain such as self-induced vomiting, excessive exercising and many more.  To be diagnosed with bulimia the individual must have recurrent episodes of binge eating and efforts to compensate for it, along with being influenced by body weight and body shape. The average binge would consist of over 4,800 calories. 

There are two main sub-types of bulimia: 

1. Purging Sub-Type ~ compensates for a binge with efforts to expel the food from their body.
2. Non-Purging Sub-Type ~ Compensate with excessive exercising and fasting.

Purging sub-type bulimia accounts for about 80% of reported bulimia cases.

The individual is usually of a normal weight or even over weight, however if they reach the criteria for binge eating anorexia they could be diagnosed with this as there is a greater mortality risk involved. The average onset for bulimia is 20 to 24 years old with a life time prevalence of 1% to 3% and a rate of one male to every ten females with an eating disorder.

Bulimia can lead to electrolyte imbalance, low potassium, damage to hands, throat and teeth due to purging, heart abnormalities and damage to heart muscle.

This is considered a modern disorder and children as young as 7 have been known to develop eating disorders. It is debated as to if bulimia and anorexia should be classed as different disorders as may who meet the criteria for bulimia have previously been diagnosed with anorexia. 

Eating disorders are commonly associated with with other disorders as 63% of individuals are diagnosed with depression along with occurrences of OCD, substance abuse, BPD (bi-polar disorder) and in more than 33% of reported cases the individual has engaged in some kind of self harming behavior. 

There is no one cause of an eating disorder and it is thought that it could be a result of biological, sociocultural, family and individual variables. 

Now you have the facts this is my experience with bulimia.

An eating disorder is never something you get over, it gets better but it doesn't just disappear. In the past six years of being diagnosed with bulimia I have gone through hard times. It had gotten to the stage where I was okay with eating and feeling good about it but there were times where I could not take the pressure of college or school and it got bad again. I just had to keep fighting it.

There were times that I could not bring myself to eat in front of others. We would be sat at college and we would all go for lunch but I would not eat because I knew if I did, I would have to purge and someone would find out. It was not until after we had our first discussion about eating disorders that a friend found me out. She didn't treat me any different and she didn't pressure me to eat either. She would ask me if I felt up to it today to try and encourage me to eat but if I said no she would not force me to eat. But most importantly she didn't tell anyone, she kept my secret and that was the best thing she could do for me. 

There was times where I was going over 24 hours with one meal and I was throwing that up as fast as I could. I would pass out because I would be that dizzy and at times I would not be able to see properly when I had finished getting every last bit of food out of me. I hated myself and always felt like I was not good enough or worthy in a way. Now I am able to eat a meal without feeling horrible, I am able to go out to dinner with my boyfriend and feel good about it. Yeah the feelings of wanting to purge are there but I fight them back because I know that nothing matters aslong as the people who love me are around me. I fight the feelings and urges because I know I am stronger than any urge can be.

Just remember that no matter what you are stronger than any urge will ever be!

If you would like any more information or need to talk about anything please remember that we are here to talk to you and help you. If you would like to know anything more about this topic tweet us, comment or e-mail us and we will help as well as we can.

Kayliegh

xox