Bulimia - what is it

Bulimia is a mental disorder, characterized by uncontrolled consumption of food in large quantities, after which a person experiences guilt and tries to get rid of food with the help of vomiting and other body cleansing procedures. At the heart of bulimia is the fear of getting fat. A person prone to bulimia is constantly concerned about being overweight, says calories, but he is not able to control his insatiable appetite. Bulimics differ from ordinary gluttons by the desire to get rid of what they eat..

Bulimia is difficult to determine unlike anorexia, A person with bulimia may look good and even friends and relatives do not always know about his problems.

The causes of bulimia

Bulimia is a psychosomatic disease associated with dysfunction of the hypothalamus, which results in the deterioration of the work of the brain center responsible for the feeling of hunger. Depression, phobias, constant stress and anxiety can lead to such consequences. In a state of constant emotional discomfort, the human body begins to defend itself. Not being able to calm himself and get pleasure from life, a person begins to enjoy food, thus blocking the feeling of internal discomfort. But overeating only enhances the feeling of “nikomunenuzhnosti”, because the body becomes ugly, which means the sick psyche sends a signal about the need to get rid of food. Treatment for bulimia should begin with a visit to a psychotherapist.

Symptoms of mild bulimia

• Constant guilt feelings for food eaten.
• Depression.
• Man cannot control himself.
• Excessive self-criticism.
• Lack of love for yourself.
• Constant feeling of hunger.
• The ability to consume up to 5,000 calories in one meal.
• Lack of taste preferences, easy-to-eat pastries with mustard.
• Meals are mechanical; after an attack, a person is not able to remember when and how much he ate.
• The desire to constantly keep on a diet, and exercise is perceived not as part of a healthy lifestyle, but as a punishment for eating food.
• Desire to induce vomiting after eating.

Symptoms of severe bulimia

• Sharp decrease and increase in weight.
• Loss of teeth and hair.
• Persistent muscle fatigue.
• Inflammation of the throat and esophagus.
• Swollen salivary glands.
• Facial hemorrhage.
• Heartburn.

In severe form of bulimia, the patient needs hospitalization.

When an episode of illness a person eats everything he sees, such belly holidays occur 40 times a month, that is, more than once a day. Patients eat very quickly, unable to stop. After overeating, there is a feeling of guilt and a person resorts to all sorts of means. for cleansing the body - causes vomiting, puts an enema, takes laxatives, drugs to reduce appetite, resorts to hunger and physical exhaustion. According to these signs, bulimia is divided into two types: in the first classical case, the patient breaks and cleanses the body, in the second, starves and goes in for sports. The second type is similar to the stage of anorexia, in which a person refuses to eat, but the outward signs of anorexia are more pronounced and, as a rule, the anorectic does not practice gluttony.

At risk are women from 15 to 30 years. Previously, women of mature age rarely had bulimia, but today, with the reproduction of the cult of thinness, and adult women practice unnatural release of the body from food eaten.

Consequences of bulimia

• Change of character beyond recognition.
• Diarrhea.
• Rectal bleeding.
• A stomach ulcer.
• Abuse of laxatives leads to constipation.
• Weight gain, since 70% of calories are absorbed immediately.
• Tachycardia, high blood pressure.
• Obesity.
• Damage to the vocal cords and nasal septum.
• Vomiting and laxatives remove minerals from the body, which leads to dehydration and muscle spasms, and ultimately can cause cardiac arrest.

Less significant consequences of the disease: hair loss, impaired or absent menstruation, chronic fatigue, wrinkles, skin depletion. And the mental consequences lead to severe depression, self-flagellation.

Treatment methods for bulimia

If you have found signs of bulimia in yourself or in a loved one, you should immediately consult a doctor, because the consequences can be fatal.

1. The basis of treatment is changing thought processes, your attitude to life, yourself, your body. After all, it is in the psyche that the source of the problems of the patient with bulimia is hidden. Therapeutic measures help patients gain self-confidence, love their bodies, accept themselves as they are, and gain self-worth.

2. Practiced family therapy, often it is very effective, family members help a person to control their behavior. Often the cause of bulimia itself lies in family relationships. After all, it is in a family that a person often develops inferiority complexes.

3 Group therapyallows a person to understand that he is not alone in his grief, communication allows sharing experience, stories about the success of others give confidence that all is not lost.

4. Patients with severe stages of bulimia are prescribed. drug treatment, because patients with bulimia are often in deep depression. Antidepressants, such as fluoxetine, are officially approved for the treatment of bulimia, it reduces the number of bouts of gluttony and removes the need to empty the stomach after them. However, medications do not always reduce the craving for food, sometimes the effect is just the opposite.

five. Particularly severe cases are treated in the hospital.. Bulimicus eat strictly on schedule and under the control of medical staff, which eliminates the possibility of vomiting or eating. Patients are not left alone.

6. If you have noticed that the disease is in severe form, and you yourself can no longer cope with it, it will be better to seek help from specialists.

The effectiveness of treatment will largely depend on whether a specialist can identify the true cause of the disease..After all, sometimes the cause of bulimia can be a pathological fear of relationships with the opposite sex, a hypertrophied sense of responsibility and self-control, avoiding personal failures, switching to diets and physical exertion, excessive resorting to diets, and as a result overeating, as a protective reaction of the body.

Working with a psychotherapist will help to clarify the causes of the disease, help to change thought processes, change ideas about yourself and tune in to a healthy diet and proper lifestyle.

Bulimia - preventive measures

You need to understand that prevention is much easier than treatment. In a family, you need to create a healthy climate, monitor proper nutrition, maintain the weight of your relatives in the normal way, and foster a healthy self-esteem in a child. Do not manipulate food as a means of rewarding or punishment. If a child is experiencing due to excess weight, you need to follow his diet, give to the sports section, dance, show that the world is beautiful and food is not the only way to enjoy life.

Have you ever come across cases of bulimia?

Especially for womeninahomeoffice.com.ru - Elena