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Bulimia Nervosa
Eating disorders are devastating behavioral maladies brought on by a complex interplay of factors, which may include emotional and personality disorders, family pressure, a possible genetic or biologic susceptibility, and a culture in which there is an overabundance of food and an obsession with thinness. Eating disorder also may be defined, as self-abuse. Two of these disorders, anorexia and bulimia, result from the fear or overeating and of gaining weight. This paper talks about what bulimia means, its causes, symptoms, medical consequences, and treatment.
- What is Bulimia Nervosa?
Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting, the use of laxatives or diuretics, strict dieting or fasting, or excessive exercise. Although the disorder can affect men, the preponderance of people with bulimia are female adolescents and young women. Many are self-critical, perfectionist women from high achieving families. There are two subtype of bulimia nervosa: purging and nonpurging, it occurs in 0.5 percent to 2.0 percent of adolescents and young adult women. Purging type: this subtype describes presentations in which the person has regulatory engaged in self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas during the current episode. Nonpurging type: this subtype describes presentation in which the person has used other inappropriate compensatory behaviors, such as fasting or excessive exercise, but has not regularly engaged in self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas during the current episode. Also, bulimics are usually of average or above average weight, there are ongoing feelings of isolation, self-deprecating thoughts, depression, low self-esteem, and there is a full recognition of the behavior as abnormal, for example:
- Make excuses to go to the bathroom after meals.
- Shows mood swings.
- Buys large amounts of food, which suddenly disappears.
- Has unusual swelling around the jaw.
- Eats large amounts of food on the spur of the moment.
- Laxative or diuretic wrappers frequently found in trash can.
- If there is unexplained disappearance of food in the home or residence hall setting.
- What causes Bulimia?
Although the exact cause is not known, in a great majority of cases bulimia is thought to be related to a complex network ...
... middle of paper ...
...n. Most patients can be treated on an output basis. However, other complications may indicate the need for hospitalization. Partial hospitalization programs are also available. Individual and group psychotherapy has been found effective, particularly cognitive-behavioral therapy. Antidepressants, nutritional counseling, couples therapy and support groups may be a part of treatment.
The primary goals of treatment are:
- Normalization of eating patterns and daily caloric intake.
- Elimination of binge eating.
- Relinquishing self-evaluation based on body weight and shape.
- Enhancement of self-esteem.
- Improvement of problem-solving and decision-making skills.
- Enhancement of coping skills.
- Heightening of self-awareness of personal needs.
- Development of a solid self-concept.
Medications are sometimes used to assist in the treatment of Eating Disorders like bulimia however, is important to understand that there is no a "magic pill" those in recovery and on medication should also be in some type of therapy environment. Some of these medications are Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor, Remeron, Wellbutrin, Luvox, Lithium, Desipramine, Imipramine, Xanax, and Naltrexone.
Crow, S.J., Peterson, C.B., Swanson, S.A., Raymond, N.C., Specker, S., Eckert, E.D., Mitchell, J.E. (2009) Increased mortality in bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 166, 1342-1346.
A discovery made recently found that there is an inverse correlation among women with bulimia between the frequency of binge-eating and cerebrospinal fluid concentration of the major ser...
...ing in bulimia nervosa: A crossover study. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 177, 259-266.
Bulimia nervosa afflicts mostly women (about 6% of adolescent girls, and 5% of college women). Most individuals with bulimia engage in compensatory activities such as vomiting, laxative abuse, strict dieting, and vigorous exercise (Alexander).
...l, D. M., & Willard, S. G. (2003). When dieting becomes dangerous: A guide to understanding and treating anorexia and bulimia [Ebrary version]. Retrieved from http://libproxy.utdallas.edu/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/utdallas/Doc?id=10170079&ppg=4
Anorexic and bulimic people are often perfectionists, with unrealistically high expectations. They frequently lack self-esteem, with their feelings of ineffectiveness and a strong need for other peoples’ approval. Causes There is at present no generally accepted view of the causes of anorexia or bulimia. Most authorities believe the problem to be psychologically based, possibly stemming from family and social pressures, or other forms of stress in our modern environment. Where a high value is placed on slim-ness, women are most likely to be judged on their appearance, against a heavy background of high carbohydrate junk food promotion.
Anorexia is an obsessive desire to control ones bodily appearance. It often starts with the refusal to obtain a healthy body weight. “This disorder is associated with under nutrition of varying severity with resulting secondary endocrine and metabolic changes and disruptions of bodily functions” (Kontic et al. 2013). An Anorexic person has a distorted view of themselves which can lead to devastating measures of self-starvation due to an immense fear of weight gain. In the same way, an individual suffering with Bulimia has a fear of weight gain, but goes about their technique in a different manner. Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating or, consuming a large amount of food in a short time followed by guilt. This guilt is the leading factor to the purging stage where the individual will rid themselves of the physical and emotional discomfort. The ridding stage can invo...
Bulimia - PubMed Health. (n.d.). National Center for Biotechnology Information. Web. 23 Oct. 2015. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0
Different forms of treatment are available such as in patient treatments, cell phone apps and therapy to teach how to overcome an eating disorder. Each eating disorder, anorexia nervous, binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa may respond better to different forms of treatment and each patient is different in what will work best for them to overcome. Support from family and friends is necessary in working with treatment and being strong enough to face an eating disorder once treatment is done. Eating disorders are easy to gain, but with the right treatment can be defeated.
Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by a strong desire to lose, or not to gain weight through starvation. This can be caused by the victim’s distorted view of their own body image. The two generalized types are: strict diet and exercise, and binging and purging (Martini, Nath, Bartholomew, 2012). Bulimia nervosa is categorized by episodic binge eating that is followed by guilt, depression, and self-condemnation (Martini, Nath, Bartholomew, 2012). These emotions noted are usually followed by attempts to lose weight by way of self-induced vomiting, laxatives, dieting, and or fasting. Excessive eating followed by periods of fasting or self-induced vomiting are characteristics of binge-purge...
Psychotherapy or psychological counseling is an integral part of comprehensive eating disorder treatments. With a trained counselor, the patient can develop ways to cope with the issues that led to the disorder. This is especially important in anorexia nervosa treatments because of the overwhelming fear of becoming overweight. Hopefully a psychotherapist can get to the root of these fears and develop effective measures to take for recovery. Anorexia is considered to be a lifelong illness, and counseling may continue indefinitely. There are no medicines for anorexia, but antidepressants are often prescribed in conjunction with other treatments.
Bulimia nervosa is a slightly less serious version of anorexia, but can lead to some of the same horrible results. Bulimia involves an intense concern about weight (which is generally inaccurate) combined with frequent cycles of binge eating followed by purging, through self-induced vomiting, unwarranted use of laxatives, or excessive exercising. Most bulimics are of normal body weight, but they are preoccupied with their weight, feel extreme shame about their abnormal behavior, and often experience significant depression. The occurrence of bulimia has increased in many Western countries over the past few decades. Numbers are difficult to establish due to the shame of reporting incidences to health care providers (Bee and Boyd, 2001).
Bulimia nervosa, more commonly known simply as bulimia or binge and purge disorder, is an eating disorder that affects 1 in 4 college-aged women in America, or 1 in 10,000 Americans. The most common misconception concerning bulimia is that it is simply a physical or mental problem. Many people do not understand that bulimia is a disease that affects both the mind and the body, and in its course can destroy both aspects of the diseased individual.
Both bulimics and anorexics are motivated by a desire to lessen weight. Anorexia is explained in Eating Disorders as: “Anorexia nervosa is a condition in which a person starves him or herself. The key feature of this disorder is the refusal to eat enough food, resulting in a body weight that is far below a healthy level” (Keel and Levitt, 3). While bulimia is explained as: “Bulimia is characterized by episodes of binge eating in which an individual feels a loss of control over food consumption and eats very large amounts of food in single sittings” (Keel and Levitt, 7). From this, it is obvious that patients of both disease resort to measures of losing weight.
Of the three eating disorders, anorexia gets the most attention and has the highest mortality rate of six percent out of any mental illness. According to the International Journal of Eating Disorders, half of the deaths caused by anorexia are suicide. Anorexia is when an individual feels that his or her body is distorted. Anorexia is also when an individual starves himself or herself because of the fear of being overweight (Elkins 44). If an individual suffers from anorexia they will loose anywhere from fifteen to sixty percent of their body weight by starving his or herself. Some of the symptoms of anorexia are heart problems, anemia, and fertility problems (“Eating Disorders”). Another horrible eating disorder is bulimia, which is when a person over eats, feels guilty, and then purges, take...