Overcoming Bulimia

Is Bulimia Counseling Right For Me?

Your weight is just a number, right?  Unfortunately, for many of us, that number can become a valuation of self-worth.

Bulimia Nervosa is an eating disorder that is characterized by over-eating (bingeing) and extreme efforts to maintain weight through vomiting or laxative abuse (purging). However, unlike anorexia nervosa, bulimia does not usually result in extreme weight loss.

Bulimia doesn’t always begin in a single, discreet moment. Instead, the condition tends to evolve slowly over time as attitudes about food and body image shift and become distorted and entangle with self-worth.

Sometimes bulimia develops when individuals place a high premium on seeming “perfect”. Other times negative self-evaluation and poor body image can contribute to the false belief hat certain body types are more deserving of love than others. This may create difficulty with impulse control or a need to control one’s life so badly that it overrides our reason is another risk factor. Bulimia sufferers may also have absorbed subtle messages from families, culture, coaches, peers, and mentors that intertwine beauty inextricably with thinness.

Regardless of its origins, bulimia is dangerous. Repetitive vomiting and laxative abuse can overtax the heart and gastrointestinal systems, resulting in a series of potentially fatal consequences.

Don’t abandon hope! Lifeologie bulimia counseling can help you beat the cycle of bingeing, purging, and self-loathing!

What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Bulimia?

Individuals who are suffering from bulimia may exhibit the following warning signs and be good candidates for bulimia counseling:

• Episodes of binge-eating (consuming an entire day’s worth of calories in a single sitting) followed by frantic attempts to purge (via vomiting, laxative, enema, or diuretic abuse), fasting, diet pills, emetics (drugs that induce vomiting), or obsessive exercise
• A distorted body image concerning weight and excessive feelings of guilt following a binge
• Hoarding food, concealing your binge-eating episodes from family or friends, engorging yourself on food to the point of physical pain or sickness
• Leaving during meals to purge in secret (Individual may drink excessive water prior to exiting from the table to make the process of inducing vomiting easier, or leave the water running during purging to muffle the sound)
• Discrete, public vomiting
• Physical indicators of self-induced vomiting, including tooth decay, swollen gums or cheeks, ulcerated areas in the mouth that do not heal, evidence of ruptured blood vessels on the face, lesions or calluses on the fingers, dehydration, fatigue, dizziness, fainting, or irregular heart rhythm
• Psychological indicators of co-occurring anxiety, depression, social isolation, personality or mood disturbances, impulsivity, or substance abuse

What Are The Long-Term Health Consequences Of Bulimia Nervosa?

Individuals with bulimia typically fall into a normal or above normal weight range. This doesn’t mean, however, that because the health risks associated with being underweight are absent in bulimia that the condition is not serious: Bulimia can be very dangerous!

Serious complications of bulimia may include:

• Cardiac problems: irregular heart rhythm, heart damage, cardiac arrest
• Electrolyte imbalances, including hypokalemia (loss of potassium from purging methods that leads to heart failure)
• Kidney failure (from dehydration/electrolyte imbalances that occur simultaneously with vomiting, laxative, or diuretic use)
• Gastrointestinal problems: deadly ripping of the stomach lining from binge-eating, constipation, or GERD—gastroesophageal reflux disease
• Esophageal rupture from over-induction of vomiting
• Osteoporosis (occurs when a calcium or Vitamin D deficiency associated with bulimia causes accelerated bone loss and deaccelerated bone repair in middle age, as well as an increased risk of bone fracture)
• Edema, or swelling in the abdomen
• Dental problems: bleeding gums, tooth decay, TMJ, oral sores, etc. & increased risk of esophageal cancer

Can Overcoming Bulimia Be Helped With Counseling & Therapy?

If you think that you might have bulimia nervosa, don’t delay seeking treatment! Without qualified intervention, your bulimia could spiral out of control, disrupting your happiness and damaging your health. A strategic treatment plan for bulimia should concentrate chiefly on recovering your health—before shifting focus toward re-claiming your life.

Overcoming Bulimia Step-By-Step:

• At the outset of your treatment, your medical needs should be of primary concern. Prolonged cases of bulimia can result in sudden cardiac arrest, permanent infertility, esophageal hemorrhaging (from induced vomiting), tearing of the stomach lining (from binging), or death: So, early medical intervention to assess your health status is essential!
• Next, your therapist will encourage you to evaluate your thoughts about your weight and emotions associated with food. Your therapist may recommend individual or group therapy sessions; meeting with a nutritionist to assess your dietary needs, or family or couples counseling to assist your family members and romantic partners in supporting you effectively during your recovery process
• A successful therapy plan should also equip you with coping mechanisms to combat your impulses to binge-eat or purge; and should help you achieve an awareness of the underlying factors that may perpetuate your condition (for example: being teased about your weight as a child or absorbing parental attitudes about food from a caregiver who also had an eating disorder
• In addition, the Lifeologie Counseling offers psychotherapeutic yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and equine therapy for those who wish to explore alternative treatments for bulimia as a creative supplement to traditional therapy techniques.

Related Topics: Anorexia,  Bulimia,  Binge Eating,  Exercise Addiction,  Food Addiction