What Is Bulimia and How Do I Overcome It?
Do you know someone who is throwing up after eating and/or frequently goes to the bathroom after meals? If so, they may have bulimia, a serious eating disorder. Here is how to know if you or someone close to you has bulimia.
What is Bulimia?
Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by bingeing and purging behaviors.
A person with bulimia nervosa consumes large amounts of food in one sitting, a span of 2 hours maximum. They experience a feeling of loss of control followed by guilt or shame (binge eating). They compensate for the binge by purging. This can be through self-inducing vomiting, taking laxatives, diuretics, or other weight loss medications. The individual may also exercise excessively or start fasting.
Bingeing and purging is a vicious cycle. An individual with bulimia binge eats as a coping mechanism. This is to comfort or soothe themselves. The shame that follows a binge compels them to purge to relieve their anxiety. But purging often brings more shame.
According to the DSM-5, these behaviors must occur once a week for three months on average in order for an individual to meet the diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa.
What Does Someone With Bulimia Look Like?
As with any other eating disorder, you cannot tell if someone has bulimia by looking at them.
But, if frequent vomiting is used as a purging behavior, an individual with bulimia may experience tooth decay or erosion. This is caused by gastric acid, which can impact the appearance of their teeth. Bulimia nervosa may or may not cause weight loss or weight gain.
People with bulimia may seem fearful of eating certain foods and may express body shame. It may be rare to see them eat, as binge eating tends to happen in private.
How Can You Help Someone With Bulimia?
If a friend or loved one is showing signs of bulimia, you can help by educating yourself. Begin exploring the different eating disorder treatment options. A primary care provider can evaluate the patient and make referrals to residential eating disorder treatment programs, partial-hospitalization programs (PHP), or intensive outpatient programs (IOP). This depends on the severity of the eating disorder and the recommended level of care. You can also connect them to an eating disorder therapist for a consultation.
Because of the medical complications that come along with self-induced vomiting, it is critical to get help for bulimia as soon as possible. A person with bulimia may suffer from severe dehydration, gum disease, chronic coughs, sore throats, difficulty swallowing, ulcers, bleeding of the esophagus, congestive heart failure, ventricular arrhythmias, and various other gastrointestinal and dental issues. Some of these bulimia complications can be fatal.
For more resources on how to help someone with bulimia call the National Eating Disorder Association Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. Or you can text the crisis line by texting 'NEDA' to 741741.
How Can You Overcome Bulimia with Bulimia Treatment?
Full recovery from an eating disorder is possible. You can overcome bulimia with the help of eating disorder treatment programs and/or an interdisciplinary outpatient treatment team. These teams may include a physician, an eating disorder therapist, a registered dietitian, and possibly a psychiatrist.
An eating disorder therapist may use CBT, DBT, and ACT. They may also use trauma-informed approaches, like Internal Family Systems, Narrative Therapy, EMDR, and Brainspotting.
To overcome bulimia nervosa, you need the willingness to recover. As well as a support system, therapy, and nutrition counseling. In some cases, you may need psychiatric medication to help manage co-occurring illnesses. This may include depression and anxiety that impact your eating disorder.
Support groups where you can hear from and talk to others with bulimia are available virtually and in person. You can also work with a peer mentor who has recovered to support you with your bulimia recovery, through the mentorship program at ANAD.
Start Bulimia Treatment in California Today!
Don’t continue to be stuck with your eating disorder, take the next step and begin healing. With support from Kindful Body, you can begin recovery from your eating disorder. Kindful Body offers online therapy and nutrition counseling for bulimia nervosa and all other eating disorders in California, with clinicians based out of the San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Palo Alto, and Santa Barbara areas. To get started follow these simple steps:
Meet with one of our caring eating disorder therapists
Begin the journey to healing your body
Other Services Offered at Kindful Body Counseling
Kindful Body offers a range of mental health services that can help you in your journey of healing. For additional support, our online therapy practice in California provides eating disorder treatment for students and adolescents, eating disorder treatment, brainspotting for eating disorders, trauma therapy, anxiety treatment and stress therapy, therapy for binge eating, low self-esteem issues, and relationship therapy. To learn more check out our blog or About Us page!