2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43
People with bulimia experience bouts of binge eating, and then try to get rid of food, causing vomiting; less often they resort to laxatives and exhausting physical training. Sometimes gluttony does not occur in attacks, but occurs constantly, a person eats and cannot stop. A moment without food seems too painful for them. After overeating, many try to compensate for this "offense" with diets, tight control (and not only in terms of food). Such moments are not long, a breakdown quickly occurs and the person begins to overeat again.
It is very difficult to admit that you have bulimia. If you:
• are depressed with constant food intake, • overly keen on diets (constant adherence to different diets), • exhaust yourself with physical activity, • uncontrolled use of emetics, laxatives, diuretics, • have lost a lot of weight, or, conversely, gained a lot of weight, • the menstrual cycle has been disrupted or menstruation has stopped altogether (in women), • the condition of the skin, nails, hair has changed, then it is worth considering that you may have bulimia.
There can be many reasons for bulimia. It is always necessary to look for the root cause in childhood. In psychoanalysis, it is suggested that attention should be paid to the oral period of development. First of all, not for food (regime, food itself, etc.), but for emotional contact with the mother. Each mother builds a highly individual relationship with her child. If this relationship is too cold, without love, attention, care and support, when the child does not feel safe, then in adulthood he tries to compensate for this with food. But he cannot fully satisfy his feelings and experiences previously experienced fears and anxieties. Then comes the period of self-flagellation and strict exhausting diets. Someone had too close a relationship with their mother, we can say that they were as one. Such relationships, too full of emotions, do not bring anything good either. Firstly, it is too difficult to give up the close relationship that was with the mother, to separate from her and become an independent subject. Secondly, you will have to take responsibility for everything that happens, and not hide "under the wing." Thirdly, mothers themselves do not seek to break this connection, because there are many secondary benefits behind it (a sense of need, belonging, fear of being left alone, a child can be a way of receiving attention from third parties). It takes a lot of effort and work to overcome these psychological fixations.
The consequences of bulimia are various - from a mild eating disorder to severe physical and psychological complications. Uncontrolled use of laxatives and emetics leads to disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (gastritis, ulcers, bleeding, diarrhea), dehydration occurs and muscle spasms appear. If we talk about the psychological consequences, then everything here is purely individual. Chronic depression, panic attacks, and disruption of relationships with loved ones and others are common.
How do you deal with bulimia?
First of all, it is worth contacting a specialist for qualified psychological assistance. Psychotherapy can take place using different areas of psychology: psychoanalysis, gestalt, cognitive-behavioral therapy, body therapy and others. Only in a therapeutic tandem is it possible to find the problems that led to this problem, and get rid of them in the process of psychotherapy.
What can you try to do yourself? It is necessary to understand that bulimia is only a symptom, and the underlying problem lies deeper. Constant overeating and bouts of gluttony are just a way to cope with feelings within yourself. But you can do it in another way: find a hobby that will also compensate well for those needs that push you to overeat. Try to talk to your binge-eating part of your personality and find constructive dialogue with it. Treat yourself with love. For the next breakdown, do not scold yourself, it is better to have pity on yourself and do something pleasant. Try to eat right: eat healthy foods; eat less fatty and fried foods; eat more often, but in small portions; replace sweets with dried apricots, figs, raisins (but you shouldn't eat too much of them either).
If you need help and support to cope with bulimia, I am ready to help you.
Mikhail Ozhirinsky, psychoanalyst, group analyst.
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