Bulimia: What is it? Can one of its reasons be the psychological factor? Find out the answers through this article.
Bulimia, often known as a binge-eating disorder, is characterised by excessive food consumption without the capacity to exert self-control and stop eating.
What is bulimia?
A significant eating condition called bulimia is characterised by compulsive overeating of enormous quantities of food.
Even though the individual with bulimia always eats more than usual when in a social setting, he may feel ashamed of this behaviour but still cannot control himself.
Although bulimics are frequently seen as obese individuals as well, this does not rule out the possibility of some individuals of normal weight having obesity.
What are the symptoms of bulimia?
Bulimia frequently manifests as three or more of the following signs:
- Eating faster than normal.
- Eat until you reach an unpleasant point of fullness.
- consuming a lot of food without being hungry beforehand.
- To prevent being embarrassed in front of others, eat alone.
- Feelings of guilt or self-loathing.
- feeling dissatisfied with how much food they consume or with how their physique is shaped.
- inability to manage one's eating patterns.
- Continue dieting in an attempt to lose weight without success.
What are the causes of bulimia?
Although the exact cause is unknown, there are numerous things that make infection more likely, like:
- Heredity: The presence of one or more afflicted family members raises the risk of infection.
- Following a diet to lose weight: It has been observed that people who limit calorie intake at intervals, but continuously, are more likely to binge, especially if they suffer from depression as well.
- The psychological component: People who lack confidence in their abilities or physical appearance may be more susceptible to bulimia.
How is bulimia diagnosed?
Inquiring about the patient's eating habits helps the doctor make a diagnosis. He may also order some blood and urine tests to detect the presence of any complications of bulimia, such as:
- Hypertension.
- High cholesterol.
- Diabetes .
How can bulimia be treated?
The treatment aims to reduce the waves of eating in large quantities and replace these habits with healthier ones. The key therapeutic modalities are outlined in the following points:
1. Psychotherapy
Any of the following may be used as psychotherapy or talk therapy:
- Cognitive behavioural therapy may help a person manage the issues that contribute to bulimia, such as low self-esteem or despair, and may also help them control their eating patterns.
- Interpersonal psychotherapy: This type of treatment aims to improve the way of dealing with others and strengthen social relationships whose weakness may cause bulimic attacks in a person.
- Dialectical behavioural therapy: It seeks to teach techniques for dealing with stress and other people that may lessen bulimia attacks.
2. Medicines
The only medication officially approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat bulimia is lisdexamfetamine dimesylate, which was first used to treat ADHD and is used to treat moderate to severe bulimia.
It may also cause addiction and some other side effects, such as insomnia and dry mouth, and it may also cause more serious symptoms.
3. Behavioral weight loss programs
Behavioral weight loss programmes seek to treat the behaviours that contribute to bulimia before deciding on a meal plan that matches the individual's nutritional needs in order to lose weight. Many persons with this disease have tried numerous weight loss programmes, but they have all failed.