What Is Bulimia
What Is Bulimia?
We hear so many incidents of this disease, and often question the why and what. Is bulimia something that can effect you? Is it inherent, genetic, learned, or merely a bad choice made by young girls who have been told that skinniness is the only acceptable form of beautiful? The truth, you may find alarming, is that this disease can be a combination of all of these issues, and then some. The neurological effects caused by the binge and purge habit cause the act to become an impulse, and the impulse turns into an addiction. Victims can be from any walk of life, whether they have been prone to pre-existing psychological illness or not.
Times of immense stress can trigger the initial habit, as can coming off of an extremely restrictive diet. Food is ingested as a comfort, often quickly and with a certain degree of secrecy. This “naughty” behavior, though it is quite a normal and healthy form of human nature, spurs a feeling of guilt shortly after the ingestion, and the purge is initiated to rid the stomach of the forbidden fruits. The act of vomiting actually releases the bodies natural feel good chemicals known as endorphins, so the act of vomiting becomes a source of temporary euphoria. What is bulimia and how can you tell if someone you care about may have fallen to this dangerous disease?
More advanced stages of bulimia are usually detected by an obvious and speedy drop in body weight, and will rarely eat in front of anyone. Most experienced bulimics will eat only one late meal per day, but will induce vomiting on an empty stomach throughout the day to achieve the endorphin rush whenever it is needed. The strength of the bulimics dependence on this feel good chemical is likened to that of a heroine addiction. Physical ailments and long term health problems begin to surface, as the victim will experience an onslaught of detriment.
Given this outline, it becomes a bit more clear to us how this disease is born and how it manages to completely take over. It’s difficult to convince someone who has found a way to self administer this type of bliss that they are in danger. Thin is best in today’s judgmental society, and the addiction can grow so quickly that it is insurmountable alone. Medical and psychological treatment will go tightly hand in hand to help fight this illness within the victim. What is bulimia? It is a deadly and cunning disease, one that has to be treated for a lifetime. The binge and purge reflex does not go quietly away with the drop of a magical pill. The struggle to overcome will be permanent.