Boulimia

        Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are part of psychological disorders. I am going to focus on one of them: bulimia. First of all, I will be starting out by a brief definition of bulimia and the origin of the term. Then, I`ll be expounding about the causes of bulimia and how people develop this disorder. After that I`ll be focusing on its effects on the body and social impact to friends and family. Then I`ll talk about the treatments, how to cope with bulimia? How to react against it? Finally, I’ll be showing some statistics about this eating disorder, what people are most likely to develop bulimia.

        First of all, let me explain you what bulimia is. The term bulimia comes from the Greek βουλιμία which means ravenous hunger. By definition, bulimia is an illness, an eating disorder in which a person eats a lot of food in a short amount of time (called binge eating) and then purges oneself from what he or she ate by vomiting, takes laxative or diuretic or excessive exercises. Bulimia is often related to a feeling of guilt and/or self-hating.

Let’s now give an explanation to bulimia. What is its cause? Is this disorder a result of family genetics or do bulimics develop it throughout their lives? Bulimia is actually the results of different factors, both environmental and chemical. People were born inherited predisposition that makes them more likely to have bulimia. Studies estimate the heritability of bulimia to be from 54 to 83%. What happens in the brain is that bulimics have a high level of some neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) that transmit signals to a target cell. In this case, the serotonin reaches a target cell that makes the bulimic really hungry. But that was only the medical explanation. Environmental factors are also important when it comes to bulimia such as the media creating an image of thinness, peer pressure, low self-esteem, stress due to work or school, or family expectations. Bulimics often suffer from “a lack of control” and feel more in control of themselves after purging themselves. Bulimia hasn’t got any perfect explanation yet, scientists are still researching the topic nowadays.

Now that we know more about the causes of the disorder, what are the effects of bulimia on the bulimic person and what’s its impact on people around like friends or family? Bulimia has  physical, psychological and social effects. Bulimia may causes physical effects such as teeth erosion, ruptures in the stomach, swelling and soreness in the salivary glands, acid reflux, dry mouth, dehydration, and high risk of heart attack. Every bulimic puts his or her life at risk. But bulimia is worse than that, it changes the way you behave with people around you, it changes your relationship with everybody. Psychologically Bulimics may feel suicidal thoughts, shame and guilt, and an extreme anxiety; they may feel out of control of their body. Bulimia becomes a vicious circle, once you get into it; it’s really hard to quit: eat a lot to feel better, then feel shame and guilt, then purge oneself, then feel a loss a control, and finally start the cycle again and again. “I felt as though Bulimia would own my life and end my life” said Shaye, a former 26-year old Australian bulimic. Socially bulimics often try to avoid socializing with people because they want to hide their disorder; moreover they have no energy to do it. Bulimics also have a hard time eating in public, which makes them unable to eat with others. “I had that feeling nobody knew the real-me”. Family and friends might feel like they cannot do anything about it, they feel helpless and useless to put a stop to bulimia.

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