atlanta eating disorders

People nowadays take great pains in order to have a pleasant “physical appearance” or even an acceptable one. This is because of the unconscious image that the media is portraying now which is "thin is in". Some people tend to become obsess with this desire thus resulting to eating disorders like Bulimia.

Based from statistics in the US, 10% of college age woman are suffering from Bulimia and 10% of individuals that were diagnosed with Bulimia are men. The statistics also shows 10% of individuals that are suffering from Bulimia would die from either of these fatalities: starvation, cardiac arrest, other medical complications, or suicide.

Bulimia or Bulimia Nervosa is a type of eating disorder that has a cycle of binging and purging. Binging of binge is an episode wherein a person with bulimia eats a large amount of food that a normal person would not eat in normal days. This type of eating is not a response to intense hunger but is a response to their emotions or psychological distress like depression, stress, or self esteem issues. During this period for a person with bulimia, they often lose control of what they are doing. They tend to eat and eat until they reach a period of calm. This period of calm is the individual with bulimia already realized the deed that they did thus enabling self-control to prevail once again. After the binge episodes, here comes the purging episode. From the word itself, one could have an idea on what a person with bulimia is doing after binging. Their self-control is characterized by vomitting. Vomitting could be natural or self-induced like placing their fingers in their throat in order to vomit. Other means of self-control for people with bulimia are fasting, enemas, excessive use of laxatives and diuretics, and compulsive exercising.

The usual symptoms for people with bulimia includes a cycle of eating uncontrollably and purging afterwards through vomitting, use of laxatives, and diuretics in order to lose weight. Sometimes, these people with bulimia vomit blood because of their induced vomiting ways. Other symptoms include the use of bathroom frequently after meals, preoccupation with body weight all the time and feeling of depression or constant mood swings. There are also physical symptoms which could tell if a person is suffering from bulimia. These physical symptoms include swollen glands on the neck and face, Heartburn, bloating, indigestion, constipation, having irregular periods, dental problems, sore throat, weakness, and exhaustion bloodshot eyes.

There are many medical complications of having bulimia in a person’s health. These medical complications could be caused by the induced vomiting that is very harmful to the body. Some of these medical complications are erosion of tooth enamel because of repeated exposure to acidic gastric contents, ruptures of the stomach and esophagus, Dental cavities, sensitivity to hot or cold food, dehydration, and much more. If a person with bulimia is not treated and overcome, it could lead to serious medical implications that could eventually result to death.

It is very hard to determine if a person is suffering from bulimia because he or she may not appear as stick-thin compared with anorexics. People with bulimia are normal in terms body weight and some people with bulimia are even overweight. It is hard to determine if a person is suffering from bulimia because the bunging and purging cycle is often kept secret by the person. People with bulimia often deny that they are doing such activity and have bulimia.

Though there is no over the counter drug that would instantly diminish bulimia, the best way to overcome this disorder is to believe in the person that you are because being beautiful does not have to be thin. Being beautiful is all a matter of mind.