Do you use laxatives or diuretics to lose weight?
Do you compulsively exercise in order to make up for “fattening” meals?
Do you feel ashamed of bingeing and purging, and try to hide it from friends and loved ones?
Do you feel “compelled” to overeat and throw up, but you have no idea why?
Are some days better than others with bingeing and purging, but you don’t know why?
Do you fear that someone you love is bulimic, and you don’t know what to say or how to help them?
The Truth About Bulimia and How to Approach It
Many people believe that bulimia is a food addiction, but this is not true! If you treat bingeing and purging as an addiction, and try to stop “cold turkey”, you’ve probably already discovered that it just came back, and usually worse.
It’s not your fault! Sometimes even well-meaning doctors and therapists treat bulimia as an addiction and tell their clients to just “stop”. Bulimia is actually a very powerful coping mechanism which can have devastating side effects, such as holes in the esophagus, fatigue, low electrolyte balance, potassium imbalance, depression and anxiety.
Unlike anorexia nervosa, people with bulimia are well aware that they have a problem. They usually want to stop but do not know how. Going cold turkey makes the problem worse, making the person feel hopeless, like they just have to live with it as best they can for the rest of their lives. Family, friends, and sometimes other medical providers can unknowingly make the problem worse by making comments and bad recommendations that cause the person feel even more ashamed and abnormal.
If you suffer from bulimia, you may ask yourself the following questions on a daily basis:
- Why do I overeat?
- Is something terribly wrong with me?
- Why can't I control throwing up when I'm totally in control of other parts of my life?
- Should I tell my friends and loved ones?
- What if they’re not supportive?
- Will I have to live with this problem the rest of my life?
A Good Support System is So Important
Most of my clients with bulimia come to me racked with shame and guilt over the fact that they “can’t stop” bingeing and purging. In fact, most of my clients are extremely successful in most areas of their lives; they are excellent students or employees, attractive, well-liked, responsible, good mothers and fathers, hard workers. It is because they are so successful in most areas of their lives that they feel awful that they just can’t “kick” their eating disorder.
Please know, you do not lack willpower, you are not lazy, and you are not self-destructive.
In fact, if you don’t receive the right support to let go of the shame and guilt surrounding your bulimia, you will be unable to recover. We have been helping men, women and children quickly and permanently recover from bulimia for over twenty years, and I am positive that we can help you, too. And without going cold turkey, continually punishing yourself, or getting shamed by others who don’t understand this problem.
Just email or call me at 904-737-3232 for a free 15 minute consult. I’ll be the one to personally answer the phone. And the call is completely confidential. Have courage – you can get better!