Bulimia or bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by a tendency to regurgitate food that has been eaten. Bulimia is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening mental disorder life.
Bulimia can be experienced by anyone, especially adult women and teenagers, who feel dissatisfied with their weight or body shape. People with bulimia tend to use unhealthy ways to lose weight, namely by forcibly removing food, either by vomiting or using laxatives.
Forced vomiting of food is wrong. To maintain ideal body weight and shape, you are encouraged to adopt a healthy diet, namely by eating balanced nutrition, eating small but frequent portions, and limiting snacks and high intake of saturated fat.
Causes of Bulimia
The main cause of bulimia is not known with certainty. However, there are several factors that are thought to trigger a person to develop bulimia, namely:
- heredityIf one member of the nuclear family (parents or siblings) suffers or has a history of bulimia, then a person's risk for suffering from the same disorder will increase.
- Emotional and psychological factorsThe risk of developing bulimia is higher if a person experiences emotional and psychological disorders, such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
- Social environmental factorsBulimia can arise from the influence of pressure and criticism from people around you about your eating habits, body shape, or weight.
- job factorSome types of work require workers to maintain an ideal body weight, such as models or athletes. These demands can cause the worker to experience depression or bulimia.
Symptoms of Bulimia
The initial symptom of someone suffering from bulimia is the habit of following a strict diet by not eating at all or only eating certain foods in very small amounts.
This condition continues until the sufferer loses control and eats excessively, even though he does not feel hungry. This habit arises because of emotional problems, such as stress or depression.
The sufferer will feel guilty, regretful, and self-loathing, forcing his body to expel all food in an unnatural way, such as using laxatives or forcing himself to vomit.
Other psychological symptoms that can appear in bulimia are:
- Fear of being fat.
- Always think negatively about your own body weight and shape.
- Tendency to be alone and withdraw from the social environment.
- Low self-esteem and anxiety.
- Do not eat in public or in front of other people.
In addition, people with bulimia can also show physical symptoms, such as:
- Body feels weak.
- Sore throat.
- Stomach pain or bloating.
- Swelling of the cheeks and jaw.
- Broken teeth and bad breath.
When to go to the doctor
Do not hesitate to check with your child or family member to a psychiatrist if you have signs that are suspected to be symptoms of bulimia. Symptoms of bulimia are often seen by other people, because sufferers tend to be unaware that they are experiencing bulimia symptoms.
If you or a family member has problems with weight, you should consult a nutritionist. The nutritionist will provide information about the right and healthy way to get the ideal weight. One of them is by adopting a healthy diet.
Bulimia Diagnosis
A person is said to have bulimia if they experience vomiting symptoms once a week for at least three months. To determine whether a person has bulimia or not, the doctor will ask questions to the patient and the patient's family.
The doctor will also perform a physical examination, such as checking for damaged or eroded teeth due to exposure to acid in the vomit. An eye exam may also be done to see if any of the eye's blood vessels have burst. When you vomit, the blood vessels will tense up and risk rupturing.
In addition to examining the patient's teeth and eyes, the doctor will also examine the patient's hands. People with bulimia tend to have small sores and calluses on the top of the finger joints because they are often used to force themselves to vomit.
Not only a physical examination, blood and urine tests are also carried out to detect other conditions that can cause bulimia and examine the impact of bulimia on the body, such as dehydration or electrolyte disturbances. Doctors also perform heart echoes to detect heart problems.
Bulimia Treatment
The main focus of treatment for bulimia is treating mental disorders experienced by sufferers and improving diet. This treatment effort involves the role of various parties, namely families, psychiatrists, and nutritionists. There are several treatment methods to treat bulimia, namely:
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy or counseling aims to help people with bulimia rebuild positive attitudes and thoughts about food and eating patterns. There are two types of psychotherapy that can be done, namely:
- Cognitive behavioral therapyCognitive behavioral therapy is used to help restore the patient's eating patterns, as well as change unhealthy behaviors into healthy ones and negative thinking patterns into positive ones.
- Interpersonal therapyThis therapy aims to assist patients in interacting with others, as well as improve the patient's ability to communicate and solve problems.
Drugs
To relieve the symptoms experienced by people with bulimia, the doctor will give: fluoxetine. This drug is a type of antidepressant drug that is most often used to treat bulimia, but is not intended for people with bulimia under the age of 18 years.
Fluoxetine can also relieve depression and anxiety disorders experienced by sufferers. During treatment with antidepressants, the doctor will regularly monitor the progress of the patient's condition and body reaction to the drug.
Nutrition counseling
Nutrition counseling aims to change eating patterns and mindsets towards food, increase nutrient intake in the body, and increase body weight slowly.
If the symptoms of bulimia get worse or are accompanied by serious complications, special treatment in the hospital needs to be done. This step needs to be taken to prevent the fatal consequences of complications, such as suicide.
Treatment of bulimia takes a long time. Support and motivation from family, friends, and closest relatives is very important in the healing process of sufferers.
Complications of Bulimia
Bulimia can cause malnutrition which can damage organ systems in the body. In addition, bulimia can cause the sufferer to become dehydrated due to too much fluid that comes out through vomiting.
Bulimia can also lead to complications that are serious and even fatal if not treated immediately. Some of the complications that can arise are:
- Heart disease, such as arrhythmia or heart failure
- Kidney failure
- Mallory-Weiss syndrome, which is tearing of the inner wall of the esophagus due to vomiting too much
- Depression or generalized anxiety disorder
- Drug or alcohol abuse
- An urge to commit suicide
People with bulimia who are pregnant are also at high risk of complications during pregnancy, such as miscarriage, premature birth, birth defects in the fetus, and postpartum depression.
Bulimia Prevention
The steps to prevent bulimia are not known with certainty until now. However, the role of family and friends can help steer people with bulimia toward healthier behaviors. Ways that can be done are:
- Increase self-confidence by giving each other motivation to always live healthy every day.
- Avoiding conversations that relate to the physical or that affect the patient's psychology, for example, his body is too thin or fat, and his face is not beautiful.
- Invite family members to always eat with family.
- Ban on unhealthy diets, such as using laxatives or forcing yourself to vomit.