Do you have a problem with bulimia?

Understanding and admitting that you have a problem with bulimia is the first big step towards seeking help, finding appropriate treatment and getting your life back. This is, in itself, an important milestone, and we understand how difficult it can be.

The symptoms of bulimia are largely focused around unhealthy eating patterns including bingeing (overeating in a short time) and purging (vomiting, exercising or using laxatives). When considering your current eating habits, self-esteem and lifestyle choices, do any of these issues apply to you?

Eating patterns

• You are preoccupied with food, making sure that you eat foods which are ‘safe’ – for example, healthy foods that are low in fat and sugar. If you eat something ‘forbidden’ or ‘bad’ - for example, sugary or fatty snacks and desserts, you feel you have ‘blown it’ and will then binge on more of those forbidden foods.
• You won’t eat forbidden or bad foods in front of others.
• You binge regularly - often in the evening or when you come home from work. You don’t plan to binge but the urge becomes so overwhelming that, eventually, you give in.
• Once you have tasted a forbidden food, you cannot stop yourself from eating more of it.
• You binge on any food you can find until you feel so full you could burst. Afterwards, you are left with overwhelming feelings of disgust, shame or guilt.
• You spend a great deal of time battling an overwhelming urge to binge on food.
• Your fear of putting on weight drives you to do whatever you can to rid yourself of the food – and, importantly, the calories. You may purge in one or a number of ways – for example, vomiting, exercising, restricting your future food intake or taking laxatives.
• Your bingeing and purging cycle leaves you feeling that you are out of control.
• You continue to binge and purge – even though you don’t want to do it and you can’t face how you will feel afterwards.
• Your life is increasingly dominated by the struggle between your powerful urge to binge and the need to stay slim or lose weight.
• You conceal your bingeing and purging from friends and family.
• You have bought cakes or sweet treats for work colleagues and then eaten them all yourself.

Body image

• Do you obsess about your clothing size, your weight and the shape of your body? Do you monitor your weight very closely – weighing yourself frequently and worrying if your weight goes up by even the tiniest amount?
• Are there aspects of your physical appearance that you really dislike?
• Do you focus more on what you dislike about your physical appearance than on what you like?
• Do you spend a lot of time worrying about what others think about your physical appearance?
• Do you believe your looks determine your self-worth?
• Do negative thoughts about your body keep repeating in your head?
• Do you avoid certain social situations or activities because of how you feel about your body?
• Do you spend a lot of time, effort or money trying to 'correct' your body?
• Do you rely on clothes or make-up to cover up your perceived flaws?
• Are you continually searching for the ultimate diet, exercise regime, clothes, make-up or hair-cut?
• Do your thoughts and feelings about how you look affect how you feel about yourself?
• Do you have difficulty accepting your body as it is?

Social

• You are doing less of the things that were important to you - for example, seeing friends or family, going out or enjoying hobbies.
• You have missed family birthdays or meeting up with friends so that you could avoid food or having to eat in front of others.
• Your relationships are suffering as a result of your problems with food – your partner or spouse is becoming dissatisfied with your relationship and you are spending less time with valued friends.

If you can relate to any of these, it may be time for you to get help to deal with your bulimia.

At Life Works, we believe that bulimia has become a problem when you continue to binge and purge in spite of negative consequences – whether they are health, relationship, professional, financial, legal or other problems.

As a leading private behavioural health clinic for the treatment of bulimia, Life Works is able to help you.

If you need help or advice about your bulimia, please call us on 0800 081 0700 to speak to one of our counsellors in confidence or email us for more information.

We can answer any questions or concerns you may have and help you find the right treatment.

Not sure if you have a problem?

Denial is common and symptomatic of bulimia so you may deny that you have a problem both to yourself and to others, through:

• minimising the impact of bingeing and purging on your health
• criticising those around you for making too much fuss about your eating habits
• concealing your bingeing and purging from your loved ones
• considerably overestimating your body size
• placing the blame for your disordered eating on other people or situations in your life, such as “I binge because my job stresses me out.”

It is worth considering why you feel the need to do any of these things, if you don’t have an issue with food. It is likely that you have a problem with bulimia but you are not ready to admit this to yourself or to anyone else.

Why admitting you have a problem can be so hard

Denial is a key characteristic of bulimia. It is one of the few illnesses which perpetuates itself, as one of the symptoms of bulimia is that it tells you that you don’t have a problem. This is one of the reasons that many individuals stay trapped with bulimia for a lifetime. We advise you to stay open to the feedback from friends, family and professionals, and look at the evidence.

Why it is so important to get help

At Life Works, we know that bulimia is an illness. This is central to our clinical philosophy and underpins our approach to treatment. We use the latest neuroscientific thinking to inform our understanding of how problems with bulimia affect the individual and how we can provide effective treatment for the causes of these problems.

Having bulimia means that you have an illness which affects different parts of the brain and seriously impairs your ability to make choices. This means that over time, your decision-making ability and your behaviour become increasingly focused on your compulsion to binge and purge, to the detriment of everything else in your life – your partner, your job, your family and your friends. You become unable to control the urge to binge and ridding yourself of excess calories by purging (vomiting, exercising or taking laxatives) becomes your number one priority.

Feeling ashamed or disgusted with your behaviour can be incredibly difficult and often increases your compulsion to binge, if only to help you feel better. But the satisfaction or relief you feel each time is rapidly overtaken by feelings of disgust, guilt or shame and this compels you to purge – or also self-harm . Over time, this will worsen the problem for you, increasingly isolate you from those who care about you and leave you with feelings of loneliness, fear and shame. Sadly, many individuals do not ask for help when they really need it, to the extent that their bulimia worsens to the point of crisis - medically, physically and emotionally.

Is it really a problem?

Bulimia is a progressive, life-threatening psychiatric illness. If left untreated, it causes serious long term health problems – for example, infertility, osteoporosis, hair loss, heart problems, kidney failure and stunted growth. Other effects of bulimia include severe mood swings, depression and suicidal thoughts. Malnutrition and regular vomiting can damage gums and cause tooth decay, and acid reflux from vomiting can also damage the larynx and the oesophagus.

In some cases individuals with bulimia die. This is not uncommon. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate compared with any other psychiatric illness.

Being in this situation can be terrifying, exhausting, depressing, upsetting and deeply shaming. The future may seem totally bleak and pointless, and the only thing that helps you feel better - momentarily - is bingeing.

What is recovery?

There are many misconceptions about what being “in recovery” means. Recovery is commonly misunderstood, especially by people who have not received treatment and also among their friends and families.
 
At Life Works, we truly understand that the prospect of recovery can seem frightening and totally pointless. You may believe that recovery offers you nothing but a lifetime of permanent deprivation, having to live with your own problems, frustrations and feelings without even being able to feel the relief you get from bingeing and purging. Imagining your life like this may seem incredibly daunting and overwhelming. Faced with a choice between your life as it is, or recovery, it is understandable why you may have reservations about recovery.
However, by finding the strength to seek professional help, you will get the support and guidance you need to start reaping the benefits of the first stage of recovery.
 
We believe recovery is about so much more than stopping bingeing and purging. We define recovery as getting your life back, especially those aspects that are valuable and precious to you. It also means putting more into your life than you may have previously and finding meaning either once again, or for the first time ever. Recovery means creating a healthy, fulfilling and meaningful life that is characterised by abstinence from bingeing and purging, more effective tools for coping with the stresses of life, and a greater connection with yourself, those close to you and the larger community.
At Life Works, we strongly believe that recovery is not about what you are taking out of your life, but rather what you put back into it. Bulimia is a disease of isolation and the life of someone with bulimia tends to get smaller and smaller. Recovery is about expanding and enhancing your life.
By taking that first step and receiving treatment for your bulimia at Life Works, you will be able to start leading the new life you deserve.

How can Life Works help you get treatment.

Life Works is a leading private behavioural health clinic for the treatment of bulimia.

If you need help or advice about your problem with bulimia, please call us on 0800 081 0700 to speak to one of our counsellors in confidence or email us for more information.

We can answer any questions or concerns you may have and help you find the right treatment.