Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that often can’t be seen in an everyday person. Often people with this eating disorder look normal and decently healthy, but there is an underlying issue that is taking place. Bulimia can be that underlying issue. Bulimia is characterized by a cycle of binging and purging. For example, a person will eat a ton of food, the binging part, and then they will excrete that food from there body through vomiting, the purging part. Unless you see the person committing the purging part, it is hard to know that they have an eating disorder, and this is why bulimia is an issue that often goes undiagnosed. Unless the person with the eating disorder seeks help, this issue is often not discovered. Most often people don’t want to reveal to others that they have a problem because nobody likes to do that, and that is why bulimia is such a scary disorder. In class we had some interesting talks about what to do and how to help someone with bulimia, but it is difficult to help someone when you don’t even realize that they are dealing with this problem. There is much more to learn about bulimia and why it effects people the way it does, but in discussion we proposed a few reasons. First and foremost is the issue of today’s society. If you happen to watch tv or go on your computer at any point in the day, I’m sure you will know what I am talking about when I say that the standards that people are held to today are unrealistic. By this I am saying that the models and photoshopping used in ads needs to stop because it is making people feel that there body is insufficient. There are people who are completely healthy and fit and still feel that there body doesn’t meet societies standards because of the media they are surrounded with. This can often cause people to develop eating disorders, and one of the eating disorders that can be developed is bulimia. People will still eat but they will just throw it up so they can loose weight and try to look skinnier and more fit. This is all stemming from the image that the media is putting out there is commercials and other ads. So that is definitely one issue that needs to be fixed.
Another issue that could be addressed is that of education on these eating disorders. I think that often people with these eating disorders don’t know what to do or where to go to seek help when they are facing these problems. Just think what you would do if you knew someone who had bulimia and you wanted to help them. Where would you go, who would you turn to. It is kind of a scary thought. People often aren’t educated about what to do if they are dealing with this disorder. It seems simple to just say stop binging and purging but that is only treating the physical aspect of the disorder and ignoring the mental part. I see bulimia as almost an addiction. People start this cycle and see that they are loosing weight and that it makes them feel better for whatever stresses they are facing in their life and they become addicted to it. The brain develops in addiction where you feel that you need to binge and purge and that becomes your norm. So no longer are you able to treat the physical of the disorder but you are dealing with the mental part and that is a whole new ball game. We simply don’t know enough about the disorder to know how to treat the mental part of it, and it will be unique for each person. That is why this disorder is so scary and why it is hard to know who to turn to when seeking help for this disorder. If we can cut it off at the bud by getting rid of unrealistic images of people in the media and educating people more about the disorder so they can detect it early before it becomes addictive, then maybe one day it won’t exist at all. Until that time we have a long way to go.
Bulimia Nervosa: The Eating Disorder That Hides
