Bulimia

Anorexia and bulimia often occur together. Where bulimia occurs alone, the sufferer may have normal weight or be only slightly overweight. Their outward appearance of confidence and health masks a deep sense of self loathing and shame. Their despair and fear of gaining weight drives them to repeat the addictive cycle of binging and purging. Bulimic people don’t trust their body’s normal healthy capacity to metabolise calories - they fear that unless they purge after eating, they will gain weight.

Physiological effects
Dehydration and Nutritional Deficiencies causing tooth decay (from gastric acid), osteoporosis, brittle hair, nails and dry skin
Constipation and flatulence from over use of laxatives
Digestive disorders; damaged stomach, peptic ulcers
Anaemia
Weakened immune system – increased illness and slow recovery
Insomnia
Electrolyte imbalance leading to heart palpitations
Menstrual disorders, infertility and/or miscarriage

Bulimic people are highly secretive and go to great lengths to disguise their eating and purging binges. Sometimes they think “I’ve already eaten too much, I might as well binge now – I can purge later”, at other times they carefully plan their binges in advance. Whether overeating occurs spontaneously or planned in advance, bulimics obsessively plan their purges to occur when they are alone and unobserved.

Instead of the tendency to plan binges in advance, I use this planning tendency to develop present moment awareness and increased self observation.

I then focus on dealing with the core issues underlying the emotional pain – essential for lasting change. I use a combination of techniques to help identify the negative conditioning that contributes to their low self image, and to release the grief that underlies their sense of emptiness and self loathing. In this way a sense of true self worth can blossom naturally.

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Weight Loss & Eating DisordersAnorexiaBulimiaFood Substituing Feelings