Causes, symptoms and treatment of bulimia nervosa

Modern society is susceptible to many mental pathologies, among which a separate group are nervous eating disorders, in particular bulimia.
It is noteworthy that men suffer from this disease much less frequently than representatives of the fair half of society, due to a number of reasons that will be discussed further. Bulimia literally means “bovine hunger” in Greek. Other names for this deviation are kinorexia, i.e. wolf hunger. Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by regular, uncontrollable bouts of overeating.

The danger is not only the fact of lack of control over the amount of food eaten, but also the subsequent unhealthy concern about controlling body weight. Therefore, most bulimics resort to radical measures designed to neutralize (eliminate) the aftereffect of consumed foods on body weight.

Types of food pathology

Bulimia nervosa has different forms of manifestation, but has a common pattern of eating behavior: periods of uncontrolled food intake alternate with periods of active weight loss. Overeating (hyperphagia) can be:

• paroxysmal;
• permanent nature;
• at night.

A bulimic is unable to independently control outbreaks of irresistible hunger. When starting to eat, a person is unable to stop on his own until he clearly feels pain in the stomach and nausea.

People suffering from bulimia are more concerned about their figure than others. After another attack, they usually feel depressed due to guilt and remorse after what happened. Therefore, patients try in any way to avoid weight gain. For this reason, bulimia is divided into two types:

• classic nervous (cleansing ). She is characterized by a constant preoccupation with food and a desire to consume it in repeated episodes. Getting rid of hyperphagia involves taking drugs that have diuretic and laxative properties, forced gastric emptying (vomiting), and enema;
• compulsive _ Its peculiarity is that uncontrolled preoccupation with food is accompanied by careful monitoring of body weight. This type is characterized by other drastic measures for weight loss - exhausting mono-diets, additional physical activity, conscious fasting. At the same time, bulimics do not rid themselves of what they eat artificially. At a certain point, a person breaks down and begins to absorb food in even greater quantities.

Experts have identified so-called atypical kinorexia . This subtype has much in common with the classic form of eating disorder. However, an incomplete picture of the clinical manifestations required for a given mental pathology does not provide grounds for a doctor to determine a final diagnosis. The reason for this is an insufficient number of key symptoms of the disease. For example, after overeating and subsequent forced rejection of food, there is a complete absence of concern about being overweight and the desire to have ideal shapes.

Manifestations and signs

The symptoms of kinorexia are determined by pathologically altered eating behavior and additional physiological indicators. The psychosomatics of such a deviation may not be expressed clearly enough, so it is important to pay attention to the auxiliary signs of the disease.

Bulimics are very similar to anorexics, but they are much more difficult to detect. While the latter can be easily identified by their unhealthy thinness, the weight of people with bulimia is close to normal. In addition, they are very ashamed of their addiction, so they try to hide it in various ways. For example, at social events they may simply not touch food, so as not to provoke a food breakdown.

The main signs of this eating disorder are:

• the first signal about the presence of a food pathology is excessive preoccupation with appearance, control of one’s weight;
• a sick person consumes an excessive amount of food at one time. These are mainly foods high in fat, starch, and sweets. A bulimic may leave in the middle of a meal to go to the toilet in order to get rid of what he has eaten. To muffle the sounds of vomiting, a person can specially create the noise of flowing water (turn on the tap, flush water in the drain tank);
• people who have eating pathologies prefer to eat alone and avoid public events;
• the patient's relatives may often notice the disappearance of large amounts of food. However, in order to hide his pathology, the bulimic tries to replace the missing products as quickly as possible even before their significant shortage is discovered;
• among pharmacological drugs such people may have a large number of laxatives;
• during a medical examination, the doctor notes an extreme degree of dehydration or disruption of the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
• bulimia leads to the destruction of teeth and gums, which can be noticed by the dentist;
• people who suffer from bulimia often complain of pain in the stomach, heartburn, swelling of the extremities, regular dizziness, ruptured capillaries on the face, swelling, women - failure of the cyclicity of menstruation

Additional physiological symptoms:

• haste when eating food, poor chewing;
• isolation in matters related to food;
• frequent attacks of irresistible hunger;
• dynamics of body weight in a positive or negative direction;
• inflammatory processes in the throat area, specific injuries on the fingers and hands that occur due to forced vomiting;
• disorders of the heart, kidneys, and liver.

Doctors state that bouts of overeating are episodic. Most often, the provocateur of such an attack of gluttony is psychosocial stress. Overeating ends in compensatory behavior: a person consciously provokes vomiting, uses special drugs that cleanse the body, significantly increases physical activity, and resorts to fasting.

A mandatory aspect for making a diagnosis of “bulimia nervosa,” in addition to uncontrolled consumption of food, is the patient’s concern about his body weight and his appearance. Most often, bulimics are dissatisfied with their weight and consider it excessive. Paradoxically, obesity or excess weight with bulimia is observed in rare cases.

Patients with kinorexia are more open when contacting a specialist. Doctors believe that the reason for this is the personal concern of such individuals about what is happening, as well as feelings of guilt and shame about this. A clinician who is sympathetic to the patient has the opportunity to obtain from him the most frank information that reflects what is really happening to the person.

Causes

The basis of the disease is a complex of causes that are biopsychosocial in nature. The consciousness of modern man is influenced by many factors: social, biological, cultural. By promoting certain ideals of beauty, the media programs the population to conform to them. The general situation is aggravated by public opinion and advertising campaigns.

This eating disorder, like any other mental disorder, has both biological and psychological background.

Biological factors in the occurrence of the disease include disruption of the normal functioning of the brain. These include organic damage in the area of ​​the brain center responsible for human nutritional activity, as well as disruption of metabolic processes occurring in the body. Bulimia can also be triggered by traumatic brain injury, brain tumors, or hormonal imbalance that results in disruption of the normal functioning of the pituitary gland or hypothalamus.

The causes of psychological illness are more varied, but they are more difficult to detect. These include:

• emotional stress over a long period of time;
• neuroses of various types;
• low self-esteem;
• depressive states;
• increased anxiety or obsessive mental disorders;
• tendency to heredity.

Bulimia nervosa can develop against the background of excessive enthusiasm for all kinds of diets. Limiting oneself for a long time in favorite foods, after finishing such a “poor” diet, a person literally pounces on food.

Children and adolescents from wealthy families are most susceptible to kinorexia. The high demands that parents place on them lead to the child’s loss of personal self-esteem and its underestimation. Gradually, the still unformed personality begins to “eat up” the lack of warmth and affection from loved ones. At the same time, as already mentioned, an important role is played by the media, which promote standard beauty.

The child, realizing that he eats too much and can no longer refuse it, feverishly begins to look for ways to consume an incommensurate amount of food, but at the same time not lose weight.

It is characteristic that in those countries where excessive “boning” is not considered a standard of beauty, bulimia, as a mental pathology, is very rare.

Types of neuroses

As a collective concept, “neurosis” can be used to name both a single malfunction of the nervous system and its chronic disorder. There are many types of neuroses. Let's look at the most common ones.

• • Neurasthenia. The mildest form of neurosis is associated with the inability to build communication and overcome the barriers associated with it. A person isolates himself from society and suffers from it. A neurasthenic person gets irritated for any reason, experiences headaches and heart pain, gets tired quickly and is prone to insomnia.
• • Hysterical (panic) neurosis. Characteristic of people who do not take criticism well. The hysteric is capricious and spoiled. He has an overly inflated opinion of himself, making inadequate demands on others. Characteristic symptoms of hysterical neurosis are dizziness, convulsions, nausea, vomiting, tearfulness.
• • Obsessive-compulsive disorder. A person experiencing anxious thoughts begins to build certain rituals and rules of behavior. In this way, he tries to protect himself from fears and build some kind of protection around himself. The patient experiences constant causeless anxiety and becomes very irritated when it is impossible to comply with the ritual. He is extremely careful and painfully pedantic.
• • Hypochondria. Neuroticism of behavior is manifested in the constant search and “finding” of symptoms of serious diseases. A hypochondriac constantly visits doctors and may even experience phantom pain.
• • Depressive neurosis. The most dangerous type of neurosis, in which a person’s vitality sharply decreases and he begins to have suicidal thoughts. Neurosis and depression themselves are considered different concepts, because they can arise and exist independently of each other.

Consequences

Many people consider bulimia nervosa to be a minor pathology that can be dealt with on their own without the help of a specialist. This misconception can lead to extremely undesirable results that will affect both psychological and physical levels.

The results of an advanced form of the disease may include the following phenomena:

• depression, a depressed state caused by feelings of shame and guilt for one’s behavior;
• there is a sharp change in life values ​​and priorities;
• Communication with other people deteriorates.

The physical consequences manifest themselves as follows:

• a violation of the body's water balance, which occurs with regular use of laxatives or provoked vomiting. These actions also lead to a deficiency of microelements necessary for humans - potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, etc. As a result, a person begins to feel weak, shortness of breath appears, an accelerated heartbeat (tachycardia), and kidney function is disrupted;
• the general hormonal background changes, natural metabolic processes are disrupted;
• high probability of gastritis, stomach ulcers;
• The mucous membrane of the mouth becomes inflamed, inflammation and ulcers appear in its cavity. Tooth enamel, which is regularly exposed to vomit with an aggressive, acidic environment, is gradually destroyed, which leads to tooth loss;
• the condition of the skin, hair, and nails gradually deteriorates;
• weakening of muscle and bone tissue, which occurs due to a gradual change in the biological rhythms of the body.

Treatment of neurosis

Being a very specific pathology, neurosis requires an integrated approach to treatment. The first step in the right direction is to contact a specialist (neurologist, psychiatrist or psychotherapist). It doesn’t matter who exactly you contact at the beginning, because in the end you will definitely be sent into the right hands. Treatment is prescribed taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient and the identified symptoms. The following methods for treating neuroses are in use:

• • Drug influence. As a rule, at the initial stage, the doctor may prescribe a course of tranquilizers or other potent drugs.
• • Individual psychotherapy aimed at resolving the conflict situation underlying the disease.
• • Herbal therapy. Motherwort, aloe, lemon balm, peony and a number of other herbs have a proven healing effect.
• • General course of strengthening the body. The most general concept includes physical exercise, spa treatment, a special diet, and much more.
• • Physiotherapy.

To be guaranteed to get rid of neurosis and avoid its relapse, a person must develop positive thinking and become stress-resistant.

Therapy for kinorexia

In order for a doctor to be able to make a final diagnosis of “bulimia nervosa,” the following signs must be present in a comprehensive manner:

• attacks of painful gluttony occur regularly, from 2 times a week for more than 3 months;
• the patient feels a strong craving for food, which can be compared to anxiety;
• fear of obesity, constant dissatisfaction with the state of one’s body;
• using all possible methods to help prevent excess weight.

Experts unanimously state that treatment for bulimia should have a comprehensive approach and be carried out exclusively with the participation of a doctor. The general treatment plan includes the following types of therapy:

• psychotherapy;
• psychocorrection;
• pharmacotherapy.

As a rule, treatment is carried out in an outpatient (home) setting with mandatory regular visits to the doctor. In more complex cases, when the pathology of eating behavior is complicated by concomitant nervous disorders, the doctor recommends inpatient treatment. This measure is especially necessary to relieve the patient’s acute condition.

In order to form a stable remission, in particular when using psychopharmacotherapy, it is recommended to conduct monthly examinations and consultations with a treating specialist.

How to treat hypochondriacal neurosis

Patients with a similar diagnosis require complex psychotherapy, and individual sessions do not always have the desired effect, since a hypochondriac often does not trust the doctor. Therefore, at the initial stage of treatment, group consultations are indicated, during which the patient understands that his case is not an isolated one. He listens and can support other people suffering from a similar disorder, speaking out loud his fears and concerns, without fear of judgment and ridicule.

And only after the patient recognizes the existing problem is it possible to move on to individual consultations using the methods of rational and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy.

You can learn more about the treatment of hypochondriacal neurosis at the Leto clinic from our consultants by calling 8 (969)060-93-93 .