The Epitome Of Eating: Bulimia Nervosa Causes & Symptoms

Bulimia Nervosa, also known as binge eating disorder in layman’s terms, is a mental health disorder. It is mostly found in men and women of teen and adult age though the rates are quite low when compared to the total population, it still remains as one of the most worrying disorders. Why you may ask? Bulimia Nervosa is one of the most lethal eating disorders known to psychologists that is why it is quite worrying. The people suffering from it tend to harm their body to an extent that the damage could be irreversible and even death in some cases.

What is Bulimia Nervosa?

As mentioned before, it is an eating disorder in which people tend to eat way more than they need and should. Now this, not the only problem, the patients also project signs of purging. What is purging? In simple taking the eaten food out of the body through one way or another. The purging can happen through various means such as extreme usage of laxatives, overexertion during exercise, vomiting, vomiting that is forcefully initiated, etc. If someone is suffering from Bulimia Nervosa then they eat a lot and then purge forcefully. This results in a long cycle of eating and purging on a severe level.

This can happen due to a lot of reasons such as lower self-esteem, negative body image, insecurities, scarred childhood, bad parenting, etc. They are more conscious of their body image, weight, and structure. The changes in body may not be too visible for one to notice so many people suffering from it can go undiagnosed or are able to hide it well. This results in them suffering alone and it may be possible that they even themselves are not aware of it.

Women are more prone to developing this condition, they have chances of around 1.5 percent, it may seem low but if you compare it with men they the percent goes down to a third of around 0.5. People whose job is based on the heavy performance of their bodily abilities such as stuntmen, models, performers, dancers, athletes, etc are more likely to develop Bulimia Nervosa as they are more likely to be criticized for it and can also develop performance anxiety.

Also Read: Long Term Effects Of Bulimia Nervosa: Things You Should Keep In Mind

Symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa

There are a lot of symptoms and if I start curating all of them then it would become an unnecessarily long list. So I will be sticking with the important ones, the ones which are common and are present in almost every case.

• Avoidance of social gatherings.
• Too much obsession with body image, fat, and weight.
• Eating alone and denying eating in groups.
• Eating in large quantities.
• Forceful vomiting and purging through various means.
• Laxative abuse.
• Frequent acid reflux.
• Social Anxiety.
• Depression, stress.

Hormonal Imbalance leading to unhealthy changes in mental and emotional instability, etc.

What are the causes of Bulimia Nervosa?

As of now, Bulimia Nervosa has been thoroughly researched among psychologists and no particular cause or trigger has been found so far. But there are some factors that can lead a person to that. Parenting, childhood, bringing up, environment, diet, etc are some of those factors which can be considered responsible for it. A mental state and how a person has been treated should also be taken on a serious note. If a person is suffering from short temper, bottled up issues, OCD, PTSD, insecurities, then to they can develop Bulimia Nervosa. Some researches also suggest that genes can also be responsible for such behavior, while others also suggest a deficiency of hormones like serotonin in the brain can also force people to behave in such away.

So these were some of the symptoms and causes of Bulimia Nervosa eating disorder that I wanted to share with you. If you know someone in your family, friends, colleagues who may be suffering from then do advise them to seek help as this situation can get worse if left untreated, and such deadly disorder should not be ignored.

I hope it helps.

Thanks for Reading!

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