Bulimia is a mental disorder in which there is an eating disorder. The disease mainly manifests itself in attacks of overeating - a person consumes large amounts of food, but does not feel full. After this, those who suffer from bulimia feel guilty and get rid of the food themselves, using a variety of methods, from taking laxatives to artificially inducing vomiting. The result of such methods is weakening and exhaustion of the body. The main danger of the disease is that the symptoms are quite difficult to notice. To save the patient's life, urgent measures must be taken. The disease can be cured at home, but therapy must be comprehensive.
Don't give bulimia a chance
To maintain the body in normal working condition, a person’s daily diet must be balanced. The menu must contain proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and microelements. A person with an eating disorder can consume all this. But due to his bad habit of getting rid of food after every meal, he manages to lose weight with great harm to the body: nutrients do not have time to be absorbed. The problem is aggravated by the psychological factor of guilt. And again a vicious circle arises: a feeling of dissatisfaction with life gives rise to attacks of uncontrollable appetite; eating food causes guilt and a desire to get rid of what you have eaten; cleansing the stomach again provokes guilt for what has been done and another attack of hunger. Sometimes a different reaction is observed: being in a depressed state, depression and anxiety first set in, and then a long period of complete refusal to eat occurs.
The danger is the fact that at the very beginning of the disease, the person is not yet aware of the existence of the problem. Indeed, what’s so terrible if after a hearty lunch or dinner it mechanically cleanses the stomach or intestines? It soon becomes a habit. But even at this stage the question “how to get rid of bulimia” does not yet arise. After all, he doesn’t have a problem. And hundreds of women torture themselves physically every day, instead of turning to a specialist and being treated with medication. There is also effective therapy at home, which is effective at the very beginning of the disease. Time matters here.
Treatment of bulimia with folk remedies
Treating bulimia with garlic
In addition to treatment with medications and psychotherapy, traditional medicine will help make the body function properly with bulimia. These remedies include garlic (three slices). It is cleaned and ground on a fine grater, filled with hot, clean water at a temperature of approximately 20 degrees. All this is kept for one day, and then drunk before bed. You should use one tablespoon. This remedy has a beneficial effect on the tone of the valve connecting the esophagus and stomach.
Flaxseed oil is also used as a treatment. It can be bought at a pharmacy. Before each meal you need to consume 20 ml of oil. Remember: it is much more correct to eat food more often, but in small portions.
Treatment of bulimia with mint and parsley
An infusion made from mint and parsley is characterized by a powerful calming and tonic effect. These herbs need to be dried and mixed in equal proportions, then ground to a powdery consistency and pour one tablespoon of the mixture with very hot water (250 ml). After half an hour, the infusion can already be drunk. This medicinal substance can satisfy the feeling of hunger for a certain period of time (two or more hours).
An infusion of wormwood is also suitable as a treatment for this disease. One teaspoon of dried herb is poured with hot water (1 glass) and left for half an hour. The remedy should be consumed half an hour before eating, one tablespoon. In one day you need to perform at least 3 techniques.
Treatment of bulimia with herbal decoctions
A decoction of plums and figs is also considered a useful decoction for this disease. These fruits (500 g) must be cut and filled with 3 liters of water. All this needs to be boiled until the volume decreases by 500 ml. After this, you can drink a healthy and tasty decoction of half a glass 4 times a day.
An easy but effective way to say goodbye to bulimia is to use a healing decoction of celery. Pour 20 g of this plant with clean hot water (250 ml) and boil over low heat for about fifteen minutes. When this time has elapsed, the medicinal product is removed from the heat and filtered. This volume of decoction should be consumed in one day in three doses. It should be consumed before meals.
Bulimia nervosa can be overcome by following some simple tips. The feeling of hunger can be reduced by consuming mineral water, green tea or kefir. A decoction of corn silk is very useful as a tea. Use 10 g of stigmas per 200 ml of water and steam in a water bath for twenty minutes. This remedy is consumed before meals, 1 tablespoon.
A healthy lifestyle and carefully selected nutrition will also help get rid of bulimia. Avoid drinking coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, sugar-sweetened soda, and eating sugar.
Various herbs are also used to treat bulimia: basil, grape seed extract, catnip and others. Therapeutic massage and outdoor sports activities will also not cause harm.
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How to deal with bulimia?
Experts have developed a special scale of questions, by answering which a person can understand whether he has a problem. If an ideal figure becomes an end in itself no matter what, after eating a feeling of guilt and a desire to get rid of what you eat appears, there is a constant desire to resort to mechanical or medicinal means that cause vomiting and diarrhea - therapy is necessary.
The following signs of the disease indicate that treatment for bulimia is necessary for one of your relatives or friends: poor enamel on the teeth and constant bad breath, dehydration, menstrual irregularities in women, gastrointestinal problems (when food simply can no longer digested and voluntary vomiting or intestinal upset occurs). It is even more difficult for loved ones to admit their problem to others, so a qualified psychologist can be the best assistant here. There are recommendations, following which, you can direct yourself to defeat bulimia on your own:
- honestly admit to yourself that the problem exists;
- try to understand what lies at the root: as a rule, eating disorders are associated with psychological stress that tries to “eat”;
- find an activity that can become an alternative to uncontrollable bouts of gluttony. Alternative therapy that helps you “switch” at home - yoga, dancing, meditation, travel.
If there are no difficulties with the first point, but you cannot implement the last two, resulting in constant breakdowns, find and trust a good psychologist. Joint therapy will give quick results.
Treatment for bulimia
Psychotherapeutic methods are used to treat bulimia; it is also recommended to adhere to a diet and use certain pharmacological drugs, such as antidepressants. Since bulimia very often occurs with depression. Also, when treating bulimia, symptomatic therapy is used: the patient is prescribed medications that have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the digestive or cardiovascular system of the body.
In order to avoid developing bulimia, you need to maintain a sense of normal self-esteem every day, and if you notice any changes in appetite, you need to follow a certain diet, go to a psychologist and try to introduce something new into your leisure time than you already have. didn't do it.
PHOTO AND VIDEO
Bulimia. Maxim Goncharov about psychotherapy for bulimia
Personal experience with bulimia
How to get rid of bulimia on your own?
Any treatment begins with the patient’s desire to get rid of the disease. This is preceded by a stage of awareness. He is the most difficult. To cure bulimia once and for all, proper therapy should consist of three approaches:
- psychotraining;
- developing a balanced diet;
- working on your own body.
The first thing you need to learn is to accept yourself. And it doesn’t matter that the figure does not meet generally accepted standards.
The second is to create the right diet at home. The diet should include all healthy foods, and it is advisable to keep the breaks between meals short. This diet will allow you to eat small meals and not feel hungry before your next meal. The habit of overeating will gradually disappear.
Third, seek help from a psychologist who can monitor the condition and adjust treatment in a timely manner. It’s no secret that bulimia often accompanies a number of emotional disorders, including depression. And any stress can trigger a breakdown after remission. Various addictions are often observed: alcohol, gambling, drugs. In this case, self-medication is no longer acceptable. Additional therapy is needed.
It is important to remember that treatment for bulimia does not happen in a month. This takes many weeks and sometimes years. It all depends on the cause of the disease, the degree and severity of the course. The first positive results, if the correct therapy is chosen, will be observed after the first weeks. Being inspired by success, it is important not to quit what you started halfway. Otherwise, there will inevitably be relapses.
Symptoms of bulimia
The main and main symptom of bulimia is an incessant feeling of hunger. A sick person has a very strong craving for food, and he cannot do anything about it, he is simply forced to eat this food. Eating a large amount of food, he does not feel full and for this reason he eats more than he could eat if he were healthy. Bulimics are usually depressed. Their mood improves only when they eat, but if they are not allowed to eat, they can plunge into a depressed state of depression, can be very irritable, and their mental and physical abilities soon begin to decline.
Excess body weight is an immediate symptom of bulimia. But this does not apply to all people suffering from this disease. The constant fear of becoming overweight can force them to refuse food for a very long period of time, even artificially provoke a gag reflex, use laxatives, or actively engage in physical exercise every day in the fresh air or in the gym. In this regard, another characteristic symptom of this insidious disease is identified as bulimia - a special behavioral pattern.
Like any other disease, bulimia includes certain stages. The initial stage is accompanied by rare attacks of craving for food, which are absolutely not controlled by the body. One or two attacks occur in one month, during the period when the disease makes itself known. Bulimia can also be a chronic disease.
Therefore, the organs of the gastrointestinal tract, heart, blood vessels are damaged, and it is especially important that the psyche is damaged. The patient exhibits emotional instability, a feeling of severe anxiety, hysteria and lack of confidence in himself and the future, all of which greatly aggravates the disease.
The disease bulimia can provoke depression, obesity and can be one of the main symptoms of anorexia.
It is possible to overcome bulimia at home
Since the main cause of “ravenous appetite” (that’s what the disease was once called) lies on the psychological plane, you must first correct your internal state:
- Love yourself and understand that others love you not for your perfect appearance.
- Do not cultivate a feeling of guilt for every bite you eat. Allow yourself to be imperfect. Diet is not an end in itself.
- Recognize the right to the existence of any emotions, including negative ones.
- With the help of auto-training and meditation, learn to get rid of anxiety and fear.
- Understand that you cannot achieve the ideal without serious hardships. In the case of bulimia, not only health, but life is at stake. Is the ideal figure worth such sacrifices?
When the question “how to cope with bulimia” occupies your entire consciousness, remember that the habit of eating problems is a way to satisfy nervous hunger. But it can be dealt with in another way. If you find harmony in yourself, set the right goals and priorities, the meaning of life will appear. The energy will be directed in a different direction. The need to seek joy in exorbitant food will go away. A proper balanced diet will help you finally recover and lose weight without harm to your health.
Causes of bulimia
There are 3 categories: organic, social and psychogenic.
Organic causes are various metabolic disorders, diabetes mellitus, brain damage by a tumor or toxins in the hypothalamus. Causes also include genetic factors, such as congenital diseases that can change the structure of the brain.
Social reasons are the relationship of the society in which a person finds himself every day to his body weight. For example, in countries where body weight is a significant criterion for assessing a person, the number of bulimics increases markedly. When a woman in our modern world always follows a strict diet, refusing to eat for fear of gaining extra pounds, she thereby increases the risk of developing bulimia, since the everyday fear of gaining weight is accompanied by nervousness, which is most easily relieved by eating very tempting food.
Psychogenic causes are various psychological traumas, the easiest way to get rid of them is with the help of delicious food. Also directly included in this category of reasons are low self-esteem, a gloomy attitude towards life and other similar categories. Very often, people with bulimia, fearing excess body weight, artificially provoke vomiting after eating a variety of foods.
Signs
- Uncontrolled eating of “favorite foods” (most often seen in the first stages of the disease, then a person can start eating everything that is in the refrigerator);
- general focus on food, calories, body weight;
- the person experiences frequent bouts of insatiable hunger, even though the meal could have taken place half an hour ago;
- distorted vision of the volume of your body, weight;
- increasing feelings of guilt;
- a critical attitude towards one’s own person;
- the wildest fear of getting better;
- problems sleeping (may wake up at night and have a snack and then get rid of it);
- There is a mental and emotional disorder in the form of mood swings. But in addition to the signs, there are also symptoms that are highly recommended not to be ignored.
