IS IT BULIMIA?

Q AMy daughter is losing weight and yet she eats loads of food. I think she may have bulimia. The main signs of bulimia are binge eating and purging.

There may also be psychological symptoms, such as – an obsessive attitude towards food and eating; unrealistic opinions about body weight and shape; depression, anxiety and isolation – losing interest in people.

Without treatment, bulimia can lead to a number of physical complications ons. Binge eating is repea atedly eating vast quantities of high-calorie food, without necessarily feeling hungry or needing to eat. When binge eating is a symptom of bulimia, it happens regularly, not just once or twice. Binge eating episode es are sometimes spontaneous, where you eat anything you can find. They can al lso be planned, where y ou make a shopping trip p to buy foods specificall ly to binge on. Purging is a response to bingeing. After you have eaten lots of food in a short space of time, you may feel physically bloated and unattractive. You may also feel guilty, regretful and full of self-hatred.

However, the main impulse to purge is a powerful, overriding fear of putting on weight. The most common methods of purging involve making yourself vomit or using laxatives to encourage your body to pass the food quickly. Less common methods of purging include taking diet pills, over-exercising, extreme dieting, periods of starvation or taking illegal drugs, such as amphetamines. ■ https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/ mental-health/bulimia#symptoms