- Battling an Eating Disorder:
- When Bulimia Becomes a True American Idol
Sized Problem
By Abigail Natenshon, MA,
LCSW, GCFP
In a People Magazine article,
American Idol contestant, Katherine McPhee disclosed that she
has secretly suffered from bulimia for the past five years. It
was her success in television's American Idol competition that
inspired her to come forward and get help to recover from her
life-threatening eating disorder. Katherine, a vocalist who at
her worst point was self-inducing vomiting up to seven times
a day, claimed that she realized her bulimic behaviors were "equivalent
to taking a sledgehammer to her throat" and brought herself
to treatment.
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Glamorizing Eating Disorder
Illnesses? Or Becoming an Invaluable Role Model?
Some may think when celebrities
like Katherine come forward with such problems it only "glamorizes"
the illness and encourages dysfunction in impressionable young
people. In reality, some impressionable youngsters may respond
by engaging in self-destructive experimentation, but for the
most part, the responses of people like Katherine McPhee provide
invaluable role modeling for fans.
Though statistics show that 1
percent of young females in this country suffer with bulimia,
the numbers most likely do not reflect the enormity of the problem,
as bulimia is among the most frequently missed diagnoses, and
only a minority of people with eating disorders, especially with
bulimia nervosa, are treated in mental healthcare. A problem
cannot be solved until it is defined. In coming forward as she
has, McPhee has displayed the courage and intention to achieve
her dreams, to become proactive in making her life as healthy,
gratified and fulfilled as it can be. |
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Despite the widely held misconception
that "once eating disordered, always eating disordered,"
eating disorders are fully curable in 80 percent of cases where
recognized early and treated effectively. In her forthright and
courageous stand, this American Idol contestant has become a
true American idol.
Uncovering the Secrets of
Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa: The Most Lethal Mental
Health Disorders
The most lethal of all the metal
health disorders, bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa are extremely
hard to recognize. Highly secretive diseases, they rarely show
up in doctors' offices during physical or functional assessments;
even laboratory tests do not show evidence of eating disorders
until they are in their most advanced stages. By their nature
counterintuitive, eating disorders typically give victims a pseudo-sense
of power and control, creating the illusion of feeling and becoming
"better than ever." In actual fact, certain stages
of recovery feel more precarious and painful than does the disease
itself. Making matters even more confusing, many of the symptoms
of these lethal disorders lay somewhere along the continuum of
normal human behaviors. Who doesn't overeat, under-eat or engage
in emotional or social eating at times?
Eating disorders, which essentially
represent an abuse of food in an effort to resolve emotional
problems, transcend a dysfunctional relationship with food to
represent the tip of a physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral
and social iceberg, with early signs of clinical eating disorders
typically evident in diverse life spheres.
8 signs that parents and families
may see at home, around the dinner table, in the family bathroom,
or the child's bedroom:
1. Erratic eating, eating too
much or too little, too frequently or too seldom.
2. Dieting and other restrictive
eating behaviors (in some instances vegetarianism or skipping
meals) that can result in extreme hunger and gorging, irregular
menstrual periods.
3. Fear of putting on weight,
with an all-encompassing preoccupation with food and eating that
can account for as much as 80 percent of an individual's thoughts
4. Hiding food, and feeling shame
and guilt after eating it. The refusal to eat in the company
of others.
5. Depressive moods
6. Various forms of purging,
including self-induced vomiting, excessive exercising, laxative,
diuretic, or Ipecac abuse
7. Disappearances into the bathroom
during or following meals
8. Impulsive, immoderate and
out of control behaviors beyond the realm of eating, that might
include shop lifting, promiscuity, cutting, engaging in chaotic
relationships, abuse of substances such as drugs, alcohol, nicotine,
diet pills, etc.
There is nothing passive about
eating disorders. Always on the move, they are either getting
better or you can be certain they are getting worse. Eating disorder
recovery can be a long-term process, requiring input from a diverse
team of professionals including physicians, psychotherapists,
family therapists, nutritionists, psycho pharmacologists and
school counselors. The course of recovery will be as variable,
must be as comprehensive, and in many ways will feel as convoluted
as the course of disease, typically combining outpatient and
inpatient treatment milieus and diverse treatment modes. Victims
of eating disorders, as young as age 5 or as old as 60, male
or female, individuals alone or living within the context of
a supportive or not so supportive family system need help to
recognize, accept and conquer these diseases.to become capable
of reclaiming their lives, proactively, with steadfast commitment.
to fight the good fight for life and life quality. |
