Essay about Bulimia Nervosa: Meg's Story

There are many different psychological illnesses in the world, each with different causes. While eating is an key function of life, some people may be doing harm to their body with their eating habits. Eating disorders occur when a person has a bad relationship with food and can be deadly. The book Elena Vanishing, by Elena Dunkle and Clare B. Dunkle, gives a better understanding of the background of eating disorders and many reviewers are impacted by the book’s vital message.

Bulimia nervosa, also called bulimia is a possible life threating eating disorder. A person that suffers from bulimia may secretly binge their food. They may eat large amount of food and then purge their food to get rid of the additional calories that they’ve digested. Bulimia is categorized in two ways, purging bulimia and non-purging bulimia. Purging bulimia is when a person regularly self-induces vomiting after eating. Non-purging bulimia is when an individual may use other methods to try to prevent weight gain, such as fasting, extreme dieting, or overly exercising.

Bulimia Nervosa is the other eating disorder Kesha suffered from. The APA describes bulimia as eating in “..excessive quantities, then [purging] their bodies of the food and calories they fear by using laxatives, enemas, or diuretics; vomiting; or exercising.” Bulimia is more common in young women, but can also occur with young men. Because it involves purging the food after eating, the person with the disorder is usually aware of the problem and can feel guilty about it. The National Library of Medicine states that bulimia can be caused by a number of things, including “genetic, psychological, trauma, family, society, or cultural factors.” Symptoms include immediate trips to the restroom after eating, excessive exercise, eating large amounts of food in one sitting (binging), and using laxatives. Bulimia can cause dehydration, gingivitis, worn enamel on the teeth, pancreatitis, tears in the esophagus, and broken blood vessels in the eyes. A person with bulimia may only eat in secret, or eat large sums of food in one sitting. This can cause discomfort and purging can either cause relief or guilt. Support groups, therapy, and antidepressants may be used to treat a person with bulimia. Hospitalization or inpatient treatment is rarely necessary unless another disorder accompanies the bulimia.

Cynthia Rowland was an outwardly vivacious and successful television news reporter, who inwardly had slipped into the depths of bulimia. An addiction to binging and purging and heavy doses of laxatives finally landed her in treatment. The Monster Within tells the story of her descent into sickness, her struggle to learn why she was engaging in slow suicide, and the courage and grace it took to get well.

An equally disruptive eating disorder that has been seen in increasing numbers in recent years is Bulimia. About two percent of American women are affected by this disorder. Bulimia is characterized by a distinctive binging and purging cycle. Individuals with this disorder will often times consume large amounts of food, and the immediate throw it back up. These binging and purging actions have substantial medical risks. Additionally, some individuals consume large amounts of food and then proceed to exercise for exorbitant amounts of time. This can also be a risk to ones wellbeing. Other characteristics associated with Bulimia include the abuse of laxatives and diuretics. Individuals with this disease often times completely lose control over their dietary habits. The massive highs and lows cause emotional instability. The mood swings that

She began believing she wasn’t worth as much and began settling for men who just wanted to sleep with her and turned to drinking as ways to ease her pain. As this form of comfort became less effective, she began altering her image to suit her needs and it progressed until even she was trying to convince others of the validity of it.

Meg (Margaret) Murry is not like any other twelve-year-old girl. She is upset with just about everything but most of all she “hates” herself. She thinks that she is an “oddball” and that is why nobody likes her. Meg isn’t that great in school either; she can only do math but that doesn’t matter because the teachers mark her down for doing the problems “in her own way.”

Marya Hornbacher had a tough life since she was a little girl, at just the age of nine she was bulimic, and by the time she was fifteen she was anorexic. She has been hospitalized, institutionalized, and in endless sessions of therapy. Her eating disorder not only destroyed her teenage years, but it also destroyed her childhood because from the early age she had a bad relationship with food. She began dieting when she was five because she wanted to be as thin as her mother. No one told her or taught her about bulimia, she found out on her own about how to get rid of the food. She continue to suffer with bulimia until she went to boarding school in 10th grade where she became anorexic,which caused her to be hospitalized. Her family was worried

People with bulimia nervosa will often eat excessive amounts of food, called binging, and then use different methods to purge those calories. Methods used include laxatives, enemas, vomiting, diuretics, or over-exercising (Brownell,

In A Wrinkle in Time Meg is filled with a lot of self-pity and self-doubt inside of her. Meg tends to compare herself to her mom often. Meg thinks that she is ¨repulsive-looking¨ and fails to see that everybody is unique. Meg has a character versus self conflict. Meg acts like everything about her is horrible because her father is gone and she needs attention from her family. She tries to cover up the fact that she misses her father with self- pity. When Meg compares herself to her mom she really tends to beat herself up. “...maybe if I were pretty like you” (12) Meg thinks her mom is so much better than she is.

Bulimia Nervosa refers to when an individual over-eats excessively and then takes action to purge the body of the intake. There are five criteria for Bulimia Nervosa in the DSM-IV, which include: recurring episodes of binge eating, recurring actions of purging, the patterns must continue at least twice a week for three months or more, a huge emphasis on body weight in self-evaluation, and the actions must occur apart

Anderson’s novel is an intense look at mental and physical pain endured by teens with eating disorders. The plot is familiar enough, both in fiction and in real life. Our heroine, Lia, already ill, is sent on a vicious downward spiral into anorexia and self-harm by the news that her ex-best friend, Cassie, has died alone in a motel room from excessive purposeful purging. The desperation and self-hatred that this triggers are set against

Another concepts wich are central to the MB-EAT program are the concepts of self-acceptance and inner “wisdom” , central aspects of traditional meditation practice. Alexandra will be encouraged to recognize her own internal strengths, and be open to her own understanding and solutions to future life situations, rather than judging herself for crossing self-inflicted norms of weight or behavior, which is typical for eating disorders.(Kristeller, 2011)

As Brandy got into Oklahoma State University, she lost control of her disorder. She no longer had any normal eating habits. She is becoming quite miserable with herself, despite appearing to be thriving in everything she attempts at Oklahoma State. Her disorder has caused her to become susceptible to social pressures of thinness. She has finally sought

“Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by massive food binges followed by self-induced vomiting or use of diuretics and laxatives to avoid weight gain.” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia)