Counseling for Bulimia or Anorexia in Pflugerville, TX—Treatment and Therapy
With more and more celebrities opening up publicly about their struggle with bulimia and anorexia, our culture is having important and needed conversations about body image and healthy eating habits. But it is not just Jane Fonda, Lily Collins, Hilary Duff, Demi Lovato, Elton John, Kesha, Zoe Kravitz, Zayn Malik, Shawn Johnson, and Russell Brand (to name a few) who are fighting an eating disorder. Bulimia and anorexia affect approximately 30 million Americans.
Some people mistake bulimia and anorexia for a picky phase that teenagers have and then move passed, but this misconception minimizes these dangerous disorders. Without treatment, they can cause extreme health problems, and anorexia, in particular, has the highest death rate of all psychiatric disorders.
And yet, only about 10 percent of people receive the treatment they need for their eating disorders even though there are effective treatments available. Each person has specific psychological and medical needs, and treatment can be tailored to need those needs. Often, the first step to treating bulimia or anorexia is seeking professional help.
The counselors at Thriveworks Pflugerville understand how bulimia and anorexia can harm a person physically and psychologically, and they have helped many clients find the holistic care they deserve.
Recognizing Bulimia and Anorexia
There are several different types of eating disorders acknowledged by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), and anorexia and bulimia are likely the most well-known. While they share many similarities, they are distinct diagnoses, and recognizing their differences is important.
More commonly known as simply anorexia, the DSM-5 gives the following diagnostics for anorexia nervosa:
- Feeling contempt for one’s weight and/or body while being unable to perceive the low body weight.
- Irrational and severe fear of gaining weight that results in interference with normal weight maintenance and gain.
- Deliberately limiting food consumption so a significantly lower body weight occurs in relationship to averages for one’s developmental trajectory, sex, age, and physical health.
More commonly known as simply bulimia, the DSM-5 gives the following diagnostics for bulimia nervosa:
- A self-image that is overshadowed by body size and weight.
- Repetitive times of binge eating, including,
- Losing control over food consumption during the binge.
- During a certain period of time, eating more food than most people could eat during the same period of time and under similar circumstances.
- Repetitive and compensatory use of any means that may prevent gaining weight, including misusing medications such as laxatives or diuretics; inducing vomit; fasting excessively and/or frequently; or exercising excessively.
While many diagnostics differ for bulimia and anorexia, some are the same. Often eating disorders are accompanied with other psychiatric disorders such as depression or PTSD. Bulimia and anorexia afflict both men and women. People of all ages can develop an eating disorder, although they are most likely to first show symptoms during a person’s teen or young adult years. Bulimia and anorexia also pose serious health threats.
Anorexia is known to cause low blood pressure, low heart rate, abnormal heart beat, heart failure and disease, infertility, disruptions in menstrual cycle, low white blood cell counts, premature osteoporosis, disruptions in the endocrine system, anemia, kidney damage, and ultimately death.
Bulimia is known to cause tooth decay, ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease, kidney damage, constipation, gastric rupture, electrolyte imbalance, and heart failure.
What Causes Anorexia and Bulimia?
The specifics of how, when, where, and why anorexia or bulimia develop in a person are often intimate and unique. But generally speaking, professionals categorize their causes as two separate types: biological and environmental.
- Examples of biological causes may be irregular hormone functions, nutritional deficiencies, and genetics.
- Examples of environmental causes may be peer pressure to be a certain body type; living in a culture obsessed with thinness and unrealistic ideas of beauty; childhood or family trauma.
Scheduling Counseling for Anorexia and Bulimia
Did any of the causes or diagnostics for anorexia or bulimia stand out to you? Are you or is someone you love struggling with their eating habits and self-image? If it is time to reach out for help, know that Thriveworks Pflugerville offers counseling for bulimia and anorexia. Our counselors have helped many clients find the holistic care they need to recover physically and psychologically.
It can take courage to schedule counseling, and so we have done our best to make the process as convenient as possible. When you call Thriveworks Pflugerville, TX a person will answer and help schedule your counseling. Many clients, even first-time clients, see their counselor within 24 hours. We also offer evening and weekend sessions and accept many insurance providers. You will never be put on a waitlist because we do not keep one. Instead, we want our clients to receive the care they need at the time they need it.
You do not have to fight anorexia or bulimia alone. Thriveworks Pflugerville, TX is here to help. Call today.
