What is bulimia?
Bulimia nervosa is an Eating Disorder (ED) characterized by binge eating behavior and compensation for these (such as vomiting, laxative use, restrictive diet or sports).
Binge eating and purging appear in the form of episodes or cycles. If they occur on average 1 time per week during the last 3 months, we can speak of the diagnosis of clinical bulimia nervosa.
It is important to understand well what binge eating is. The clinical meaning of a binge does not always correspond to what we commonly understand by binge eating. Binge eating is eating an amount of food that is greater than what most people would eat over a similar period under similar circumstances. It is accompanied by a feeling of lack of control over what is eaten during the episode.
In addition, the self-esteem of the patient with bulimia depends to a very high degree on the perception of the body and weight, It also varies depending on the food intake.
Bulimia nervosa goes beyond behavior
Bulimia is an eating disorder (ED), but above all, it is a difficulty in managing emotions. The pattern of bulimia is binge-eating and purging to compensate for overeating.
Like anorexia and other eating disorders, bulimia from a psychological point of view, is an attempt to use the body to manage emotions. In the case of bulimia, it is above all the excessive fear of losing control and a certain impulsive tendency. Bulimia is often a natural development of anorexia.
The excessive worry about body image in our society does not help to have a healthy relationship with their body. Treated as an object, that is, without being taken into account, we learn not to respect our body and use it as a tool to please others.
Our bulimia nervosa treatment is based on the relational psychodynamic approach and mentalization-based therapy. The effectiveness of these treatments has a solid scientific basis.
How to help a person with bulimia: Psychotherapy in Barcelona and online
The therapy for bulimia focuses on:
- helping people to learn to manage their emotions
- to treat themselves in a different way
- to take themselves into account
- to help them improve their self-esteem
- to learn to relate in a different, more rewarding way with others
Bulimia: complete treatment to overcome it
Our treatments for bulimia are complete, multidisciplinary and from the Mentalization Based Therapy perspective. This approach has proved to have a strong scientific base and to be effective in Eating Disorders.
First of all, we offer therapy with highly qualified psychotherapists specialized in the treatments of Eating Disorders. The treatment can be either in the form of an outpatients treatment (individual and/or a Group therapy) or part of an Intensive program (Day Treatment) with additional accompaniment.
Moreover, we offer support from nutritionists, who specialize in treating Eating Disorders, and medical doctors, who collaborates with a team of therapists and take care of the somatic symptoms related to Eating Disorders.