| | |  Health & Beauty | December 2008 
Bulimia: Not Just a White, Overweight Woman's Disorder
 Zayda Rivera - DiversityInc
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Two myths associated with bulimia are that it only affects white women and that people who suffer from bulimia are overweight.
"Bulimic women are not overweight," says Dr. Daniela Schreier, a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in eating disorders and an assistant professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. "And we've come to realize that young women across ethnicities or across economic statuses deal with the same issues. The most researched group [for bulimia] is white women. The second is African-American women."
Seven million U.S. women have an eating disorder, and they come from all segments of society, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD). Just 20 years ago, America's idea of beauty was quite different.
"When Cindy Crawford was a model [in the late '80s, early '90s], the average size of an American model was size 6," says Schreier, who wrote her dissertation on eating disturbances before it became a key part of her work. "Now the average size would be a 0 or 2." So if someone comes from a culture that regards a thicker frame as sexy, such as in India, Italy, Africa or Latin America, and then enters into American society, they may feel pressure to reevaluate their body image.
"In India, where I lived for a long time, women who are a little hippy, a little heavier, are regarded as beautiful," Schreier recalls. "But how is it that women can deal with the bicultural demands on us--fitting in one world but also pleasing the other?"
The pressures of fitting a mold, among other things such as a controlling family or an abusive partner, can amount to high stress and anxiety that can trigger some to take extreme actions in order to cope.
"The closer you come to the mainstream [American] culture, the more influence you get with how a woman is supposed to look in order to be successful, get promoted or fit in," Schreier says. "As a result, there are more instances of eating disturbances."
ANAD conducted a study that found a rise in Mexican-American women between the ages of 16 and 19 who are bulimic. Says Soraya Perales, Spanish program director and administrator for ANAD, "The majority said it is based on the culture because they eat more foods that create obesity [and] also because of the weight gain associated with drinking alcohol."
So why are reports of bulimia among other ethnicities just coming to the surface?
"Originally, the major parts of studies were done with white college women," says Schreier. "Now, because we are becoming a more multicultural population and as we see people starving themselves, we can't ignore it anymore. Secondly, nowadays we have more multicultural people in the field of research and psychology."
Both of the professional women that were interviewed for this story have had bulimia, and neither is white.
"I did it for a while when I was younger," Schreier says.
"I struggled with bulimia myself when I was in the early stages of life," adds Perales. "I used to go to my family's house and eat rich and fried food, and I felt bad saying no. So I'd binge eat and then go and throw up everything because of the pressure to look a certain way."
According to ANAD, the symptoms of bulimia are:
• Preoccupation with food
• Binge eating, usually in secret
• Vomiting after bingeing
• Abuse of laxatives, diuretics, diet pills
• Denial of hunger or drugs to induce vomiting
• Compulsive exercise
• Swollen salivary glands
• Broken blood vessels in the eyes
"You can have problems with your esophagus, your throat and teeth. It affects everything in your body," Schreier says. "Your body system is out of control. Doing it over a number of years will cause your teeth to decay and you will have a gag reflex."
So can you die from bulimia? "It's a slow death," Schreier says. "Certainly, if you continue it long enough, you can kill yourself."
Treatment
The good news is that there are treatments for bulimia, but the triggers will probably always be there.
"First of all, I [would] find out if she has had any trauma in her life. Trauma can be sexual, physical, emotional abuse or any losses," Schreier says.
When dealing with a younger girl, Perales says ANAD first asks the parents how they found out. "Did the child confide in them? Or did the parent find vomit in a certain place?" she says.
Some people with bulimia are ashamed and may hide their vomit in order to continue doing what they're doing without alarming loved ones.
"Some parents have told me, 'She keeps her vomit in the closet,'" Perales says. "One young girl from Mexico was embarrassed to even take the bag [of vomit] out of the closet, and I said, 'This is the first step to your recovery.'"
Tackling the woman's emotional control is important because "every feeling starts and ends at one time," Schreier says.
Perales suggests keeping a journal every day "where she can describe her symptoms and how it triggers her to do this." After all, many sufferers of bulimia feel their out-of-control state is actually controlled by the disorder.
"Sometimes, kids or young adults say to me, 'It's a rush that I get,'" Perales says. "It's about control."
Schreier says the next step in recovery is "devising strategies on how to deal with emotions while not using food to express how we feel."
Perales tells parents to take a direct approach and ask candid questions such as, "Why do you punish your body? Is it because of body image?"
Follow up by consulting a nutritionist who could help them get on the right diet with nutritional meals to help maintain a healthy weight.
Finally, building self-esteem is critical because in order to truly win the battle against bulimia, the person has to be strong and has to have confidence.
"Bulimia is a lifelong disorder," Schreier says. "If you have alcoholism, you can work on it and you don't have to drink another drop in your life … you can stay away from it. But you cannot stay away from food." |
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