Eating Dosorders
Admitting that you have an eating problem is the first step in the healing process. But when do you know that you have an eating problem?
Compulsive eating behaviour
People with an eating disorder may be skinny, fat or anything in between. What they have in common, however, is their compulsive eating behaviour. The craving for or, alternatively, the aversion of food is overpowering and all-consuming. Compulsive eating may be alternated with extreme dieting, regular vomiting after meals, the use of laxatives or diuretics or excessive exercising.
Binge eating
Binge eating (or compulsive eating) is characterised by the frequent consumption of abnormal amounts of food. You often eat a lot of food in a short time without tasting anything. Hunger or appetite are not the reasons why you binge, but rather negative feelings about yourself or a certain event. Afterwards you have regrets or feel guilty. This is usually combined with being overweight (obesity), with certain medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, etc. However, being overweight is not always a corollary of binge eating.
The difference between bulimia and binge eating is that with binge eating you try to reverse or offset the effects of the compulsive eating.
Bulimia
People suffering from bulimia often experience the binges that are so typical for this disease as a total loss of control over their will not to eat or to eat normal portions. Having overindulged, they will try to get rid of the food as soon as possible, for example by vomiting, in order to take away the risk of weight increase after such extreme consumption of food. There can be different reasons for bulimia. It could be a result of a distorted notion of beauty (thin= good), a negative self-image and/or the inability to deal with emotions. The feeling (or rather the lack of feeling) during a binge and its immediate aftermath, when the bulimic tries to undo the damage caused by excessive eating, can be seen as the root of the addiction. At that moment, the bulimic is completely focused on his actions and not on his feelings or on the consequences of such actions.
Eating disorders result from a low self esteem
When a person thinks he is fat, this is often interchangeable with a low self-image and a lack of self-confidence; you feel insecure, unattractive, useless and aimless. Negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, sadness, loneliness or tension often lead to emotional binges. Then follow the feelings of guilt, shame and self-punishment with severe dieting. You tend to set unattainable standards for yourself and cannot accept yourself for who you are. The feeling that overwhelms you when you stuff yourself with food and the moment immediately afterwards, where you purge, can be considered the addiction. This is when you are completely focused on the act of eating and not on your feelings or on the consequences of the act.
Anorexia
Anorexia is often the result of a low self-image and little self-confidence. It usually starts with a negative feeling about one’s body shape. We regularly see that there is also a history of sexual abuse. Over time, the anorexic will start making a dangerous association, i.e. that being thin equals feeling good, so the thinner, the better. Therefore, you gradually starts to lose weight, gram by gram, kilo by kilo. You exercise, use laxatives and/or diuretics, and every kilo shed feels like a small victory. Purging becomes a habit that makes you lose even more weight.
At a certain stage, your need to be thin is no longer the issue. The ideal weight is never reached. With anorexia, denying yourself a meal is often used as a power tool. Even though you feel bad, the feeling of being in control of yourself is still overpowering. This need for being in control is at the core of the addiction.
Eating disorders, a daily confrontation
Compulsive eating or having an eating disorder is highly complex compared with other forms of addiction. After all, we all have to eat. You are confronted with this love-hate relationship every day.
Eating disorder clinics in Germany, the UK and South Africa
SolutionS works in close cooperation with a few clinics that specialise in eating disorders in Germany, the UK and South Africa. The treatments provided specifically address problems such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa, binge eating or compulsive eating. Treatment will not focus on body weight, as it looks at the reasons behind each successive act of either denial or overindulgence. How can you find your true self again and experience self-confidence, strength and the joy of life.
Shedding your eating disorder, a step-by-step approach
We avail ourselves of the services of specialised psychologists, doctors and counsellors in the crucial aftercare phase or, when admission into a clinic is not necessary, for the outpatient treatment. Some of our practitioners have drawn great benefit from their personal experience. Step by step, you will learn how to cast off the yoke of the eating compulsion. You will rediscover who you really are and you will learn to accept yourself without being judgmental.
SolutionS helps you with this.