Eating Disorders

Trying to recover

02/28/2008 04:26PM

Question:

I have suffered from bulimia for 10 years and I never wanted to get better until now. I am 27 years old and I am married and have hopes of living a normal life and starting a family someday. I fear that there may not be any hope as I have been trying hard to change my behavior for a few weeks without sucess. I don`t have to make myself throw up any more it just comes up and I try to eat healthy but at this point I do not even know what that means. Also it is hard to get better when your going to school full time. I am in a Physical Therapy program and the course work is extremly intense I get stressed out and the cycle starts all over again. I have not gone more than one day without throwing up in 5 years. Any advice?

Answer:

Yes, I strongly recommend that you seek specialized eating disorder treatment. There are specialized ED services at The Center for Balanced Living: www.TheCenterforBalancedLiving.org in Central Ohio.

If you are not in Ohio, you could find ED services at The National Eating Disorder Association, or www.EDreferral.com.

This is one of the most serious illnesses of all psychobiological illnesses and the deaths from purging are high. Four persons in the last few years have died in Central OH from the purging, not from restricting anorexia and starvation.

As you are working hard to move on in your life, the stress of school is aggravating the ED illness. Allow yourself to get help actively. It will demand that you work hard in treatment to get through this and learn how to manage your distresses while managing your illness.

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Response by:

Laura Hill, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry
College of Medicine
The Ohio State University