Bulimia nervosa
Bulimia is characterised by periods of severe dieting and followed by extreme binge eating and then self-induced vomiting or laxative usage, despite laxatives not reducing calorie absorption to an extent that would induce significant weight loss. As with other eating disorders, bulimia nervosa may be present in conjunction with other mental health issues such as: self-harming, depression, alcohol or drug misuse, anxiety, personality disorders and low self esteem. Unlike people with anorexia nervosa , people with bulimia nervosa are often in the healthy range of BMI, and is therefore more difficult to spot. People who have bulimia nervosa often have a distorted body image and think they are larger than they may be. People with bulimia nervosa often will be preoccupied with food, dieting, and have abnormal attitudes towards these subjects. Our team of professionals are experts in managing bulimia nervosa and its associated behaviours, helping the individuals achieve healthy positive behaviours through multidisciplinary, holistic interventions.
Bulimia is often caused by complex emotions, thoughts, and/or fears relating to being fat. Often people with bulimia tend to use food and eating behaviours as a way of coping with these intense emotions or distress in their lives, such as emotional turmoil or changes in their life that they have no control over. Common emotional causes of bulimia include low self esteem, depression, stress and/or an emotional trauma such as a death of a loved one or divorce. Bulimia also occurs in people who have been sexually abused and/or had a difficult childhood with abuse and/or lived in a dysfunctional family with lots of arguments and stress.
Bulimia can sometimes we difficult to spot due to their body weight and height often being within the healthy BMI range. It is rare for a child or adult to get bulimia (although not impossible) and it is common to develop in adults from anorexia nervosa. Here are some signs that an individual may be living with bulimia:
The sooner the person with bulimia is diagnosed, the quicker they can be treated by our team of experienced mental health nurses, psychologists and dietitians. The quicker the person receives treatment the higher the their likelihood of recovery is.
If you would like to make an appointment, please contact us.
As with all eating disorders, bulimia nervosa can cause severe malnutrition long-term, due to restriction of food and calories. However, bulimia also causes chronic physical problems associated with excessive vomiting and laxative usage:
Our mental health nurse assesses the person with bulimia and coordinates the treatment program, that is right for the individual. Our psychologists will help the person with bulimia break the negative cycle of binging and purging and help develop a healthier relationship with food. Additionally, our psychologists will help address the root cause of the bulimia nervosa and teach you techniques in handling any unwanted emotions you may be having. Our dietitian will help optimise the individual's diet and address any nutritional issues that may be present, encouraging weight gain if required.
To see how our team can help you, contact us.
Bulimia nervosa can be treated and cured, especially if it is caught and diagnosed early. As bulimia is usually caused by an emotional or stress trigger, psychological therapy is the most common and effective treatment. Our mental health nurse and psychologist can help talk with your loved and identify the emotional and food related triggers for the binge/purge behaviours to establish a more positive behaviour routine. Our dietitian will treat the nutritional deficiency and help with a healthy weight gain (if required).
If you’d like to know more about our treatment programmes, please contact us.
It is very hard for people with eating disorders to get better by themselves, sometimes they haven't even admitted to themselves that they have a problem yet. Therefore, if someone is showing these signs, it's important to get help. Our outpatient clinic provides a relaxed and positive atmosphere for the treatment of people with bulimia nervosa. Often people with bulimia are not able to get adequate NHS treatment due to their BMI not being low enough for inpatient admission. At The Bridge, we can provide immediate access to effective treatment for bulimia, this includes a mental health nurse assessment and regular reviews, dietetic therapy and psychological treatments to help aid recovery in an holistic manner.
To find out more about how we can help please contact us.
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We believe in continuously providing holistic, patient-centred treatments which promote physical and mental wellbeing to increase resilience. The needs and wellbeing of patients is at the centre of everything we do. We are passionate about helping people and their families achieve their goals by providing them with patient-centred therapy that is passionate, caring and knowledgeable. We are passionate about sharing our knowledge to help educate patients, families and the wider public about eating disorders.
We believe in providing patients with evidence-based treatments to enable recovery of their eating disorder. We are committed to providing results-focused practice to ensure we deliver patients with the goals they want to achieve. Importantly, we believe results are best achieved with an educative approach and we work with our patients to achieve their goals together. We also believe that follow up after treatment is essential to ensure patients’ needs are being met and that their results are maximised.
We believe in helping patients develop a healthy relationship to food, and their body. Our service enables patients to set their own feeding goals in order to achieve a healthy weight and independently manage meals. We are passionate about helping patients’ understanding of disordered eating, and promoting mental wellness in order to tackle the behaviour.
We believe our services should be approachable and accessible. We give people the best chances of recovery by providing them with early access to assessments and interventions that are provided by approachable staff in an outpatient setting.
We believe to maximise people’s recovery we should provide them with immediate access and to our specialist multidisciplinary team of professionals that will work with them holistically to achieve the best possible results for patients and families.
We believe that anyone should be able to access immediate treatment for an eating disorder, regardless of their financial situation. Our treatment is priced as a total care package that is agreed with each client, tailored to the individual with a flexible pricing policy. We believe in offering finance to people who may benefit from this.
We achieve the best possible results for eating disorder sufferers with a range of problems and conditions by providing patients with early access to assessment and intervention.
To find our more about how we can help, please contact us.
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