Bulimia Nervosa is a condition that deals largely with the excess eating of food. After this process they go into massive exercise routines and thinking excessively about losing the weight.
What are some healthy behaviours that one can engage in to help themselves?
1. CBT is often recommended as part of psychotherapy for these conditions. Learning what the individual thoughts are about food is crucial to understanding what bulimia means to the individual. Understanding what the client is thinking is important to offer the right kind of help for them. What are the normal eating habits of the individual is also pivotal information as it help the counsellor to understand where the individual comes from, what they are thinking, what are some of their childhood experiences.
Challenge the irrational thoughts that the individual is thinking and also addressing the feelings associated with those thoughts is important. Understanding and addressing this with the unhealthy behaviour will help the individual to deal with what are some reasons that could be causing these issues. As difficult as this may seem for the individual, finding out what is causing these behaviours and resolving it will be crucial for healthy living.
Another aspect to note is that this information helps the family to keep an eye out and give the right kind of treatment for the individual.
2. Family based treatment is also used as a form of psychotherapy. Often the family is clueless about how to go about helping a person who has these traits. So family is included as part of the therapy to also deal with some unresolved issues that the individual might have with the family members.
Addressing this with the family is important. Family members need to be met separately to see their commitment to the upkeep of the individual emotional, mental and physical well-being.
3. Interpersonal psychotherapy is another form of therapy that focuses on the individual’s relationship with the people in their life. The way the individual interacts with them can affect the emotional state and mental health of the individual.
4. Nutritional therapy is a therapy where the goal is to teach the individual good habits to follow. The individual works with a dietician to learn and recognize what the body is signalling, where the body is under nourished or where there is an excess of food being taken. Understanding the needs of the body as to when it needs food and to develop a right relationship with food is important.
Tips to take care of yourself:
1. Look after your body.
Include healthy foods in the diet. Give the individual the chance to understand which types of food are healthy and useful to the nourishment of the body. Allow the daily routine to also include exercise.
2. Take supplements that are right for you. It is important to take supplements according to the age of the individual, that education is crucial to the individual as well the family that is there to assist the individual.
3. Connect with others. Individual such as these need the constant and consistent support of the family and friends. It is important to bring in a sense of belonging for the individual. Plan events and activities to foster that sort of bonding.
4. Invest in accountability partners. It is important for anyone who is attempting to strengthen a weakness to have someone to check and to cheer on. So also in this endeavour, it is important to have that sort of support system.
5. Avoid triggers that lead back to step 1. Stay away from things that drive this kind of behaviour. Being aware is an important part and taking steps to tackle it is another part. Understanding these triggers itself is the movement towards the betterment of the individual.
6. This might sound a little silly but staying away from the weighing scale might help.
Click here to read more about Bulimia Nervosa.
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