It’s hard to get out of bulimia without support. The prescription of drugs and the proposal to undertake psychotherapy can then be considered to treat bulimia. Sometimes a specialized hospitalization may be necessary.

Medication management

benefits pharmaceuticals may be prescribed to reduce the symptoms of bulimia (decrease in the number of seizures) but also to treat associated disorders such as anxiety and depression. Finally, after a medical evaluation of the physiological consequences purging lines (digestive, renal, cardiac, endocrine disorders, etc.) the doctor may order examinations (blood tests) and medication to treat these disorders.

The Antidepressants can help reduce the symptoms of bulimia. The Food and Drug Administration recommends the preferential prescription of fluoxetine (Prozac) in the context of bulimia. This antidepressant belongs to the class of antidepressants that work to inhibit serotonin reuptake (SSRI). This medication works by increasing the amount of the neurotransmitter serotonin in synapses (junction between two neurons). The increased presence of serotonin facilitates the passage of nerve information.

However, depending on the disorders presented by his patient (other associated psychopathological disorders), the doctor may prescribe other Antidepressants or medicines (especially certain anxiolytics) to treat bulimia.

Psychotherapeutic support

Psychotherapies are offered for the most part, from individually or in groups, but all have for objectives: to improve the perception and the self-esteem of the bulimic person and to work on certain conflicts.

• Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (CBT)

They are very effective in treating the symptoms of bulimia since it involves getting the patient to observe his pathological behaviors (here, it will be a question of the crises but also of the behaviors of purging) then to modify them. The goal of TBI is not to find the causes or the origin of the disorder but to act on it.

Le psychotherapist intervenes on the mental processes (thought patterns) and the emotions which regulate the patient’s behavior and encourage him to re-evaluate the choices which prompted him to give in to a crisis.

The patient is very active in CBT, he will have to fill out many forms and questionnaires. In the context of bulimia, in general about twenty sessions are necessary in order to question and modify the patient’s dysfunctional thoughts in connection with thefood, weight and body image, L ‘self esteemEtc. …

• Systemic family therapy

This therapy is called ” systemic Because she considers the family group as a system and a set of interdependent elements. In this case, the family would not be made up of independent elements (parents / children), but of entities which influence each other.

Family systemic therapy studies the modes of communication and the different interactions within the family in order to subsequently try to improve internal relations. When one member of a family is affected by an illness like bulimia, the other members will be affected. For example, meal times can be particularly difficult for the family to manage. The actions and words of each other can be helpful or on the contrary harmful for the patient. It is not a question of making each other feel guilty, nor of making them guilty of bulimia, but of taking their suffering and to make everyone move in the right direction for them but also for the patient.

• Psychodynamic psychotherapy

This psychotherapy is inspired by the psychoanalysis. It is widely used to support the patient in the search for conflicts (personal, interpersonal, conscious and unconscious, etc.) which may be at the origin of the appearance of eating disorders.

• Interpersonal psychotherapy

This short therapy, mainly used to treat depression, has been proven to help people with eating disorders. During interpersonal psychotherapy, the subject will not be food but the patient’s current interpersonal difficulties which inevitably have consequences on his eating behavior.

• Nutritional therapy

This psycho-educational therapy is very important and effective in addition to psychotherapy. Indeed, the benefits it can bring do not last if it is done alone, bulimia is often only a symptom that reflects a deeper pain.

It is used by people who also suffer from other eating disorders.

Nutritional therapy will allow the patient to relearn how to eat: resume a balanced diet, understand taboo foods (especially sweet, which made it possible to induce vomiting), eat slow sugars again to avoid seizures, get used to meals once more at the table, 4 per day, in reasonable quantities. Information related to weight and diet will be provided and explained, for example natural weight theory. With this therapy, we try to modify the relationship that the patient has with food. Finally, this method is also interested in the compensatory bleeding behaviors that the patient used to use. It therefore also aims to enable him to lose the habit of using methods such as laxatives if this were the case by providing him with theoretical information which will explain the ineffectiveness of such behaviors.

Hospitalization

Sometimes a hospitalization may be necessary to increase the chances of recovery of the patient, after failure of outpatient treatment and when significant health problems are identified. Depending on the establishment, conventional specialist hospitalization or day hospitalization may be offered. For the latter, the person will go to the hospital every day of the week for treatment and will return to their home in the evening.

In a service specializing in the management of eating disorders, the patient receives care provided by a multidisciplinary team (doctor, nutritionist, psychologist, etc.). Treatment often includes a nutritional rehabilitation, for an psycho-educational support and follow-up psychotherapy.