Why do people who eat and purge behave like that?

Depression. It causes a lot. And feelings of being unloved and stuff. I'd know, i've suffered for over 4 years, and it'snot been easy, i've felt neglected a lot, and it really pushes me toward it even more.

The etiology is varied, and difficult to pinpoint. I was reading some current research that was looking at children in elementary school. Fascinating stuff. It is hard to explain an exact etiology, because of the sparse research and very individual experiences. Just my opinion.

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I have heard that many people with eating disorders are believed to be depressed on some level, so I think maybe it all adds up to a vicious cycle of trying to feel better about yourself.


"If we go on like this, you're going to turn into an Alsatian again."

Depression often has an underlying physiological cause, it is usually a brain chemistry imbalance which is physical not a "mental" disorder as they have largely been understood (residing not in the physical brain but having origins in the mind); that's two different things (although many of what we call mental disorders may also be due to physiological deficits in our brains due to injury, illness, genetics, etc.). Taking one of a number of medications called SSRI's works to rebalance the brain's chemicals, the chemicals that are regulators of mood. When people come out of their depressions with this treatment, it becomes pretty clear that depression starts as a response to a lack of our brain's own naturally produced chemicals, particularly serotonin and norepinephrine. Both are naturally produced in the brain but in some people their usefulness is lessened because of a faulty "reuptake" system.

i have bulimia, and this movie afected me in a way that made me realize that i behave like that. sneak around the house while my parents are in, eat whatever i want when im alone so i can purge after and stuff like that. but i only notice i was behaving like that after i saw this movie, after i heard what people with the some problem had to say.its really difficult to hide from everyone, and so far only one person knows what ive been through this year.
after almost a year, i suffer from hair lost, i probably have anemia, my nails are thinner and my skin's worst than ever. so, i guess only the person who really is/been through this knows how it feels.
i do feel great after purging, after i ate what i want, no restrictions, but im also aware that's a problem that wont go away that easily. i got so involved into it that in a period of 3 months i lost 45pounds or so, during which i purged everything i ate or drank, even if it was a glass of milk.
all this because i got tired of being overweight, and i still am.

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I can see where you're coming from there. For instance, I'm really shy - my mum even pulls me up on it because she's worried people will think I'm being stuck-up but I'm not. I'm just genuinely shy, I don't like being the centre of attention. If people even talk about me and I overhear them, I blush.

I think you've also got a point about peer pressure. They say many cases of anorexia surface in adolescence and, looking back on my own teenage years, I'm not surprised that I reacted that way. First you have the stress of the disruptive kids and so the teachers are screaming (this was stressful to me, at least), then there are pressures to have flawless skin (I was spotty from the age of 9 till about 15 or 16, even now my face is not flawless).

You pick up on teachers worrying about exam results and league tables instead of accepting that all pupils are different, then there are the worries about having a boyfriend or girlfriend etc, how long you have been going out, how old you were when you had your first kiss etc. There is a theory that anorexics are often perfectionists and with all these goals and targets and pressures, it is easy to see why many teenagers feel like their world is being almost "controlled" for them.

And then there are the personality differences. Someone more outspoken, brash, loud etc may not have any problems expressing themselves or risking upsetting others (I have a friend at uni like this) and may never feel so vulnerable as to develop an eating disorder as the only way to express their feelings, but there are other people (not unlike myself) who are shy and reluctant to make themselves heard, who will let others go first etc who find it difficult to express themselves (again, for fear of upsetting others, maybe) who may find an eating disorder is the only way they can express themselves.

Maybe, as you say, we as a society force more sensitive personalities to conform because the world we live in can't cater for everyone (and possibly doesn't want to).

"If we go on like this, you're going to turn into an Alsatian again."

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its more simple to eat in front of other people and then hide to go throw it up, then to not eat at all!thats why bulimia its a problem that can take years to be diagnosed in someone.thats my opinion, some people may disagree...

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