August 2011 - The accounts of Anorexia and its life threatening implications are all too candid. As the number one mental disease with the highest mortality rate varying from five to twenty percent according to the American Journal of Psychiatry, Anorexia Nervosa undoubtedly causes a stir in society, a rift in news and a shock to the conscience. Fortunately, there are numerous treatment options for those in need raging from acute care in hospitals to long term residential treatment centers across the United States and Canada. It is all too chilling to witness the steady, tragic downfall as weight declines and health deteriorates. Bulimia, however, takes on a much more silent approach.
Bulimia Nervosa, portrayed as episodic binging and purging (methods vary for the individual, whether it be laxative abuse or making oneself ill), seems overlooked. BN is easily hidden and elusive; those who excel in it are highly secretive and prone to habitual lying. It takes more time for the disease to become noticed; weight is not usually an issue and health can remain unchanging for years. Unless a noticeable drop in one’s electrolyte balance or heart arrhythmia is noted, the insidious cycle of binging and purging continues ruthlessly.
Compounding Bulimia’s rather intangible detection, treatment is often an issue as well. Most inpatient hospitals with eating disorder programs occur in psychiatric units, and with insurance companies’ strict criteria for admission, Bulimics continually fall short of qualifying. Unless they are in serious medical emergency (dangerously low potassium, gastric/esophageal rupture, or heart failure), those with the disorder are referred to outpatient services.
Such a practice can be ineffective; this type of management is less intensive, allowing the disease to fester, to build instead of diminish. The sinister nature of BN lies in its chronic character. Anorexia, more deadly and causing more health problems, takes longer to treat immediately. But one cannot drop twenty-five percent of their body weight in mere days. Binging and purging is always within accessible range. And it only takes one horrible, unlucky purge to offset the body’s glucose level or electrolyte balance, invoking seizures or instant death.
Max Sala is a 17 year old high school senior at Saint Lawrence Academy. An avid supporter of mental health reform and advocate for the Eating Disorder Resource Center, he is in his own recovery from an eating disorder. It is this that gave him the impetus to write for such an altruistic agency that makes such an impact in the greater Bay Area. Max hopes to major in neuroscience in college and eventually enter the field of Clinical Psychology.
