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University Daily Kansan, November 13, 1981
Page 11
Eating,purging dominate lives of manv women
By LISA BOLTON Staff Reporter
Susan has a secret.
With her roommates safely gone for the weekend, she orders a large, carry-out pizza with the works. On the way to pick it up, she stops for a dozen doughnuts and a half-gallon of ice cream, letting the people who wait on her believe she is planning to share with friends.
She's not. Home at last, she gobbles uncontrollable until all the food is gone. Then, staggering to the bathroom, she hangs her head over the toilet bowl, sticks her finger down her throat and vomits.
Susan is not alone.
Sydney Schroeder, psychiatrist at the mental health clinic at Watkins Hospital, said the clinic had treated 25 to 30 "Susans" in the last two years for bulimia, a disorder that more people suffer than seek help from.
"It is kind of a disordered way to have your cake and eat it, too," he said, adding that the number of cases of overindulgence has increased over the last several years.
BULIMIA is not the same as anorexia nervosa, another eating disorder in which the victim forces the patient or more of her body weight, he said.
Bulimia is the Greek word for ox hunger. By binging, then vomiting or
taking massive doses of laxatives to purge the abnormally large amount of food consumed, the bulimic can contain a normal or near-normal weight.
The disorder affects mainly college-educated normal-weight young women over 18, according to a study of more than 600 patients with Michael Reese Medical Center in Chicago.
Joseph Douglas, a Lawrence psychiatrist, said that although he sees relatively few students, he had treated manyomen students, ages 18 to 20, for bulimia.
Far more cases of the disorder exist than go reported, however, he said.
"I read a report about five years ago by two women doctors on the East Coast who had a caseload of 150 to 200 bulimics." he said. "I'd think there would be no problem in getting 150 to 200 bulimic women in Lawrence."
The forces that motivate a woman to binge and vomit are unclear and vary with the individual.
Douglas said a woman on a diet often begins binging and purging as a weight-control technique, then becomes obsessed with matching "our culture's idea of what the ideal woman should look like."
ALL HIS patients did they knew several other women who did it, too, he said.
The pattern itself then begins to cause emotional distress and feelings of shame, guilt and disgust with oneself, he said.
Like alcohol or drug addiction, he said, the binge-purge pattern may
develop as a way to cope with feelings of anxiety, depression or anger, he said.
James Hasselle, another Lawrence psychiatrist, said the frateful eating may be a substitute for security or love and may be related to family problems.
He also said the woman with abnormal eating patterns may be embarrassed about it.
"People often need to be pushed to seek help by a family member or friend," he said. "Part of the treatment
treatment was easy, but some patients couldn't face their deeper feelings of depression and anger.
"Sometimes they leave instead of working it through," he said.
Douglas said the best treatment would be group therapy, which would allow people trapped in self-destructive eating patterns to realize that they are not alone and to discuss their problems in common.
THE DEGREE of the binge-purge cycle varies from an occasional binge in deviation from an otherwise healthy diet, to a three-daily ritual of eating and vomiting.
Bulivia is the Greek word for ox hunger. By bingeing, then vomiting or taking massive dose of laxative to purge the abnormally large amounts of food consumed, the bulimic can maintain a normal or near-normal weight
process is getting the patient to be more comfortable with facing and talking about the problem."
Douglas said treatment of the disorder was a two-part process of breaking the binge-purge pattern, then approaching the underlying emotional turmoil.
"The pattern becomes self-perpetuating," he said. "It must be broken by making the patient realize that it is abnormal."
"Like everything, it comes in shades and gradulations," said Martin Wollmann, director of Watkins Memorial Hospital.
He said he'd heard staff members discussing the disorder and added, "It's not a new thing—it's just in a new spotlight."
The physical complications of frequent binging include tooth decay from the acidic vomit, inflammation of the throat and esophagus, nutrient deficiencies, and imbalance of the composition of the blood, which could
Hasselle said the first part of the
cause irregularities in the rhythm of the heart.
The criterion to determine whether a person has a problem with her eating habits is the degree to which the habits affect her life, said Elizabeth Dykens, a graduate student who has treated patients at the psychological clinic in Fraser.
"If eating predominates your thinking, if you organize your day around binging and purging, if it's on your life, you need help," she said.
HASSELLE said anyone who had ever binged and vomited should take a hard look at her eating habits.
"She should at least give herself the opportunity to explore it further," he said. "She should look at the effect it is having on her life."
Richard Rundquist, director of the
University Counseling Center in Bailey, said his office usually referred those with bulimic eating patterns to Watkins Hospital because bulimia was a physical as well as a psychological disorder.
But the woman who binges and purges cannot be treated until she recognizes that she has the problem and geeks help.
"Sometimes bulimics don't go to the people who can help them because they don't choose to. "Fundquand said. "In my business that's a very critical issue. If they don't want to be helped, you're not going to help them."
DOUGLAS SAID that a person who ate and vomited should realize she was not alone in having the problem.
"First of all, she should tell a friend, et somebody else know," he said. "Then she should seek counseling."
No second 'Cuba,' Haig says
By United Press International
WASHINGTON—Secretary of State Alexander Haig says the United States cannot allow "another Cuba" to emerge in Nicaragua, where he says a Soviet-supported military build-up threatens U.S. strategic interests.
Haig issued the warning yesterday while refusing to assure Congress the
United States will not overthrow or destabilize Nicaragua's leftist regime—or abstain from military blockading that nation.
It was the first time the administration has portrayed Nicolaura's massive communist-minded mission as a warrior "vital, strategic" interests of the United States. Haig specifically mentioned the Panama Canal.
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We want to help you beat The high cost of eating out.
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Hamburger, fries & Drink 199
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Eagan Barrand
Eagan-Barrand Retail Liquor
A New Concept That's Long Overdue
23rd & Iowa
Southwest Plaza Shopping Center
Located behind Hardes a
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842-6088
9:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
Violin
The Seraphim Trio
Piano
The Arts
Cello
Program:
Mozart
Mendelsohn
Beethoven
Tickets on sale in the Murphy Hall
Box Office. All seats general admission
price. More info at murphy.hall.org
November 15, 1981 Sunday, 3:30pm University Theatre
The Black Student Union invites all students to Templin Hall Cafeteria
Monday, November 16, 1981 at 6:45 p.m.
State Senator Billy Q. McCray of the 29th Senatorial District
to hear
on
Senator McCray will be speaking out on "The Extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965."
Come and hear the real facts.
Sorority Rush Registration
Wednesday, November 18 or Thursday, November 19
Bring your completed packets to the Pine Room of the Kansas Union 9 a.m. til 4 p.m.
Any problems or questions—call the Panhellenic office. 864-4643
Contact Rules go into effect Wednesday, November 18