University of Nebraska Kearney - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Kearney, NE)

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 bulimic has no extreme weight gain or loss, but the weight stays constant, they will sometimes eat 40,000 calories in one day That amount is what a normal per- son would eat in three weeks. The bulim- ic is trying to lose weight. Anorexia is more serious because it is life threaten- ing. Starvation is the most common way an anoretic will die, Tye said. ullimia is nothing to be J—J ashamed of. Go for help because recovery is possible, but realize that therapy is an ongoing process. ” — Tye Bulimia can be treated with in- house treatment or on an out-patient ba- sis. The in-house treatment is when the bulimic stays in the hospital and has a nurse with them constantly. All waste- baskets and other items that a bulimic attempts to use to throw up in are re- moved from the room. Bars are put on the windows so they can not vomit out the window. The patient sees a nutrition- ist, psychologist and a psychotherapist. BULIMIA WARNING SIGNS; Compulsion with exercise Eating huge amounts of food Withdrawal A team effort is used to help bulimies re- cover. The sooner a bulimic goes for help the easier and faster they are to treat. Tye added, “Bulimia is nothing to be ashamed of. Go for help because re- cover is possible, but realize that therapy is an on-going process.” The success rate is getting better, she added. Many places have support groups which are important in the recov- ery of a bulimic. The family goes through therapy, too, which helps give support to the bulimic. KSC has had a support group in the past that has been success- ful. It usually starts in the fall as a need is seen for it, Tye said. The hope for a bulimic is for her to realize that the success rate is good for recovery. With the proper help and sup- portive family and friends, it can be over- come. JAN OVERCOMES BULIMIA ... Jan (Jan is an anonymous name for the girl this story is about) overcame bulimia, an eating disorder, by realizing that the abuse to her body could kill her. As a senior in high school, Jan be- came obsessed with weight control. Hav- ing others notice her weight loss was her way of getting attention that she didn’t receive at home. Jan’s first semester at KSC was the first time she had been away from home. For her, KSC was a relief; she felt inde- pendent. Her desire for “the perfect body” was fun. She lost weight easily. As a dancer, Jan felt she needed to watch her weight. Jan and a friend decided to have contests to see who could lose five pounds faster, then 10 pounds and so on. She knew she could do it. Then her weight plummeted at 100 pounds. No one suspected Jan to be a bulim- ic because she was so secretive. Another of Jan’s friends was anorec- tic. They confided in each other, sharing new and different ways to binge, purge and starve themselves, Jan’s obsession with weight control and exercise began to take control of her life, as did laxatives. She couldn’t go out after she had just taken 30 laxatives. She isolated herself from her other friends. Depression took over and Jan realized she was abusing her body. She knew if she kept up this ucrazy” way of losing weight, she could kill herself. At this point, death wasn’t in the picture. She went to the Student Health Department of KSC to get help; they re- ferred her to Counseling and Advising, also of KSC. They tried to help her, but sometimes Jan refused help. She was tir- ed of always being sick and weak. One day Jan became overly de- pressed and decided that things were never going to get better and she wanted to die. She cleaned up her apartment, got out a razor blade, and deliberated for 10 hours on whether or not to try suicide. Finally, she slit her wrists. She watched herself bleed, first rapidly, then she started to feel weak. At this time the bleeding stopped. Jan panicked, “Will I die?1’ She called a teacher from the college whom she had confided in. She asked the teacher to take her to the hospital. Jan was in the Good Sa- maritan Hospital for one week. Her par- ents did not know. After her stay in the hospital, she went back to her apartment and tried to resume a regular lifestyle. Her binging and purging began again. As her counselors saw Jan getting worse, they took the problem to higher authorities who then called her parents. The counselors notified them of Jan's condition then suggested they take her home. As Jan was walking home from classes during the week, she saw her par- ents’ vehicle on the KSC grounds. She knew something was wrong because her parents lived 500 miles away. Jan received a telephone call that same day after she had returned home from school, asking her to come back to campus. When she returned, school officials and her parents were waiting. The school officials suggested taking her to the Uni- versity Medical Center in Omaha. Upon returning home her parents thought the notion of taking her to the Medical Center was crazy, so they hired a psychiatrist. Jan saw the doctor quite often, but never really opened up to him. She couldn’t come back to KSC without a doctor’s permission slip. Jan manipulated and lied to the doctor and to herself. All Jan wanted was to return to KSC. The doctor put her on anti-depressant medication. She took them once every day. She began to hate them for two rea- sons: first, they made her gain 45 pounds. Secondly, they were expensive—$100 per month. The doctor told Jan she would have to take these pills the rest of her life. Jan got what she wanted, which was to come back to KSC. The cycle began again — binge, purge, binge, purge. She wanted to lose 45 pounds but Jan knew she didn’t want to abuse her body any- 20

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FOOD Can A Drug BULIMIA HAS A VERY SERI- OUS EFFECT ON KSC ... What is a food obsession? Do you have a secret ad- diction to food that ac- tually dominates your life? What is being described as bulimic? Bulimia is a psychological and emo- tional disorder characterized by repeat- ed overeating binges followed by purges of forced vomiting, prolonged fasting, or abuse of laxatives, enemas or diuretics. Gloria Tye, director of student health services, said there are approxi- mately eight or nine students on the KSC campus with either bulimia or an- orexia. Tye added these numbers reflect only those who have stepped forward and are looking for help. “I’m sure there are bulimics and anorectics we aren’t aware of it too, or that go for treatment somewhere other than student health,” said Tye. This disease has a very serious effect on KSC. “People tend to imitate the be- havior of those around them, especially the binging and purging. Often suite- mates and roommates imitate each oth- er,” Tye said. “It is a stressful time for the bulimic, especially emotionally. The energy that they use to binge and purge could be channelled into something more productive. Also, the amount of money spent is stressful for many, added Tye. She said, “I knew of one girl with bu- limia who would drive to all fast food places in Kearney that had a drive-up window and ordered something from ev- ery one. Usually ordering a burger, fries, and a shake or malt. This lasted about one hour, then she would go home to purge.” The causes of bulimia are numerous starting with an obsession to be thin caused by our culture, Tye said. Child- hood conflicts and even heredity can play a part. There are more women bulimics than men. TV media and magazines po- tray women to be thin and shapely. The types of men that tend to be bulimics are dancers, wrestlers and jockeys. These men try to keep their weight down for a specific reason. These are psychological problems on the inside but the affected girls seem to be independent and confident on the outside, Tye noted. They are usually girls coming from white middle-to-upper class families and considered to be the ideal children. The girls are often perfec- tionists with grades nearing 4.0. Bulimics are people pleasers. “They feel that food is a good girls drug,” Tye said. Bulimia can be detected by others through observation. Bulimics tend to have a compulsion with exercise and or habits. They eat huge qualities of food and sometimes withdraw. Withdrawal indicates they are binging and purging. “Bulimics will vomit in places they think people won’t notice: wastebaskets, laundry chutes and sinks. Friends or family members should watch carefully, especially in the bathroom, for vomit that wasn’t cleaned up well. Comfort the person in a kind and loving manner and get them help immediately,” said Tye. Health risks include a chemical im- balance due to vomiting, diuretics and laxatives, cavity proneness from vomit knew of one girl with bu- - ■ limia who would drive to all fast food places in Kearney that had a drive-up window and order something from every one. ” -Tye and the huge amounts of food devoured, and sometimes cases of amenorrhea, which is absence of menstruation. The difference between anorexia and bulimia is the anorectic loses a sub- stantial amount of weight and will usual- ly eat only one banana per day. The Gloria Tye, director of student health services, helps students with health problems such a bulimia. 19

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more. Finally Jan admitted herself to the University Medical Center. Jan knew she could get the professional help she needed at the center. Jan’s parents were not supportive of her decision because as she said, ‘‘They just thought all I needed was a swift kick in the butt; not psychiatric help.” “The in-patient treatment was the best thing I’ve done in my life,” said Jan, Even though I went cold turkey.” At the beginning of her stay in the hospital, bathrooms were unlocked. If she needed to use them, however, there was one stipulation — you could not flush until a nurse checked to make sure there was no vomit. The one hour for exercise was not enough for Jan who was used to three hours in the morning and on-and-off ex- ercise during the evening for about two hours. She exercised whenever she could, without permission. Jan said, “I learned to eat three meals per day plus a snack, which was usually an apple, and 1 lost 25 pounds right off the bat.” Therapy consisted of her own doc- tor, who worked with her on a one-on- one basis and in group therapy. In group therapy, there were bulimics, anorectics, and bulimarexics (a combination of the other disorders). Patients shared their stories with each other and offered sup- port while doctors were present. A nutritionist also worked with her. She was taught which foods to eat to lead a healthy life. Jan began to realize that she could overcome her problem and that was what she had wanted all along. Family therapy was another option, but Jan decided against that since her family did not support her choice of treatment, “Those four months at the Medical Center were longer than most stays,” said Jan. She left Omaha in January 1985 to come back to school. “I had promised ray doctors at the Medical Center that I would keep my weight at 120 pounds. That is the ideal weight for someone my size,” Jan said. Therapy continued at KSC, she needed to meet with someone twice a month. She met with a professor of psy- chology until she felt he was no longer helping her. She began to confide and talk to her boyfriend. Jan’s feelings about bulimia have changed her life because she realized she was hurting herself. She now knows what she needs to eat and what to do to stay healthy. “I still have trouble with my weight. 1 always think I’m too fat. My doctors told me that those feelings would never go away,” said Jan, Friends did not seem to support Jan like she needed. She now feels like the anorectic friend and she together was “the worst thing for both of us.” Jan says that she’s never relapsed back into the former binge, purge behav- ior after going to treatment. During her six-to-seven years of bulimic behavior, she remembers some times being worse than others. Jan still worries about her weight and sometimes she panics if she eats too much. She feels like she can overcome her jittery feelings if she doesn’t stuff herself. “Another thing I stay away from is the junk foods like ice cream and pizza. Those were my binge foods and if I eat a little of those foods, I feel guilty. I really try to stay away from them,” said Jan. Jan’s weight has stabilized at 120 pounds and she tries to maintain that by eating healthy foods and doing some ex- ercise. Jan looks back on her “few bad years” as a learning experience that liter- ally saved her life. She puts into practice many of the ideals taught to her at the medical center. She tells herself one pos- itive thing every day. Today, Jan is married and her hus- band is her strongest source of support. He helps Jan through her “bad days” and with her panic attacks. With no binge and purging behavior in three years, Jan said she needed to re- read her journals of her bulimic years to refresh her memory of that time. She said, “As I was looking over my journals that I wrote in every day, I realized just how crazy I really was.” Jan is now a graduate student at KSC, with many memories behind her. Proving to herself that she can do any- thing she puts her mind to, Jan has set her goals for the future. Good Luck Jan!!! Helping those who are willing to help themselves Connie Rol of Counseling and Advising says to help a person with an eating disorder, you need to ask two questions. First, who are you living your life for? Second, what are you feeling right now? “Everyone needs to realize that if you have a problem, any kind, help is only a phone call away. Call someone and talk about it, a counselor, friend or doctor,” said Rol. To help someone with an eating disorder problem, Rol said, “Confront him or her using T feel... ’ or ‘because ... Someone can never deny you of how you feel. No one can help a bulimic or anorectic until he or she admits that he has a problem. Once it’s admitted, be there for him, make yourself available; let your friend or relative lean on you, Rol advised. “If your roommate is bulimic and gets an urge to binge at 2 a.m. make sure the person knows that she can wake you up and either talk about it or go for a walk,” said Rol. If the bulimic is in control of the problem, she could go for treatment on an out-patient basis. If the problem controls her, treatment should be in-house to assure a full recovery. Rol suggests that one never drag a friend or roommate in for help if she hasn’t admitted she has a problem. If she has admitted to it get her medical attention immediately. “Would you rather have a mad friend or a dead friend?” Rol concluded. nrswn Dufeft Dugst-Burkey §23u