![]() ![]() The new studies, which involved magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, not only offer a better understanding of a patient’s brain on bulimia, they may hold clues to improving treatment options in the future.Ĭurrently, bulimia is treated with nutrition therapy, psychotherapy, nutritional counseling, support groups or medicines, such as Prozac, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.īulimia can be life-threatening, and seeking treatment is essential, said Allison Chase, executive director of the Eating Recovery Center in Austin, Texas, who was not involved in the new studies. “My eating disorder behaviors have often been a physical representation of my anxiety and stress when I didn’t have words for what was going on in my life or what I was thinking.” ![]() “Compulsive behaviors such as restricting, bingeing and purging, in my experience, have been almost always a way to manage overwhelming anxiety caused by stress,” she said. “I absolutely believe stress can be a trigger,” said Fitzgibbons, who sits on the ambassador council of the Eating Recovery Center where she received treatment. ![]() Two separate studies on bulimia and the brain published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology this month shed new light on the eating disorder, as it relates to feelings of acute stress and hunger or satiety. Now, as a paramedic, she saves lives in the same city that saved her own life those few years ago. While in treatment, Fitzgibbons said, she learned how she could feel anxiety or stress without using harmful behaviors to cope. I went in for my parents, to save their daughter’s life, and I came out with my life, Sydney’s life.” “I went because seeing the pain on my family’s face was too great to deal with anymore. “I didn’t even initially go for myself,” she said of the recovery center. In 2014, Fitzgibbons was admitted to the Eating Recovery Center in Denver for treatment for bulimia for a second time, after multiple admissions to other treatment centers. “The first time I felt significant heart palpitations, I finally admitted to myself, ‘maybe this isn’t just a diet gone wrong.’ “ There were moments after Fitzgibbons would purge when she would sit on the cold bathroom floor, sweaty and dizzy, and think, ” ‘This can’t be normal,’ ” she said. Several studies suggest that childhood sexual abuse can be a risk factor for the development of bulimia, a type of eating disorder that involves binge-eating large amounts of food and then purging the food to prevent weight gain, such as by throwing up or taking laxatives.Ībout 5% of American women struggle with bulimia in their lifetimes and about 5% of adults in the United Kingdom, according to recent statistics. "There is hope and life on the other side of an eating disorder," said Sydney Fitzgibbons, 22. “I learned at a young age that even if you can control nothing else around you, you can control your own body.” “It’s always been clear to me how I developed an eating disorder,” Fitzgibbons said. When Fitzgibbons was a young child, growing up in Casa Grande, Arizona, she experienced sexual trauma, not at the hands of anyone directly in her family, she said, but by someone she knew and trusted.Īfter the traumatic experience, she turned to food for comfort, she said. Yet, about three years ago, Fitzgibbons was just starting this chapter in her life, which follows chapters of pain, secrets and resilience. Based in Denver, where she works as a paramedic, she can often be found riding a bike among the breathtaking blue spruce and ponderosa pine trees that adorn the Colorado landscape. Then, she purged, and just like that, a self-destructive cycle of bulimia began in Sydney Fitzgibbons’ life.įitzgibbons now describes herself as a passionate, resilient and kind-hearted 22-year-old with a strong sense of humor. She wanted to take back power over her own body. ![]()
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