How to treat bulimia has become a big issue in many homes now.
It is not yet known what causes an eating disorder but there are various theories attributing to why people develop them.
It is mostly seen in teenage girls.
Although males too suffer from this ailment, it is a very small percentage.
The most common eating disorder is bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa.
But bulimia is more common than anorexia.
Do you know bulimia is quite similar to anorexia? The only difference is that a person suffering from bulimia will binge eat and then will try to compensate it by taking some extreme steps like forced vomiting or excessive exercise so as not to gain weight.
Doing this activity over a period of time can even endanger the person's life.
A person suffering from bulimia eats a large quantity of food which is mostly junk food all at once.
They feel powerless to stop themselves unless they are too full to eat anymore.
And the next step for them is to purge by vomiting, using laxatives or excessive exercise.
People with anorexia are usually very thin and underweight but people who have bulimia may be of normal weight or sometime may be even overweight.
A person suffering from bulimia shows the following symptoms

• They have a fear of gaining weight.
  
• They are always unhappy with their body size,shape and weight.
  
• They are always making excuses to go tobathroom after every meal.
  
• They buy laxatives, diuretics or enemas on aregular basis.
  
• They withdraw themselves from any socialactivities especially if it involves meals and eating activities.
  
• They spend most of their time working out howto work off the calories.
  

Due to constant vomiting and lack of nutrients, a person tormented with bulimia may face problems like:

• constant stomach pain
• damage to a person's stomach and kidneys
• tooth decay
• "chipmunk cheeks," when the salivary glandspermanently expand from throwing up so often
• loss of menstrual periods in girls
• loss of the mineral potassium - this may contribute toheart problems and even death

Help of psychotherapists are one of the first options that people take recourse to when trying to treat bulimia.
Since this is mainly a psychological problem, professional help may come in handy.
Specialized support groups can a also play a major part in helping a person deal with this situation.
Parents and other family members can play a crucial part in treating persons suffering from bulimia.
They must make the afflicted person understand that their natural body shape is fine and to become excessively thin is quite dangerous.
So in many cases of treating bulimia family therapy is one of the key factors in making a big difference.