I have decided to do a series of blog posts called Misconceptions to show some of the myths people associate some mental illnesses with. I will be starting with Bulimia.

Vanity
Some people tend to believe that people suffering from eating disorders are doing it for their image and for vanity purposes when the truth is that these eating disorders are life threatening illnesses. Vanity is described as being an excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance or achievements, which is the opposite of what sufferers of eating disorders feel. Although worrying about weight is normally a big part of bulimia, this is not always the case. Bulimia can come from underlying issues such as anxiety and depression which can develop the disorder further.

Easy to spot
People tend to think that if someone is suffering from an eating disorder they have a skeletal body frame, however the truth is that people who have eating disorders can come in all different shapes and sizes. Sufferers of bulimia are mostly not overweight or underweight, but their weight will usually fluctuate a lot. Also the disorder isn't always easy to spot as for most sufferes hiding the disorder is one of the most important things to them.

Only effects females
It is true that eating disorders affect more females than males however many males do suffer from them and this shouldn't be forgotten. Eating disorders are not bias they do not attach to someone based on their race, gender etc, they can affect anyone

Its a choice
People mistakenly believe that an eating disorder is a choice of lifestyle. As someone who has suffered from bulimia I can personally say this disorder is definitely not a choice. I think this is one of the conceptions that makes me the most irritated because I have had to deal with so much and if it was a "choice." this is most certainly not the lifestyle I would choose.

Always about vomiting
A common misconception is that to be bulimic you must binge and vomit. This is not true. Bulimia can come under other binge & purge patterns such as over exercising, taking laxatives and phases of fasting.

Side effects of bulimia are not long term
Some people think that once somebody has recovered from bulimia that everything is better and the person goes back to being healthy which isn't always the case. Some long term side effects of the illness can be more than just changing your appearance as the disorder can have a long term affect on your health. Long term effects of bulimia can include Lazy Bowel syndrome meaning the bulimic person finds it hard to digest food due to the binge, purge cycle they may have been stuck in. Bulimia has a long term effect on your teeth as the acid from vomit breaks down the enamel on your teeth making them weaker. Bulimia can cause infertility as your periods can become irregular or stop all together. Bulimia can actually cause cancer. Due to the purging it can cause a cancer called oesophageal adenocarcinoma. The things listed above are not the only long term effects that bulimia can cause there are more, which I may do a separate post on.

Bulimia is not life threatening
All you really need to do is look at the above paragraph to see that this statement is false. Bulimia is life threatening as your heart is not built to be able to go through daily vomiting or laxative use. Bulimia can cause death. The disorder can do serious damage to your heart. Yes that is scary but its true and needs to be made more aware.