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BULIMIA
Bulimia is binge eating accompanied by purging. The bulimic experiences the rush of planning the binge, which can be very stimulating for the person with ADD. In addition, the bulimic may be stimulated by the satiation binging provides; then, he or she adds an additional dimension to the process: the relief of purging. Many bulimics report entering an altered state of consciousness, experiencing feelings of calmness and euphoria after they vomit. This cleansing provides relief which is short lived, and so the bulimic is soon binging again.
ANOREXIA
Our culture is obsessed with thinness. "Food is OK, but, don't gain weight." No wonder so many adolescent boys and girls, as well as women and men, become imprisoned in binge and purge cycles, chronic dieting, and anorexia nervosa. Anorexia can be deadly. Anorectics have lost their ability to eat in a healthy way. Self-starvation is characterized by loss of control. They are obsessed with thoughts of food, body image, and diet. Anorectics can also use laxatives, diuretics, enemas, and compulsive exercise to maintain their distorted image of thinness.
As we learn more about ADD, we discover that people manifest ADD traits differently. Obsessing on food, exercise, and thinness gives the anorectic a way to focus their chaotic ADD brains. They become over focused on thoughts and behaviors that related to food.
Frequently these people will only become aware of their high level of activity, distractibility, and impulsiveness after they have been in recovery for anorexia. Self starvation curtails hyperactivity.
Distractibility and spaceyness are characteristics of both anorexia and bulimia, whether or not they're accompanied by ADD. In each case the inability to concentrate or focus results because the brain is not being properly nourished. For people with ADD, however, there is a history of attention difficulties that predates the eating disorder. Their concentration, impulse problems, and activity level may not improve when their eating disorder is treated. As a matter of fact, their ADD traits can get worse once they are no longer self-medicating with food, or organizing their lives around food and exercise. If you are someone who has struggled with eating disorders, and suspect you may have ADD, it is important to get an evaluation. Both your eating disorders and your ADD must be treated.
COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT
It is essential that both ADHD and eating disorders are treated. Too many people are struggling with their eating disorders because they have undiagnosed or untreated ADD. When ADD is properly treated the individual is better able to focus and follow through with treatment for their eating disorders. They also have greater control of their impulses, and less of a need to self-medicate their ADD symptoms.
Stimulant medications such as Dexedrine, Ritalin, Desoxyn, and Adderall that work with the neurotransmitter dopamine can be helpful in treating ADD restlessness, impulsiveness, attentional problems, and problems with obsessive thoughts. Medications such as Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft are useful because they increase serotonin levels, thus helping with impulse control, obsessive thoughts, and decrease agitation.
The key to successful treatment lies in a comprehensive treatment program that address the medical, emotional, social, and physical aspects of both ADD and eating disorders. Recovering from eating disorders takes time, hard work and commitment. Recovering from eating disorders when you have ADD is even tougher. I encourage you to be patient. Put away the whip of contempt, and have compassion for yourself. You've been through a lot. Over the years I have seen many people who were once hopeless and despondent because they could not recover from their eating disorders chart solid courses of recovery once their ADD was treated.
HealthyPlace.com comprehensive information on Eating Disorders
1. Zametkin, Nordahl, Gross, King, Semple, Rumsey, Hamburger, and Cohen, "Cerebral Glucose Metabolism in Adults with Hyperactivity of Childhood Onset," {The New England Journal of Medicine}, 30 (1990).
About the author: Wendy Richardson, MA., LMFT, the author of The Link Between ADD And Addiction: Getting The Help You Deserve, is a licensed marriage, family, child therapist and Certified Addiction Specialist in private practice. She is also a consultant, trainer, and speaks at national and international ADD, chemical dependency, and learning disability conferences.
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