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Bulimia
Bulimia is the process of binging and purging. A bulimic tries to maintain a low body weight by purging food from the body to compensate for eating binges. Bulimia is very destructive to the body.
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Anorexia
Anorexia is an eating disorder in which a person starves herself. She percieves herself as overweight no matter how thin she may be. Because self-starvation is very harmful, anorexia is sometimes considered a form of self-mutilation. The dynamics may be similar for the person who cuts herself, and the one who starves herself. Both may be wanting to gain some control over a life they see as "out of control". By inflicting injury on themselves, they feel as if they are reasserting control over their lives. In their way of thinking, at least they are responsible for the pain and hurt.
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Compulsive Eating
Compulsive eating is similar to bulimia in that it envolves binging behavior. However, compulsive eaters do not purge. Intentionally eating too much food or the wrong kinds of food to gain weight is a way to hurt yourself. Obesity confirms low self-esteem; furthermore, it can cause diabetes and complicate other health problems. But compulsive eating isn't always a sign of self-injury. People eat for different reasons. Sometimes, the dynamics have more to do with wanting to punish yourself (self-mutilation) than to soothe yourself.
Anorexia, bulimia, compulsive eating, and substance abuse can all be considered companion manifestations of self-mutilating behavior when they are done to hurt the body to experience relief. This is also true when the behavior's goal is to manage uncomfortable feelings. Why do we even have to catagorize the behavior? The treatment is different for someone who drinks, eats, starves, or purges in order to self-mutilate. People who are actually self-mutilators will never fully recover, no matter what the program, if their self-mutilating behavior isn't addressed. What usually happens is that they'll trade one form of self-injury for another. The bulimic may overcome his or her bingeing and purging but then turn to cutting to creat physical pain.
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Substance Abuse
Those of you who have tried to get drunk on purpose because you were mad about something are resorting to self-mutilating behavior. You're intentionally hurting yourself either because you think you deserve the punishment or because you're trying to alter your mood through chemicals.
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