Preventing Relapse:10 Beneficial Steps for Long Term Recovery From Purging Disorder
Recovering from a purging disorder is a long and tedious journey. Purging disorder is one of the psychological illnesses to achieve the perfect weight, comprising induced vomiting and laxative use. The majority of those suffering from purging disorders are young girls. Many girls succumb to eating disorders from tremendous pressure from society, they tend to just achieve perfectionism.
Purging disorder is sometimes associated with underlying factors like low self-esteem, depression and anxiety. What may start as a strict diet and excessive exercise, can easily lead to an eating disorder. This can cause other physical and mental problems, making it imperative to seek treatment for people suffering from purging disorder.
There is no second opinion that recovering from purging disorder is one of the most difficult things a person can do. However, despite all the challenges, some steps can improve well-being, prevent relapse and eventually recover from the purging disorder.
Let’s shed light on the purging disorder and strategies for long-term recovery.
What is a Purging Disorder?
Purging disorder is one of the most common eating disorders. Like all the other eating disorders, purging disorder involves episodes of vomiting, use of laxatives or excessive exercise. People with this disorder struggle with the fear of gaining weight and use purging to achieve a certain body and shape.
According to the statistics, 4.8% of adolescent girls suffer from purging disorder, whether bulimia nervosa or similar conditions. Eating disorders are complex, with widespread factors behind them, including social, psychological and environmental factors.
Risk Factors of Purging Disorder
Some of the dominant risk factors for purging disorder comprise;
- Diminishing self-esteem
- Psychological trauma
- Family & society pressure
- Dieting history
- Depression and anxiety
- Intense fear of weight gain
- Perfectionism
Signs and Symptoms of Purging Disorder
People who suffer from purging disorder exhibit the following signs and symptoms of purging disorder;
- Weight loss in a short time
- Increased anxiety
- Mood swings
- Eating much more rapidly than usual
- Excessive obsession with exercise
- Feelings of shame and dissatisfaction with oneself
- Eating in private due to feeling embarrassed
- Frequent bathroom visits after meals to induce vomiting
How To Overcome Purging Disorder?
Only 1 in 10 people suffering from eating disorders receive proper treatment. Mostly, people do not recognize this as a mental illness and are not encouraged to seek treatment.
Let’s dive into the detail of step by step guide on how to recover from purging disorder;
Step 1: Educate Yourself
Educating oneself about the symptoms, causes, and treatment options of purging disorder is the first step toward overcoming it. You are then able to concentrate on a more thorough strategy for recovering from eating disorders.
Step 2: Recognizing Personal Triggers
Identify and understand the triggers that lead to the purging behavior. Regularly write down your thoughts, feelings and certain behaviors. Try to reflect on the past episodes of purging disorder, focusing on its causes and risk factors. By keeping in check the triggers and other factors that contribute to purging disorder, it would be easy to evaluate.
Step 3: Building a Support System
Anyone can significantly change their thoughts and emotions by choosing the positive people to spend time with. Be careful of how you feel after spending time with the people in your life. Are they making a positive impact in your life? Surround yourself with people who are sincere with you, who care for you and positively support you.
Building a support system is one of the keystones in recovering from a purging disorder. Positive influences and good company can come from people who maintain a healthy diet. Getting treatment for an eating disorder-affected individual is the most crucial thing that friends and family can do for them.
Assisting the patient to adhere to their treatment plan, accompanying them to appointments, or even encouraging them to take their medication are some examples of offering support.
To support their loved ones in understanding their condition, friends and family should educate themselves as much as possible about the disorder that affects them. Giving understanding, compassion, tolerance, affection, and encouragement is an additional way of helping someone with a purging disorder.
Step 4: Positive and Inspiring Social Media
Whenever you are on social media, you must see countless images and videos on your feed. Try to customize the content you see by following the accounts that spread positive and motivational messages, contributing to your recovery. Watching any posts that trigger the purging disorder would not help in recovery.
Follow positive content, like coaches or therapists, to keep your morals high and prevent the relapse of purging disorder.
Step 5: Seek Professional Guidance
Mental health professionals can help you find the underlying causes, triggers and effective strategies to manage purging disorder. Psychotherapy allows patients to understand and modify their negative behaviors. Treatment mostly revolves around individualized, family and group therapy.
During individual psychotherapy, patients learn their triggers and behaviors and follow the recovery guidelines accordingly. In family therapy, mental health professionals guide the family on how to respond to someone suffering from purging disorder. However, group therapy involves different patients sharing their experiences and motivating them to follow the recovery path together.
Recovery from purging disorder requires motivation and a positive mindset. Once the treatment starts, you don’t have to give up and stick with the plan throughout the recovery journey.
Step 6: Implementing Cognitive-Behavioural Techniques
Utilize cognitive-behavioral strategies to modify negative thought and behavior patterns. Avoid negative beliefs about weight, body image, and purging behavior. Incorporate healthy alternatives for purging behaviors and positive and productive coping strategies.
Integrate mindfulness exercises into your daily routine, focusing on how they can help you develop emotional control and self-awareness to recover from purging disorder.
Step 7: Establishing Healthy Eating Patterns
Establish a healthy eating plan that promotes both mental and physical well-being. Keep a regular, balanced meal schedule to counteract the effects of purging disorder. Learn about the beneficial nutrients yourself to incorporate such a diet in your daily routine that helps recover from the purging disorder.
Step 8: Setting Realistic Goals and Milestones
Establish achievable goals so you can evaluate your recovery process. Purposefully include the term “purging disorder” in your goal-setting to maintain focus and direction and divide the recovery process into small steps.
In particular when it comes to overcoming the difficulties associated with purging disorder. You must acknowledge and celebrate personal growth to cultivate a positive self-image and motivation.
Step 9: Creating a Relapse Prevention Plan
Follow a customized prevention plan to help you recognize and stop relapses. Create a guide of coping mechanisms to deal with triggers without converting to purging behaviors, and mention “purging disorder” clearly in your recovery strategy. Visit mental health specialists to recover from a purging disorder.
Step 10: Embracing Lifestyle Modification
To enhance your general well-being, think about implementing healthy lifestyle modifications to control your weight. Don’t encourage yourself to purge by doing things that make you happy and improve your well-being. Consider engaging in activities like yoga or meditation exercises to enhance the relationship between your physical and mental well-being.
The Final Verdict
Incorporating the comprehensive step-by-step guide lays the foundation for long-term recovery from purging disorder. Be patient, keep focused, and follow the guidelines to recover once and for all. Remember that recovery from purging disorder is a long journey, so celebrate every step. And dont overthink about your weight.
In this blog, we have covered how to get long-term recovery from purging disorder. If you are the one who is struggling with a purging disorder, this guide is here for you. Keep prioritizing yourself, seek professional guidance, surround yourself with positive people and embrace lifestyle modifications.
Never let your morale down; keep encouraging yourself and others surrounding you who suffer from purging disorder. Always muster up the courage and take steps forward to life-long recovery.
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