During the holidays, we often focus on eating. Bipolar people are more likely to suffer from
eating disorders than are others, and for some, holiday feasts can trigger
anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating.
While I am bipolar and have been anorectic in the past, I
haven't had an eating disorder for decades. But having written the "Dieters
Notebook" column for Cosmopolitan
for seven years, I have researched eating disorders then and have also found
new information now.
Women are more apt to have an eating disorder than are men,
and both bipolar women and men are more likely than other groups to suffer from
bulimia and anorexia. Bulimia is
eating and then forcing one's self to throw up. Anorexia focuses on a distorted body image so that sufferers starve
themselves, sometimes so severely that they die. One of its most famous
victims was singer Karen Carpenter, who died of anorexia when she
was thirty-two.
About one in
ten bipolar people is a binge eater,
which is a higher proportion than in the general population. Binge eating can
be a mood regulator, taking the edge off depression and anxiety. Bipolar binge
eaters tend to have a more severe form of bipolar disorder than bipolar women
and men who are not binge eaters. This may be because eating can be a form of
self-medicating, improving the eater's mood and decreasing tension. Turkeys are
especially good at lifting our moods due to their tryptophan, which stimulates
the brain to release more serotonin, a feel-good amino acid.
Having an anorectic or bulimic person at the table (bipolar
or not) can, be a downer, because anorectics are fussy not only about what they
eat but also about how much. And any time bulimics excuse themselves from the
table during the a meal and go to the bathroom, everyone knows they are
probably throwing up. In contrast, binge eaters keep down whatever they eat, so
while they may help themselves to more than their share of the meal, they keep
it down.
For bipolar people, an eating disorder is most likely to be
severe if the bipolar disorder is severe. Unfortunately, medications for treating
bipolar disorder don't mix with medications for eating disorders. In fact, meds
that can help a bipolar person may stimulate binge eating in someone who has
not previously had that problem and also may trigger a binge eating spree in a
patient who is already a binge eater.
From a positive perspective, psychotherapy can often help
control both bipolar disorder and binge eating.
