How to Identify a Bulimic Daughter 2

Eating disorders affect teenagers allover the world. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are discreet and hard to detect, so, how is it possible for a parent to identify a bulimic daughter?

Bulimia is the act of provoking vomit after eating to avoid getting fat. It is a mental self-image disorder, and must be treated, to prevent psychological damages and wounds to gastro-intestinal organs.

Although I orient this guide to identify “bulimia suffering daughters”, it also works to identify bulimic sons. However, as a Psychologist I may say that boys with bulimia are a minority in my office. Girls are much more prone to self-image disorders as anorexia and bulimia.

This article is the second in a series in which I intend to help parents to identify bulimia suffering children. In the first article How to Identify a Bulimic Daughter (1), I pointed the bathroom behaviors that a parent should look for if suspecting that the daughter suffers from bulimia. The next topic is “Examine the Bathroom for Bulimia Signs”.

Examine The Bathroom Bulimia Signs

I know that the examining the bathroom seems like spying, but as I said in the last article, being a parent is like having all the professions from teacher to a doctor. Spy is some place between. Bulimia is a dangerous disease, and a parent must search for the signs.

The first thing a parent should look for in search of bulimia signs are vomit evidence. If the bulimic have no clue that the parent is suspicious, he may be careless. Inside the sanitary vase corners and around it will be many brown and yellow spots. Those are vomit droplets. There is also the possibility of entering the bathroom right after the bulimic teen vomited, and the place will still smell like vomit.

However, there is the possibility of the bulimic to be aware of the parents’ suspicion. In that case, the vomit signs will be different.

The first will be the perfume or deodorizer smell. It’s probable that the bulimic teen will disguise the vomit smell with one of these products. Another disguise technique bulimic uses is keeping the tap always opened while inside the bathroom; it will disguise the vomit noises.

The second will be constant cleaning of the sanitary vase and surroundings. Bulimics usually clean the vomit droplets with toilet paper. In that case, the sanitary vase won’t have droplets, but will be kind of greasy. Use the finger to feel it.

A bulimic more obsessed about the vomit droplets will clean the vase with more appropriate products, making the vase perfectly clean. In that case, the parent must wonder if that’s a natural behavior from the daughter; I mean, it is not usual for teenager to keep cleaning things.

Search for vomit signs and studying the daughter bathroom behavior are important tools to spot a bulimic, but not the only ones. Bulimics may be very discreet in the bathroom, and the parent must be aware of the other signs. In the next article of this series, “How to Identify a Bulimic Daughter (3)”, I will discuss “bulimia sufferers and their behavior with the family”.

Well… and don’t forget that the first thing a bulimic teenager needs is the love from the family. Even if the parent is suspicious, aggressiveness towards the teenager is never the solution. It will only grow the abyss between parents and children.