Communication barriers were broken when I showed certain poems to my family. Writing is a form of release, perhaps partly physical. Emotions are externalised. I can distance myself from, and gain a new perspective on, them. Compulsive eating can be frightening, you feel out of control, almost possessed.
Writing is a form of control.
It enables me to explore the compulsion more fully, to identify issues and their underlying logic. In short, writing cuts bulimia down to size. Notes can be compared. Self respect returns, trouncing the self image of a 'weak-willed failure'. Factors that have contributed to my situation, e.g. sex discrimination, surface.