Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia Nervosa, often referred to as  'Bulimia' is a serious eating disorder commonly found in girls in adulthood. It is very rarely found in men.  Person with bulimia eat a lot in a short amount of time (bingeing).  This binge eating usually ends with abdominal discomfort and then the patient attempts to undo the consequences of the binge through self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, severe caloric restriction, diuretics, enemas, or excessive exercising and fasting etc.

Bulimics may devour huge quantities of food, during a binge, most typically foods that would  normally be not allowed in a healthy/weight reduction diet. It usually includes foods high in carbohydrates or sweets, meat, cheese etc.   

There are also two subtypes of bulimia nervosa, purging and non-purging. The Purging type describes individuals who regularly compensate for the binge eating with self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse, diuretics, or enemas. The Non-Purging Type is used to describe individuals who compensate through dietary fasting or excessive exercising. 

The use of vomiting by bulimics can easily become addictive. Although at first they may have done it to get rid of excess food calories, it soon becomes a form of security. They are afraid to stop because they fear their eating habits are out of control and without the use of vomiting they fear they will become grossly overweight. Self induced vomiting could also lead to further hunger and binging, thus creating a cycle.

The bulimic is dominated by a sense of lack of control over the eating. It can occur together with other psychiatric disorders such as depression, obsessive- compulsive disorder, substance dependence or self injurious behavior.  Characteristics of persons with bulimia is the worry about weight and shape and tendency to go on strict diets to achieve an ideal figure.