Bulimia Nervosa


In it's later stages, Anorexia becomes easy to detect. It's victims take upon a sickly, emaciated apperance. Bulimics, however, fall at almost any weight.

Behaviors of binging, purging, over excercising, abusing laxatives, crash dieting, and long-term fasting can be equally damaging as anorexia. Yet the vast majority of bulimics maintain a "normal" weight. Others are commonly slighly under or over a healthy BMI. Bulimia is defined by secrecy. Shame and guilt build a facade. Friends and family are often unaware of a victim's struggle. Eating disorders frequently begin during a person's teen years or early adulthood. Bulimia patients have been known to wait years- even decades before seeking treatment. However, they are more likely to ask for help, than their Anorexic counterparts.

"A bulimic person's shame may lead [them]not only to..hide [their] eating disorder, but also [their] basic needs and yearnings. [They may act as if these desires do not exist, or as if he or she does not desire or need anything nor anyone]". (Reindl)

You don't have to look like you have an eating disorder to have one

"Bulimia can develop after a person has followed a very restrictive diet. Binging may also be triggered by a stressful event, when food gives you a sense of comfort. Feeling guilty and ashamed of binging can cause you to purge to avoid weight gain. This starts the cycle of binging and purging that becomes a habit. As bulimia develops, you may not eat at the beginning of the day, but later you may binge to comfort yourself..."(WebMD)

Bulimia is often viewed as an addiction. "You can tell an alcoholic that they have all the signs and warnings of being a helpless drunk, but you can’t keep them away from the beer and liquor. Bulimia runs on the same premise as other chemical and substance addictions, it is ultimately left to the fate and luck whether or not they are devastated by the disease. Most bulimics...acquire the addiction by accident." (Bulimiatips.net)


DMS-IV Criteria


A.Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both of the following:


(1) Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2-hour period), an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar period of time and under similar circumstances.
(2) A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating).

B. Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior in order to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or other medications; fasting, or excessive exercise.

C. The binge eating and inappropriate compensatory behaviors occur, on average, at least twice a week for three months.

D. Self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight.

E. The disturbance does not occur exclusively during episodes of Anorexia Nervosa.

Type: Purging Type vs. Non-purging Type (exercise & fasting to compensate).

“...Bulimia acknowledges the body explicitly, violently. It attacks the body, but it does not deny. It is an act of disgust and of need. This disgust and this need are about both the body and the emotions. The bulimic finds herself in excess, too emotional, too passionate. This sense of excess is pinned to the body. The body bears the blame but is not the primary problem. There is a sense of hopelessness in the bulimic, a well-fuck-it-all-then, I might as well binge. This is a dangerous statement, but the bulimic impulse is more realistic than the anorexic because, for all its horrible nihilism, it understands the body is inescapable."

-Marya Hornbacher

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