Eating disorders

Bulimia

Bulimia nervosa is characterized by repeated episodes of excessive eating in a short period of time, often followed by compensatory behaviors (such as restricting food intake, vomiting, exercising excessively, or using laxatives). People with bulimia nervosa experience a strong sense of loss of control, and feelings of shame and guilt often accompany this experience.

These binges usually occur in secret, with isolation helping to maintain the cycle. Contrary to popular belief, people with bulimia are often within the normal weight range or may be slightly overweight. Many also have a history of chronic restrictive dieting, which can contribute to the development of the disorder.

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Symptoms of Bulimia

Do you think you recognize some of your behaviors? Are you worried about someone close to you? Here are the things to check:

A - Recurrence of bulimia attacks. A binge eating crisis has the following two characteristics:
- The eating, in a limited period of time (e.g., less than two hours), of an amount of food substantially greater than what most people would eat in a similar period of time and under the same circumstances;
- Feeling of loss of control over eating behavior during the crisis (e.g., feeling unable to control what or how much one eats).
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B - Inappropriate and recurrent compensatory behaviors aimed at preventing weight gain, such as: self-induced vomiting; excessive use of laxatives, diuretics, enemas or other medications; fasting; excessive physical exercise.
C - Binge eating and inappropriate compensatory behaviors both occur, on average, at least once a week for 3 months.
D - Self-esteem is excessively influenced by body weight and shape.
E - The disorder does not occur exclusively during episodes of anorexia nervosa.

DSM-5

For complete descriptions of the various eating disorders listed in the DSM-5.

Visit DSM-5 website

Bulimia

Symptoms of Bulimia

DSM-5

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