Body Wise - Bulimia Nervosa

The Diet-Binge-Purge Disorder

People who suffer from bulimia eat large amounts of food in a quick, automatic, and helpless fashion. This is called a binge. This may numb their feelings for a little bit, but eventually people suffering from bulimia feel physical discomfort and anxiety about gaining weight. As a result, they purge the food they have eaten by making themselves vomit, using laxatives, over exercising, or limiting their diets. Some people use a combination of all these forms of purging.

Signs and Symptoms:

*Sneaking food.

*Making excuses to go to the bathroom after meals.

*Eating large amounts of food on the spur of the moment.

*Taking laxatives, vomiting, and/or over exercising to "purge" food.

*Extreme concern with body weight and image.

*Enamel on teeth begins to wear away, causing cavities.

Karen's Story

Karen developed bulimia nervosa at 14, and like Cindy, her strange eating behaviors began when she started to diet. Karen would diet and exercise to lose weight, but unlike Cindy, she regularly ate huge amounts of food and maintained her normal weight by forcing herself to vomit. Karen often felt angry, frightened, and depressed. "My looks were everything to me," Karen said. "I felt guilty if I ate anything with fat in it and was afraid I'd gain a lot of weight, so I would make myself vomit. But at the same time, eating a lot of food was the only thing that made me feel better."

Unable to understand her own behavior, she thought no one else would either. She felt isolated and lonely. Typically, when things were not going well, she would be overcome with an uncontrollable desire for sweets. "After a bad day at school all I could think about was coming home and eating," Karen said. She would sneak the food into her room and even had hiding places for it so her family would not catch on. "I would eat pounds of candy and cake at a time and not stop until I was exhausted or in severe pain." Then, feeling really guilty and disgusted, she would make herself vomit.

Karen's eating habits embarrassed her so much that she kept them secret, until a teacher heard her vomiting in the school bathroom. The teacher referred her to a doctor where she became involved in group therapy and had regular visits with a doctor. Karen learned how to treat her illness and gained understanding from others with the same problem. "Now when I have a bad day, I call a friend instead of turning to food," Karen said. "Sometimes it's still hard, but I now have the confidence in myself to do it."