Bulimia Nervosa is a psychological disease which is characterised by binge-eating, feelings of guilt and then self-inflicted purging, by vomiting or using laxatives or diuretics.

Bulimia is often very hard to identify, as it is easily hidden, and bulimics can seem to have a normal weight, to be overweight or underweight - although they usually know themselves that they have an eating disorder.

Many symptoms of bulimia are similar to those of anorexia, but bulimics feel totally out of control of their eating, while anorexics feel in control of their eating.

Bulimics can eat like everyone else, or binge, and then they will vomit or use laxatives or diuretics. Most people experience an eating binge from time to time, the difference is that bulimics will binge more than twice a week.They will also eat large amounts of food very quickly, or almost constantly snack. They tend to do their binge eating in secret.

Bulimics are often fairly passive and non-assertive, craving approval. They often have a busy social life.

With counselling and treatment, most people with bulimia nervosa recover completely. They can learn ways of expressing their needs in ways that don't involve food. Bullimia is deemed more likely in women who work in fields where their weight is relevant to their work, such as ballet, acting and modelling.

Treatment for eating disorders may encompass:

• Behaviour Modification: a system of rewards and incentives to change behaviour, often requiring the sufferer to record food intake and associated feelings.
• Psychotherapy: individually or in groups. Through psychotherapy, people are helped to correct their concepts of body-image and to develop positive self-seteem which enables the lessening of feelings of inadequacy and guilt.
• Education: dietitians or nutritionalists may assist in the retraining of healthy eating patterns.
• Family Therapy: the family as a unit, is encouraged to develop ways to cope with the disorder.

Bibliography

Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. (http://www.anred.com/, June 1998)

Cooke, K. Real Gorgeous - The truth about body and beauty (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1994)

Britannica Online. Nutrition: Diet and diseases: Obesity and Other Disorders of the Diet (http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5004/70/50.html, June 1998)