Bulimia

Bulimia is a pattern involving eating binges followed by vomiting purges, is considered a type of anorexia nervosa. Typically, the bulimia sufferer is a woman in her early twenties, college educated, single, and white. Like anorexics, bulimics "are usually perfetionists ... but they tend to be older, of near normal weight, with helthy, outgoing appearances. Bulimia is not just eating a lot, or "pigging out," there is a distinct pattern to the bulimic's binges. The bulimic typically eats scretly, consuming an enormous amount of food at one sitting. The urge that drives such eating is clearly somthing beyond simple hunger. Commonly, a binge will follow one "slip" from a self imposed diet. The bulimic will eat one favorite forbidden food - a brownie, a piece of pecan pie - and then feel compelled to consume virtually every bit of food in sight. Then comes the need to vomit or to take quantities of laxatives to make sure that the food doesn't stay in the body to produce weight gain.

What causes bulimia? as with anorexia, the condition is not fully understood. Psychiatrists who have studied bulimics agree that they have an abnormal fear of becoming fat. The onset of bulimia usually occurs during adolesence, when staying slim seems to be the one way to please overly critical parents. The binge purge syndrome can over time be very harmful. Potassium depletion, urinary tract infections, kidney failure, weight loss, ulcers, and hernias are all possible side effects. Curing bulimia is difficult because the disease is still so poorly understood, but the number of treatment program is growing.