Bulimia: The Emergence of a Syndrome

1984 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. F. Huon ◽  
L. B. Brown

The literature on bulimia, which has regarded it as a psychiatric entity or as a form of disordered eating, suggests that this behaviour is now widespread among the obese, among those with anorexia nervosa and those of normal weight. While physiological, psychological and sociocultural explanations and forms of treatment have been proposed, a holistic perspective on the context in which it occurs can distinguish bulimia nervosa and bulimarexia from ‘simple’ bulimia.

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 663-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Schmidt ◽  
Jane Tiller ◽  
Janet Treasure

SynopsisThe aim of this study was to determine whether the childhood experiences of patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa differ and affect the course of the illness. A semistructured interview developed by Harris et al. (1986) was used to assess the childhood family environment of 64 patients with restricting anorexia nervosa (RAN), 23 patients with bulimic anorexia nervosa (BAN), 37 bulimic patients with a history of anorexia nervosa (BN/HistAN) and 79 patients with normal weight bulimia nervosa (BN).There were no significant differences between groups in terms of parental mental disorder, low parental control or childhood sexual abuse. BN patients had had significantly more family arrangements and had experienced more parental indifference, excessive parental control, physical abuse, and violence against other family members than RAN patients with the BAN and BN/HistAN group being intermediate. There was a trend for BN-patients to have had more intra-familial discord than the other groups. Different aspects of adversity tended to cluster in the same patients and 65% of the bulimic group had experienced two or more types of childhood adversity. These results suggest that childhood experiences contribute to the form of eating disorder which later develops.


1987 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 624-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Garfinkel ◽  
David M. Garner ◽  
David S. Goldbloom

In the past decade much has been learned about the clinical features, diagnosis and understanding of people with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. In order to provide the next level of improvement in our care for these patients, our understanding of certain problems must be addressed by empirical research. Areas which require further study include the definition of high risk groups, the refinement of diagnoses, understanding factors which result in chronicity, determining the complications of chronicity and comparative evaluations of different treatments. These five areas are outlined in this article. Populations at risk for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa may be those who must be thin and achieve according to career choice, those with a particular family and personal psychiatric history; obesity and chronic medical illnesses may be further risks. Improved diagnostic understanding has occurred by the differentiation of bulimic from restricting subtypes of anorexia nervosa. Further work must determine the relationship between the bulimic subtype of anorexia nervosa and bulimia in normal weight women and to further clarify the relationship between eating disorders and affective disorders. A number of factors may result in a chronic illness. These have been described on a variety of levels. The consequences of starvation in altering an individual's thinking, feeling and behaviour do play a role. It is not clear what factors at a neurochemical level contribute to this. Elevated endogenous opiates decreased noradrenergic function and decreased serotonin may be important. Information about the chronic complications is required for clinicians to understand the broad range of difficulties that may develop over time so that clinicians may use this information in planning treatment strategies. Two examples, those of osteoporosis and the pregnant woman with an eating disorder, highlight this problem. Finally, treatment is briefly reviewed in terms of options available and the idea of developing a stepped-care approach to treatment.


1992 ◽  
Vol 161 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sing Lee ◽  
L. K. George Hsu ◽  
Y. K. Wing

In contrast to the West, bulimic disorders are rarer than anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong. Four female normal-weight bulimic patients with mostly typical clinical features and conspicuous morbidity are reported. The case histories support the hypothesis that binge-eating is used to regulate unpleasant affect.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Hetty Krisnani ◽  
Meilanny Budiarti Santoso ◽  
Destin Putri

ABSTRAKMasa remaja merupakan masa perubahan dramatis dalam diri seseorang. Salah satu perubahan yang terjadi adalah perubahan komposisi tubuh, terutama akumulasi lemak tubuh pada remaja puteri. Dengan adanya akumulasi lemak tubuh tersebut, ada anggapan bahwa mereka tidak memiliki tubuh semenarik yang diinginkan. Hal ini akan mendorong remaja puteri mencari jalan keluar agar memiliki tampilan fisik yang ideal, salah satunya adalah dengan melakukan perubahan kebiasaan makan yang umumnya menyimpang. Kebiasaan makan yang tidak benar itu dapat mengakibatkan terjadinya gangguan makan atau eating disorder yang dapat berdampak buruk bagi remaja. Eating disorders (ED) merupakan gangguan mental yang meskipun berhubungan dengan pola makan dan berat badan, gangguan tersebut bukanlah mengenai makanan, tetapi mengenai perasaan dan ekspresi diri. Pada umumnya, penderita ED adalah mereka yang memiliki kepercayaan diri rendah. Terdapat dua macam ED, yaitu anorexia nervosa dan bulimia nervosa. Kedua gangguan tersebut mempunyai tujuan yang sama, yaitu menguruskan badan. ABSTRACTAdolescence is a time of dramatic change in a person. One of the changes that occur are changes in body composition, especially the accumulation of body fat in girls. Given the accumulation of body fat, there is the assumption that they do not have a body as attractive as desired. This will encourage the girls find a way out in order to have the ideal physical appearance, one is to change eating habits are generally distorted. Improper eating habits can result in eating disorders or disordered eating can be bad for teens. Eating disorders (ED) is a mental disorder even though associated with diet and weight, the disorder is not about food, but about feelings and self-expression. In general, patients with ED are those who have low confidence. There are two kinds of ED, namely anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Both of these disorders have the same goal, which is to lose weight.


1988 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 208-234

Two psychiatric conditions are commonly associated with laxative and/or diuretic abuse to control weight. They are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The newest diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa now makes it possible to diagnose this disorder before profound weight loss has occurred. There are four criteria: (1) refusal to maintain body weight greater than a minimum normal weight for age and height, the minimum being 15% below that expected; (2) intense fear of gaining weight; (3) a disturbance in the way one's body weight, size, or shape is experienced; and (4) amenorrhea in girls. Anorexia nervosa usually begins in early to late adolescence. It is primarily a disorder of girls.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (11) ◽  
pp. 759-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantal Simon

Although classification of eating disorders is relatively recent, cases of female anorexia have been recorded since the eleventh century. Then, the intentional self-starvation of women was thought to result from religious yearnings resulting in these women being termed ‘fasting saints’. Freud recorded a case of bulimia nervosa in a female patient in the nineteenth century. There are currently three recognized eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Many more people have disordered eating patterns that show features of these conditions but do not meet the criteria for diagnosis.


Among elite athletes disordered eating (DE) behavior as well as eating disorders (ED) are one of the most common mental illnesses. According to Sundgot-Borgen et al. [1] DE can be illustrated by a continuum ranging from performance-oriented eating and exercise behaviors to subclinical EDs and clinical EDs such as Anorexia nervosa (AN) and Bulimia nervosa (BN) along with other medical complications and impairment of performance.


Body Image ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 163-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake Linardon ◽  
Andrea Phillipou ◽  
David Castle ◽  
Richard Newton ◽  
Philippa Harrison ◽  
...  

1982 ◽  
Vol 141 (6) ◽  
pp. 631-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher G. Fairburn

It is well recognized that bouts of uncontrolled and excessive eating (binges) occur in both a small proportion of patients who are overweight and in about 50 per cent of patients with anorexia nervosa. However, it has only recently been appreciated that many people who fall into neither category also have an eating disorder which is principally characterized by episodes of binge-eating. These people experience a profound and distressing loss of control over eating which results in a grossly disturbed eating pattern. Despite this, their body weight tends to lie within the normal range. The disorder has attracted various names including ‘the dietary chaos syndrome’ (Palmer, 1979), ‘the abnormal normal weight control syndrome’ (Crisp, 1979), ‘bulimia nervosa’ (Russell, 1979), and simply ‘bulimia’ (DSM III, 1980). The term bulimia nervosa is probably the most satisfactory since it conveys the links with anorexia nervosa and emphasises the central role of binge-eating. Russell (1979) proposed the following diagnostic criteria for this syndrome:


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document