Eating disorders can be classified into three types - anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and obesity. The first two deals with women who are extremely conscious with the way they look, hence trying to maintain a very light weight bordering on malnutrition. The last one is an uncontrollable compulsion for eating thus leading to a weight that is way above their ideal weight.

Cause of Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia often begins with a dissatisfaction of the person's body. The individual may actually be underweight, but when that person looks in a mirror they see a distorted image and feel heavier than they really are. At first, this distorted body image leads to dieting. As the body image in the mirror continues to be seen as larger than it actually is, the dieting escalates and leads to bulimia. The bottom line however, is that bulimia is the misuse of food to try to resolve emotional problems. When a person is unable to face their feelings, define problems, and resolves them effectively, that person is more prone to become susceptible to the onset of bulimia.

Symptoms of Bulimia

People who have this eating disorder exhibit binge-purge cycles. There are episodes of high-volume food intake followed by vomiting, laxatives or extreme weight loss methods. Unlike anorexia nervosa, bulimia can be difficult to spot because an individual who has this condition can have normal weight or overweight in some cases.

Those who have this condition tend to have great focus on achievement. Many are perfectionists who have difficulty tolerating failure. This stems into the realm of weight control. Individuals are preoccupied with weight issues and they engage in a number of extreme activities in order to lose weight.

Constant vomiting burns the esophagus, mouth, and teeth with stomach acid. Many people with bulimia have symptoms like gum infections, heartburn, or swollen salivary glands from the stomach acid. Their teeth lose some of their enamel or get cavities. People with bulimia may also be constipated.

Bulimia symptoms are characterized by uncontrollable binge eating (overeating) followed by intentional purging through either vomiting, enemas, laxatives, diuretics or several other similar purging methods. Obviously, if you find someone in your midst constantly purging himself after meals, this is a sure sign that he may be suffering from some form of bulimia.

Bulimia symptoms are often triggered when the sufferer is undergoing stress. Stress can develop from any front or be an accumulation of events. They may be family issues, things happening at work, developments on the social front or just having a distorted picture of body images. The binge eating that develops, in turn, cause other emotional problems.

Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa

Treatment is most effective when it is implemented early on in the development of the disorder. The most popular form of treatment for the disorder involves some form of therapy, often group psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy.

Anti-psychotics are also used, but in smaller doses than are used for treating schizophrenia . With an eating disorder, the patient perceives reality differently and has difficulty grasping what it is like to eat normally.

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