Post by Mel on Dec 23, 2005 10:50:38 GMT -5
Bulimia nervosa, more commonly known as bulimia, is an eating disorder. It is a psychological condition in which the subject engages in recurrent binge eating followed by intentionally doing one or more of the following in order to compensate for the intake of the food and prevent weight gain:
vomiting,
inappropriate use of laxatives, enemas, diuretics or other medication,
excessive exercising,
fasting.
The five DSM-IV critera
The following five criteria must all be met for a patient to be diagnosed with bulimia:
1) The patient feels incapable of controlling the urge to binge, even during the binge itself; and he or she consumes a larger amount of food than a person would normally consume at one sitting
2) The patient purges him or herself of the recent intake, resorting to vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, exercising, etc.
3) The patient engages in such behavior occurs at least twice per week for three months.
4) The patient is focused upon body image and the desperate desire to appear thin.
5) The patient does not meet the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. (Some anorectics may demonstrate bulimic behaviours in their illness: binge-eating and purging themselves of food on a regular or infrequent basis at certain times during the course of their disease. Alternatively, some individuals might switch from having anorexia to having bulimia. The mortality rate for anorectics who practice bulimic behaviors is twice that of anorectics who do not.
vomiting,
inappropriate use of laxatives, enemas, diuretics or other medication,
excessive exercising,
fasting.
The five DSM-IV critera
The following five criteria must all be met for a patient to be diagnosed with bulimia:
1) The patient feels incapable of controlling the urge to binge, even during the binge itself; and he or she consumes a larger amount of food than a person would normally consume at one sitting
2) The patient purges him or herself of the recent intake, resorting to vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, exercising, etc.
3) The patient engages in such behavior occurs at least twice per week for three months.
4) The patient is focused upon body image and the desperate desire to appear thin.
5) The patient does not meet the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. (Some anorectics may demonstrate bulimic behaviours in their illness: binge-eating and purging themselves of food on a regular or infrequent basis at certain times during the course of their disease. Alternatively, some individuals might switch from having anorexia to having bulimia. The mortality rate for anorectics who practice bulimic behaviors is twice that of anorectics who do not.