Bhaskaran Sathyapriya¹*, Purushothaman Lakshmanan², Govindarajan Sumathy³, Jinu Merlin Koshy¹, Balasubramanian Chandrakala⁴ and Elayaperumal Gokulalakshmi⁵

¹Reader, Department of Anatomy, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
²Consultant Orthodontist, Apollo Hospitals and Apollo White Dental, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
³Professor and HOD, Department of Anatomy, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
⁴Senior Lecturer, Department of Anatomy, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
⁵Research Assistant, Human Genetics Laboratory, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

*Corresponding Author: Bhaskaran Sathyapriya, Reader, Department of Anatomy, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.

Received: March 27, 2018; Published: April 17, 2018

Citation: Bhaskaran Sathyapriya., et al. “Bulimia Nervosa – A Psychiatric Eating Disorder”. Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 2.2 (2018).

Abstract

  Bulimia nervosa (BN) is a distressing and disabling disorder. It consists of recurrent episodes of binge-eating, followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviour (American Psychiatric Association 1994). In the binge episodes, exceptionally large amounts of food are eaten, and a sense of loss of control is experienced, e.g. the individual feels unable to stop eating even if she /he wanted to. Compensatory behaviour may include self-induced vomiting, fasting, strict dieting, excessive exercise or inappropriate use of laxatives and diuretics which intend to impede or avoid weight gain. Great concern and preoccupation with body weight and shape is also usually present. This may involve feeling fat, obsessive weighing or rigid calorie counting. The disorder has many features in common with anorexia nervosa (AN). However, unlike those with AN, those with BN always have a normal or above normal body weight. This article reviews the key features, associated problems, the relevant psychological theories, major psychological features and different treatment approaches of bulimia nervosa.

Keywords: Eating Disorder; Vomiting; Psychiatric Illness; Weight Loss Dieting

Copyright: © 2018 Bhaskaran Sathyapriya., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.