Preview

Bulimia Nervosa Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
681 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Bulimia Nervosa Research Paper
Psychological Causes of Bulimia Nervosa Bulimia Nervosa can be described through the psychological perspective. This means an individual uses binging and purging as a way to deal with overpowering emotions. Some factors linked to the psychological view include depression, low self-esteem, damaged self worth, trouble communicating with family and incapability to manage their emotions. Bulimics are often depressed because they are unhappy with way they look. To cope with this emotion, they use binging on a regular basis. According to Ira M. Sacker (2005), depression in people with eating disorders typically has its own unique features. “People who develop eating disorders feel as people that they’re not good enough,” Sacker says. He also …show more content…
Some factors that relate to low self-esteem are depression, perfectionism, childhood abuse and a critical home environment. Studies have shown the idea that those who suffer from an eating disorder are more likely to have lower self-esteem than those who do not have an eating disorder (e.g. de la Rie, Noordenbos, & Furth, 2005; Hesse-Biber, Marino, Watts-Roy, 1999). These studies among others revealed that such eating disorders are linked with lower levels of self-worth and perception of …show more content…
Unfortunately, there are cases where OCD is combined with bulimia which causes an over obsession with weighing and measuring precisely the amount of food intake. Betty E. Chesler, who is a therapist in private practice, provides a case studying the relationships between panic and eating disorders and four case studies examining the impact of stress, fear of fatness, and panic disorder with agoraphobia on eating disorders. Chesler’s first case study describes how stress, fear of fatness, and panic disorder with agoraphobia combined to change an individual’s eating disorder from bulimia to food restriction (Chesler,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Disturbances in the levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin appear to be a characteristic of individuals with eating disorders. Kaye 2005 found a reduction in the levels of the serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA in people with eating disorders. This suggests that brain serotonin pathways are underactive. Using PET scans it has been shown that there are fewer serotonin receptors in the brains of those with eating disorders. The brain serotonin system has been implicated in personality traits linked with eating disorders such as obsessionality, perfectionism, anxiety & depression. A reduction in receptors suggests a dysfunction of the serotonin system.…

    • 2938 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Eating disorders are not something you can take lightly and there are serious psychological issues in the mindset of one who encounters them. With these theories as the basis of the story, the author also includes medical terminology to add a scientific perspective to her writings and enable readers to recall information and learn more about the eating disorder itself.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Anorexia and bulimia sometimes are thought of as the same, they are not. Anorexia is an eating disorder, marked by extreme fear of being over weight and leads to excessive dieting to the point of serious ill health. Bulimia is a condition in which bouts of overeating are followed with bouts of under eating, use of laxatives or self induced vomiting. The two disorders are very much alike and they are both linked to a disorder called obsessive compulsive disorder (Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, 2002). It seems that many people who develop anorexia and bulimia have OCD tendencies. They become obsessive with there weight and eating habits. Research has shown that this anorexia and bulimia are also control issues, and that is why so many teens develop the disorder. Teenagers don't always have control over there life and feel that they need to control something they feel that they can control there weight. It is something that know one else can control but them. If they think they are thin or will become thin teens think that they will like themselves better and so will everyone else.…

    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    applying theory to bulimia

    • 5539 Words
    • 23 Pages

    Bulimia Nervosa (BN) is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating which is followed by a type of compensatory behavior by purging. Purging, as defined by the Merriam-Webster (2013) dictionary is an act of getting rid of something unwanted. This can be done by self-induced vomiting, ill-use of laxatives, diuretics, and/or other medications as well as fasting and/or excessive exercise. Binge eating is the act of eating in a distinct period of time. The amount of food eaten is significantly larger than what most individuals would eat in the same period of time. When eating the individual usually feels a lack of control; one feels as if they cannot control what they eat or how much nor have control over stopping. An individual who participates in binging and purging generally does so in order to lose weight (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).…

    • 5539 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Out of the various types of eating disorders, three of the most prominent ones are anorexia, binge eating disorder, and obesity. Anorexia, according to Dr. Lee Kaplan, director of the Obesity Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, is a disease where people abstain from food by “convinc[ing] their body that they don’t need food” (Kluger, Gorman, Park 1). Most patients who are anorexic are extremely emaciated and malnourished. They also have very warped and unrealistic body images as well as an irrational obsession with food. About three percent of women are diagnosed with this eating disorder every year. Another common disorder is BED. According to writer Naomi Barr, binges are “when you feel out of control while eating a large amount of food” (Barr 5). These compulsive gorging behaviors can be minor to very extreme. They tend to originate because of the inane feeling of comfort that one could experience from food. After…

    • 1805 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bulimia Nervosa is an eating disorder and a mental health condition. Individuals who have bulimia try and control their weight by restricting the amount of food they eat, they binge eat and purge the food from their body by making themselves sick or use laxatives.…

    • 3973 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anorexia in Ballet

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Anorexia and bulimia are both very harsh psychological and physiological disorders. Anorexia is diagnosed when someone’s body weight is twenty percent below the expected body weight of a healthy person at the same age and height; they show severe malnutrition and believe that they are overweight. There are many causes of Anorexia and Bulimia, but these physiological diseases are usually based off of a couple things. Pressures, for example photos young girls may see on TV, in magazines and online. They may feel like compared to people around them they are more hefty and need to be at the same level as everyone else.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bulimia Nervosa: An eating disorder in which a person eats large amounts of food, followed by dangerous measures to control his or her weight. Examples of this are excessive exercise, self-induced vomiting (purging), and the abuse of diuretics and laxatives.…

    • 2482 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bulimia and anorexia can cause a distorted image in a persons mind because they truly believe they are overweight. In their minds they are beyond doubt obese. Even if the person weighs only 95 pounds. This sickness has the person thinking they are overweight. This could bring about a severe bout of depression. Once the person hits the stage of depression professional help is needs because the feeling of being overweight and depression could put the individual over the edge.…

    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Bulimia Nervosa: A Primary Care Review. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 5(5), 217–224. Retrieved on September 26, 2011 from…

    • 2913 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bulimia nervosa is a slightly less serious version of anorexia, but can lead to some of the same horrible results. Bulimia involves an intense concern about weight (which is generally inaccurate) combined with frequent cycles of binge eating followed by purging, through self-induced vomiting, unwarranted use of laxatives, or excessive exercising. Most bulimics are of normal body weight, but they are preoccupied with their weight, feel extreme shame about their abnormal behavior, and often experience significant depression. The occurrence of bulimia has increased in many Western countries over the past few decades.…

    • 1689 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Body Image & The Media

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Another is, Bulimia Nervosa. As in Anorexia Nervosa, people see themselves as overweight. They often feel shame and depression. They go through cycles of binging- eating a lot of food and purging- emptying the stomach through vomiting, and occurs mostly in women.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Anorexia In America Essay

    • 2866 Words
    • 12 Pages

    A. (2005). Eating disorders: Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and obesity. In R.E. Hales, & S. C. Yudofsky (Eds.). Textbook of clinical psychiatry (4th ed.) [Electronic Version]. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. Retrieved May 30, 2005 from http://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=73079…

    • 2866 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Eating Disorders

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bulimia nervosa victims are able to keep a normal body weight, but their fear of gaining extra weight and being considered fat drives this disease. It can be a “potential life-threatening eating disorder” (Mayoclinic.com, 2012). One type of bulimia is when the suffering individual will eat a large amount of food at one time, then they will purge. Purging means to vomit, over use laxatives, or over-exercise (anything to avoid…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bulimia nervosa, also known as bulimia, is an eating disorder that affect people all over the world. Bulimia id characterized by binge eating followed by purging. Binge mean to eat a large amount of food in a short amount of time. Purging mean to try to get rid of the large amount of food consume. It's believe that bulimia is associated with other mental disorder such as depression, anxiety, and problems with drugs and alcohol.…

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays