Home > Encyclopedia of Psychology > Bulimia

An eating disorder in which a person indulges in recurrent episodes of binge eating, followed by purging through self-induced vomiting or by the use of laxatives and/or diuretics in order to prevent weight gain.

The symptoms of bulimia, or bulimia nervosa, include eating uncontrollably (binging) and then purging by dieting, fasting, exercising, vomiting, or abusing laxatives or diuretics. A binge involves a large amount of food, for example, several boxes of cookies, a loaf of bread, a half gallon of ice cream, and a bucket of fried chicken, eaten in a short and well-defined time period. Specific behaviors associated with bulimia include: 1) eating high-calorie "junk food" (candy bars, cookies, ice cream, etc.); 2) eating surreptitiously; 3) eating until stopped by a stomach ache, drowsiness, or external interruption; 4) a tendency to go on "crash diets"; and 5) weight that varies over a 10-pound (4.5...