Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia nervosa is a disease that predominately affects young females. Since the origination of its medical definition various studies have been implemented to examine the cause of onset and effects of bulimia nervosa. There have also been studies surveying the long-term outcome of bulimia nervosa. These long-term studies have analyzed such relationships as age, employment status, social status and marital status and bulimia nervosa. By using three scientific studies of long-term outcome of bulimia nervosa, this paper will try and evaluate the research obtained and offer critical suggestions to help further studies on this topic.
The first study, "Bulimia nervosa: a 5-year follow-up study," uses a follow up sample of thirty-six patients, which consisted of 72%of the original sample. The original sample was comprised of fifty patients who were consistently referred to the Academic Department of Psychiatry at the Royal Free Hospital. Of the fifty patients, one was male. All of the patients were diagnosed with bulimia nervosa during their initial visit and met DSM-III criteria for bulimia. The ages of the sample ranged from 14 to 40 years with a mean age of 23.5. Also the onset of the disease ranged from 10 to 36 years of age with a mean of 19 years. The follow-up study began no less than five years after their initial visit with an average duration of 5.10 years. The patients were contacted through the mail, and of these fifty patients, 41 were traced, one had died, 5 were unable or refused to participate and 36agreed to participate. The study evaluated the general outcome of each patient, which consisted of three categories: Good outcome, Intermediate outcome and Poor outcome. The poor behavioral outcome g...
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...er to be cured of the disease through support of a relationship and satisfactory social outcome. This study gives a general association. Again, I also find it hard to distinguish treatment programs since each case is individual. Yet, perhaps with more long-term studies in the future bulimia nervosa will be thoroughly understood, and the difficulties I mentioned will be obsolete.
Works Cited:
Dayson, D., Johnson-Sabine, E. & Reiss, D.(1992). Bulimia Nervosa: A 5-Year Follow-Up Study. Psychological Medicine, 22(4), 951-959.
Johnson-Sabine, E. & Reiss, D.(1995). Bulimia Nervosa: 5-year Social Outcome and Relationship to Eating Pathology. International Journal of Eating Disorders,18(2),127-133.
Keel, P.K., Mitchell, J.E., Miller, K.B., Davis, T.L. & Crow, S.J. (1999). Long-term Outcome of Bulimia Nervosa. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56(1), 63-69.
As she walks into the room, all eyes are on her. She has everything an eighteen year old could ever want. She wears the latest name brand clothes, has beautiful long hair, and of course she has the hostess body. The guys all drool over her every time she walks by. All of the other girls envy her. However, little do they know, this beautiful young woman does not have it all together. She has a secret, and this secret is an eating disorder called bulimia nervosa. For this purpose, the topics that will be discussed are the meaning, symptoms, causes, and treatments for bulimia nervosa.
Crow, S.J., Peterson, C.B., Swanson, S.A., Raymond, N.C., Specker, S., Eckert, E.D., Mitchell, J.E. (2009) Increased mortality in bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 166, 1342-1346.
Anorexia nervosa is a psychosociological disease which affects young women. Anorexia is mainly a female's disease which has been evident for centuries-however, in the past twenty years, the incidence of this disorder has risen to horrifying proportions. It is characterized by the refusal to maintain body wight over a minimal normal weight for age and height; intense fear of gaining weight; a distorted body image; and, amenorrhea. (http://www.pgi.edu/hagopian.htm) This disorder becomes a disease when the mind starts to cause problems with one's physical well-being. A connection has been found between sociocultural pressures to achieve, familial characteristics, and individual personality traits.
In this paper, I will present my analysis of two methods used to treat bulimia nervosa. The first method is cognitive-behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa; this method is quite popular among psychologist...
There is now compelling evidence from double-blind, placebo-controlled studies that antidepressant medication is useful in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. What is less clear is which patients are most likely to benefit from antidepressant medications and how to best sequence the various therapeutic interventions available. The utility of antidepressant medications in bulimia nervosa has led to their evaluation in binge eating disorder. The limited information currently available suggests that antidepressant treatment may be associated with a reduction in binge frequency in obese patients with binge eating disorder, but does not lead to weight reduction.
Anorexic and bulimic people are often perfectionists, with unrealistically high expectations. They frequently lack self-esteem, with their feelings of ineffectiveness and a strong need for other peoples’ approval. Causes There is at present no generally accepted view of the causes of anorexia or bulimia. Most authorities believe the problem to be psychologically based, possibly stemming from family and social pressures, or other forms of stress in our modern environment. Where a high value is placed on slim-ness, women are most likely to be judged on their appearance, against a heavy background of high carbohydrate junk food promotion.
Bulimia is one of the major eating disorders among teens. Bulimia is when someone binges− eats a lot of food in a short period of time− and then purges, ...
Research on eating disorders has revealed a greater incidence of substance use and/or misuse in women with eating disorders than in the general population. Most of the research agrees that substance misuse is more common in patients with bulimia nervosa and the binge eating/purging subtype of patients with anorexia than in women with the restricting subtype of anorexia nervosa. Researchers and specialists have proposed a range of theories to account for the strong association between substance misuse and bulimia nervosa. Experiments have not provided evidence to conclusively support any one theory. However, studies conducted in the past decade have enabled researchers to refine their hypotheses and accumulate more accurate information about eating disorders and substance use. Researchers have examined personality characteristics, family history, and biological and environmental factors common to persons with both substance use problems and eating disorders. In addition, the onset of eating disorders in relation to the beginning of substance abuse are examined to determine if one disorder drives the other. Differences in characteristics of patients with anorexia nervosa and patients with bulimia nervosa are examined to determine differences in rates of comorbidity with substance abuse. While continued research is necessary to assess the validity of proposed theories, the current knowledge proposes some interesting ideas about the relationship between substance abuse and eating disorders.
Rorty M, Yager J, & Rossotto E (1994). Childhood sexual, physical, and psychological abuse in bulimia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1122-1126.
Different forms of treatment are available such as in patient treatments, cell phone apps and therapy to teach how to overcome an eating disorder. Each eating disorder, anorexia nervous, binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa may respond better to different forms of treatment and each patient is different in what will work best for them to overcome. Support from family and friends is necessary in working with treatment and being strong enough to face an eating disorder once treatment is done. Eating disorders are easy to gain, but with the right treatment can be defeated.
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. Numbers are difficult to establish due to the shame of reporting incidences to health care providers (Bee and Boyd, 2001).
Hoek, Hans Wijbrand, and Daphne Van Hoeken. "Review of the Prevalence and Incidence of Eating Disorders." International Journal of Eating Disorders 34.4 (2003): 383-96. Print.
O’Dwyer, Michael P. Student Eating Disorders : Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia. Washington, D.C.: National Education Association, 2005.
...l, D. M., & Willard, S. G. (2003). When dieting becomes dangerous: A guide to understanding and treating anorexia and bulimia [Ebrary version]. Retrieved from http://libproxy.utdallas.edu/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/utdallas/Doc?id=10170079&ppg=4
Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa are described as psychological eating disorders (Keel and Levitt, 1). They are both characterized by an over evaluation of weight. Despite being primarily eating disorders, the manifestations of bulimia and anorexia are different. They both present a very conspicuous example of dangerous psychological disorders, as according to the South Carolina Department of Health, “Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness” (Eating Order Statistics, 1). While Bulimia and anorexia both psychological disorders primarily prevalent in women, anorexia tend to have different diagnostic complexities, symptoms and physiological effects as compared to bulimia.