Bulimia Nervosa Case Study

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Recommended: Explain the similarities and differences between anorexia and bulimia

Diagnostic Impressions Sara is a thirty three year old lesbian black female. She reports that she was 5’9” in eighth grade and has always been larger than everyone. She also reports that her grandmother was present in her life and would control her diet with slim fast starting around eighth grade, and her brother lived with her as well. Sara has stated that growing up, she did not feel safe, and that there has been trauma causing her life struggles. Her close friend, Julie, reports that she is aware of Sara’s condition but only because she has brought it up when something apparent relates, but declines to discuss in any further detail. Julie states that it is hard to believe Sara is struggling with such a condition and for so long because …show more content…

Recurrent episodes of binge eating is classified by eating large amounts of food in a discrete amount of time and a lack of control in over-consuming during an episode (Pomerantz, 2014). One then uses recurrent inappropriate purging behavior to prevent weight gain. DSM-5 has updated this occurrence to only once a week for three months. Those with the disorder cause self-evaluation to be strongly influenced by body shape and weight. These disturbances do not occur during episodes of anorexia nervosa, which is self starvation to limit calories and weight (American Psychiatric Association, …show more content…

This interview should consist of open-ended questions to make Sara feel she is able to express herself in a manner she sees fit. To help a client, a clinician needs to be able to create rapport with a patient and creating an open conversation for Sara to express herself will help her let go of the refrigerator and have someone to confide in. As well this interview should include questions about how Sara feels about herself personally, how she feels about her body image, experiences or trauma she may have had pertaining to her body image and size, and her perceptions on the importance of being “skinny”. This interview will be the last factor determining whether Sara has Bulimia Nervosa. Bulimia Nervosa is linked to psychosis so more questions would need to be asked to see if Sara feels as if she is mentally flawed and she blames others for her flaws (Miotto et al., 2010). A test of Sara’s DNA would also be helpful in this case. Sara states that she was always large, in a taller sense, but given her obsession with bingeing and purging and possible weight size that has not been revealed, a simple thyroid test could determine whether issues with weight are possibly thyroidal and/or from bad lifestyle habits such as overeating. Current research has been done on the link between genetics and Bulimia Nervosa. Lewin and Carter (2014), state that neurotrophic factors are a group of proteins that supplement the growth and

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