Bulimia Nervosa Case Studies

Bulimia Nervosa is a major eating disorder characterized by periods of bingeing and then compensatory behavior to avoid weight gain. Approximately 1.5-5% of Women (at least 4.7 million) and 0.5% of Men (roughly 1.5 million) suffer from bulimia in their life(Ouellette). The compensatory behaviors used by people with bulimia can range from misusing laxatives, fasting, excessive exercising, or purging. The woman Nancy in this case study has tried all these mentioned behaviors, but most commonly purges to get rid of food. Purging is a very dangerous behavior that entails forced vomiting of food. Nancy, the interviewer is diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa, she is constantly thinking about from all through the day, and bases her life around food and her bingeing and purging. Nancy meets all of the DSM characteristics of Bulimia, she has repeated bingeing and compensatory behavior such as purging, daily. She has had her symptoms for at least 3 months, and she has very negative feelings about her body weight and image, and how it will affect her life satisfaction and goals. …show more content…
Serotonin abnormality and Genes are thought to be a major indicator and predictor of eating disorders, according to the biological perspective. According to our textbook, some research has found links between low serotonin levels and eating disorders, possibly accounting for the cravings of high carb foods similar to binge foods. Another theory involving Genes shows the link that relatives of people with eating disorders are more likely to develop an eating disorder them-self, going off of identical twin studies with a Bulimic twin, this resulted in a 23% chance of the other twin developing Bulimia Nervosa