Bulimia
...der the chin. If it goes on for many years the swellings can become hard and permanent. There are three types of bulimia: 1. Simple Bulimia Nervosa-is an illness that begins most commonly when the girls are about 18 years of age. They are a fairly normal group before the illness. They tend to have been mildly under confident and unassertive but come from a wide range of unexceptional family backgrounds. They have probably made friends in a normal way at school and are often fairly popular. The illness is frequently caused by a period of unhappiness and this is often caused by a bad relationship with a boyfriend. The feeling of self dislike focuses on appearance and dieting is begun in an attempt to improve self esteem. Vomiting is used as part of increased efforts to acheive the weight loss and so the cycle of bingeing and vomiting begins. There is more loss of control as the body's normal mechanisms of appetite control are over ridden and confused. The weight will remain close to normal but the eating pattern becomes gradually worse. This form of bulimia is the least severe. It is likely that there is a large number of gurls with mild cases that never go to get actual medical help. 2. Anorexic Bulimia Nervosa-is a type of Bulimia Nervosa that is preceded by anorexia nervosa. Quite often this anorexic episode is a brief one and the person suffering begins to recover without treatment. It is followed typically by a short period of stabilised weight just below that at which the menstruation may resart, around 46kg. The control of anorexic is not sustained and bingeing begins usually in a very small way but becomes more severe especially once vomiting begins. Often they begin by vomiting after what would for a normal person be an ordinary meal but this leads to a loss of control of the appetite drive and true bingeing gradually starts. 3. Multi-impulsive Bulimia Nervosa-is a severe kind of bulimia nervosa that begins in a similar way to Simple bulimia and in a similar age group of girls. This group suffers with a range of unnormal behaviours all of which indicate problems of emotional and impulse control. Often some of thses other behaviours are already causing difficulty before the bulimia begins. In association with the eating disorder will be found a mix of other problems, including drug abuse, alcohol abuse, deliberate self harm (usually cutting of forearms), and staeling. They have a range of backgrounds but its is quite common to find that there is a high level of trouble within the family. Causes of Bulimia Nervosa The causes of Bulimia Nervosa remain unknown although there is probably a small genetic contribution. In sub-clinical form bulimic behaviour is probably very common in our society. The i...