What is Bulimia Nervosa?
Bulimia nervosa is characterized by recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food (e.g., binge-eating), and feeling a lack of control over the eating. This binge-eating is followed by a type of behavior that compensates for the binge, such as purging (e.g., vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics), fasting and/or excessive exercise. An estimated 1.1 percent to 4.2 percent of females have bulimia nervosa in their lifetime.

Unlike anorexia, people with bulimia can fall within the normal range for their age and weight. But like people with anorexia, they often fear gaining weight, want desperately to lose weight, and are intensely unhappy with their body size and shape. Usually, bulimic behavior is done secretly, because it is often accompanied by feelings of disgust or shame. The binging and purging cycle usually repeats several times a week. Similar to anorexia, people with bulimia often have coexisting psychological illnesses, such as depression, anxiety and/or substance abuse problems. Many physical conditions result from the purging aspect of the illness, including electrolyte imbalances, gastrointestinal problems, and oral and tooth-related problems.

What are the Symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa?
Symptoms of bulimia nervosa include:

• Recurrent episodes of binge eating, characterized by eating an excessive amount of food within a discrete period of time and by a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode
• Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior in order to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting or misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or other medications (purging); fasting; or excessive exercise
• The binge eating and inappropriate compensatory behaviors both occur, on average, at least twice a week for 3 months
• Self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight

Treatment
The primary goal of treatment for bulimia is to reduce or eliminate binge eating and purging behavior. To this end, nutritional rehabilitation (where a pattern of regular, non-binge meals, improvement of attitudes related to the eating disorder, and the encouragement of healthy but not excessive exercise occur), psychosocial intervention to resolve co-occurring mood or anxiety disorders, such as cognitive-behavioral and/or interpersonal individual, group and family/marital psychotherapy, and medication management strategies (usually with antidepressants such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are often employed.

Source: NIMH