What is bulimia nervosa?
Bulimia nervosa is a form of an eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating, followed by compensatory behaviors. In other words, a person with bulimia (just an abbreviated name) eats a lot of food in a short amount of time and then feels guilty about it. The person may fear gaining weight after an eating binge and tries to "undo" its effects by getting rid of the food (compensatory behaviors). This so-called undoing is often called purging. The most common form of purging is self-induced vomiting, the use of laxatives, enemas, diuretics (drugs that elevate the rate of urination), and over exercising. The word bulimia derives from the Latin (būlīmia- hunger). The disorder was named and first described by the British psychiatrist Gerald Russell in 1979.