ABSTRACT
Bulimia nervosa is characterized by morbid overconcern with weight and shape, leading to extreme and often dangerous weight-controlling behaviors. This eating disorder is generally conceptualized as a final common pathway, with the symptoms resulting from the interplay of biological, psychological, familial, and sociocultural etiologic factors. There are a variety of associated psychological symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, poor self-esteem, hostility, somatization, social maladjustment, confused sex-role identity, and borderline personality features, that may have etiologic significance in bulimia nervosa, but, in any case, contribute to the heterogeneity in the disorder on presentation. Finally, bulimia nervosa results in potentially serious physical and psychological sequelae that may not only perpetuate the eating disorder, but may also cloud the assessment picture.
