Skip to main content

Recognizing Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by frequent and recurrent episodes of binge eating, which are defined as a period of time in which the individual experiences a subjective loss of control over eating. Unlike Binge Eating Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa follows these episodes with compensatory behaviors aimed at preventing weight gain (e.g., vomiting, misuse of laxatives or enemas, and excessive exercise). Marked distress in response to these episodes and inappropriate compensatory behavior causes significant impairment in personal, family, education, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Recognizing Binge Bulimia presents the ICD-11 diagnostic criteria to help clinicians in identifying Bulimia Nervosa in clients.

Download or send

Choose your language

Notice: The 'Fillable PDF' format has been retired. For resources with form elements, both the 'Professional' and 'Client' versions are now available as fillable PDFs by default.

Professional version

Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.

Tags

Languages this resource is available in

  • English (GB)
  • English (US)

Problems this resource might be used to address

Techniques associated with this resource

Mechanisms associated with this resource

Introduction & Theoretical Background

Psychiatric diagnostic frameworks serve multiple purposes. Classification of mental disorders enables clinicians and researchers to speak a common language when describing patterns of experience and behavior, guide appropriate treatment interventions, and act as a coding system for insurance purposes. The success of these classification frameworks has varied across diagnoses but in the best cases has led to improved understanding and treatment of conditions, as well as helping many service users who find such classification valuable (Perkins et al, 2018).

Diagnostic frameworks are not without controversy. They have been criticized on grounds of reliability, validity, and distortions due to commercial interests (Zigler & Phillips, 1961; Frances & Widiger, 2012; Bell, 2017). Perhaps most importantly there are instances where they have had, and continue to have, extremely negative effects upon service users (Perkins et al, 2018). Diagnosis is not the only way of understanding people and their experiences. Many clinicians and their

Get access to this resource

View all plans and pricing options

Get Access

Therapist Guidance

The assessment and diagnosis of mental health problems should only be undertaken by qualified mental health professionals. Attempting to self-diagnose or diagnose others without proper training can lead to inaccurate conclusions, inappropriate treatments, and potential harm. Information for the ‘Recognizing...’ series was drawn from the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11: World Health Organization, 2019).

Get access to this resource

View all plans and pricing options

Get Access

References And Further Reading

  • Bell, V. (2017). We need to get better at critiquing psychiatric diagnosis. Retrieved from https://mindhacks.com/2017/09/19/why-we-need-to-get-better-at-critiquing-diagnosis/
  • British Psychological Society (2018). Understanding psychiatric diagnosis in adult mental health. Retrieved from: https://web.archive.org/web/20180214095228/https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/DCP%20Diagnosis.pdf
  • Frances, A. J., & Widiger, T. (2012). Psychiatric diagnosis: lessons from the DSM-IV past and cautions for the DSM-5 future. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 8, 109-130.
  • Perkins, A., Ridler, J., Browes, D., Peryer, G., Notley, C., & Hackmann, C. (2018). Experiencing mental health diagnosis: a systematic review of service user, clinician, and carer perspectives across clinical settings. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5(9), 747-764.
  • World Health Organization. (2019). International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11). Geneva: World Health Organization.
  • Zigler, E., & Phillips, L. (1961). Psychiatric diagnosis: A critique. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63(3), 607.

Get access to this resource

View all plans and pricing options

Get Access