A young lady presents with repeated episodes of excessive eating followed by purging by use of laxatives. What is she suffering from?
High-Yield Explanation
This patient is suffering from purging type of bulimia nervosa. In this, patients engages in binge eating followed by engaging in self induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or other medications, fasting or excessive exercise as compensatory behaviour to prevent weight gain. For diagnosing this condition, the binge eating and inappropriate compensatory behaviors should both occur at least twice a week for 3 months. In non purging type of Bulimia nervosa, patients uses fasting or excessive excercise as compensatory behaviors.Co morbidities of Bulimia Nervosa are:Mood disorder (24-88%)Anxiety (2-3%)OCD (3-80%)Substance abuse (9-55%)Personality disorders Ref: CURRENT Diagnosis & Treatment: Psychiatry, 2nd Edition, Chapter 26