The Psychodynamic Perspective of Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa

One hypothesis states that disturbances in the development of self are an important contributing factor in the development of eating disorders (Stein and Nyquist, 2001, p 1). The eating disorder bulimia nervosa (BN) is characterized by excessive food consumption (binge eating) and by inappropriate behavior to avoid weight gain as a result of the over eating (Walsh and Devlin, 1998 p 1389). The inappropriate behavior commonly includes self - induced vomiting or over use of laxatives (Foster, 2007 p 1). BN has a much higher prevalence in the population than the other common eating disorder anorexia nervosa (AN) but has less severe physiological consequences and almost no associated morbidity (Walsh and Devlin, 1998 p 1389).

The main point of view of the psychodynamic perspective of bulimia nervosa
The psychodynamic perspective of BN focuses on the underlying psychological conflict or unconscious forces that lead the individual to behave inappropriately (Costin, 2007 p 1). The behaviors that collectively make up the symptoms of BN are uniformly seen in the individual who was attempting to follow a restriction of caloric intake or had been dieting prior to onset of the disorder (Foster, 2007 p 1). Interestingly in the disorder BN unlike AN most sufferers are not underweight but are more likely to have a normal weight range or be overweight (Walsh and Devlin, 1998 p 1390 and Wilson, 1997 p 11). There is a link between the two eating disorders however in that both serve to restrict the caloric intake; it is believed that the goal of a restrictive diet leads to the episodes of binge eating particularly when the restriction is not sustainable (Tantillo, 2000 p 99). The psychodynamic perspective of BN gives importance to the psychological disturbance within the individual that may be the root cause of the characteristic BN behavior.

The main assumptions underlying the psychodynamic perspective
The underlying assumptions of the psychodynamic perspective are that failure in an individual to develop a clear definition of self, leads to relying on the outside environment to define who they are (Schupak-Neuberg and Nemeroff, 1993, p 335). If there is an absence of true self then an individual may over emphasize physical appearance as a solution to the absence of self (Boskind-Lodahl, 1976, p 342).

The implications of the psychodynamic perspective
The psychodynamic perspective of

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