Abnormal - describe symptoms and prevalence of bulimia

Question 1

symptoms

Answer 1

criteria used in diagnosis to assess whether a patient is suffering from a particular disorder

Question 2

symptoms of bulimia

Answer 2

affective symptoms:

• fear of becoming fat
• body dissatisfaction
• depressed mood

cognitive symptoms:

• distorted body image (body dysmorphia)
• low self-esteem
• denial of the seriousness of their current body weight

physiological symptoms:

• nutritional deficiencies + hormonal changes
• amenorrhea (disturbances in menstrual cycle)
• digestive problems
• muscle cramps

behavioural symptoms:
- binge-eating and purging: self-starvation in combination with recurrent binge eating episodes and compensatory behaviour such as vomiting and misuse of laxatives to avoid weight gain

Question 3

overall prevalence of bulimia

Answer 3

Zandian et al (2007):

• affects those from households with above-average income to a greater extent
• overall prevalence: 0.3% of the population
• usually begins between the ages of 14 and 19

Question 4

cultural prevalence of anorexia

Answer 4

• far more common in Western and individualist cultures
• possibly because of the greater focus on dieting from 20th century in Europe and Anglo-American societies, exposure to unreasonably thin models in the media, and social pressures to conform to a particular body type and weight
• all these social influences appear to affect females more than males
• alternatively males with body-image issues may simply perform different behaviours rather than self-starving
• eating disorders appear to be more uncommon in less industrialized countries and countries where there are more limitations on women’s behaviour, but it’s possible that bulimia is more concealed in some cultures and therefore never diagnosed

Roland (1970):

• in the US, prevalence is different across classes and ethnicities
• majority are Caucasian, and primarily of Italian and Jewish origin
• rates of eating disorders generally increase during more affluent periods during which food is in abundance

Question 5

gender prevalence of anorexia

Answer 5

APA (2000):

• 1-€3% of young adult females have bulimia
• occurs much less frequently in men

Drewnowski et al. (1988):

• conducted survey on 1,007 USA students
• 1% of women and 0.2% o the men were classified as bulimic
• undergraduate female students had the highest rates (2.2%)