Is Binge-Eating Disorder a Form of Bulimia?
Just as binge-eating disorder does not describe simple overindulgence of food, neither does it represent an eating disorder as serious as bulimia or anorexia. Bulimia, or more correctly bulimia nervosa, is a severe eating disorder that occurs in young women of normal weight. Not only do bulimics overeat but the most important aspect of their diagnosis is that after overeating they engage in purging (forcing themselves to vomit by sticking a finger down their throat), fasting, or excessive laxative use to compensate for their overeating. They do this, in part, because they have a severe body image disturbance that gives them a morbid fear of gaining weight. In contrast, while people with binge-eating disorder feel upset and guilty after they overeat, they do not usually purge, fast, or use laxatives to excess. In addition, unlike the normal-weight bulimics, people with binge-eating disorder are overweight. Bulimia is primarily a disease of young women while binge-eating disorder affects
