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Bulimia results from the coming together of diverse factors, both chemical and environmental. People are born with an inherited predisposition towards developing bulimia, particularly where addiction is in the genes. Bulimic individuals who experience the hardest struggle in making a full recovery are those who suffer from addictions to substances. A significant correlation between the development of clinical bulimia nervosa and sexual abuse has also been proven.

In addition to genetics, environmental factors can contribute to triggering the onset of bulimia. These include peer pressures, family attitudes, the influence of the media creating a need for thinness, poor self-esteem and a lack of acceptance of self and body shape. In addition, poor eating habits can be the start of a problem that can eventually escalate to bulimia; dieting and excessive hunger lead to gorging and gorging leads to the propensity to purge. The bottom line, however, is that bulimia and anorexia are the misuse of food to resolve emotional problems. When a person is incapable of facing feelings, defining problems, and resolving them effectively, that person is more apt to become susceptible to the onset of bulimia. Bulimia and anorexia are the most lethal of all the mental health disorders, killing or maiming for six to thirteen percent of its victims, 87 percent of whom are individuals under twenty years of age.

Causes:

1.Society:The modern Western cultural environment often cultivates and reinforces a desire for thinness. Success and worth are often equated with being thin in popular culture. Peer pressure and what people see in the media may fuel this desire to be thin, particularly among young women.

2.Emotional Health:People with eating disorders may have psychological and emotional problems that contribute to the disorder. They may have low self-esteem, perfectionism, impulsive behavior, anger management difficulties, family conflicts and troubled relationships, for instance.

3.Behavior:Certain behaviors, such as dieting or overexercising, can contribute to the development of bulimia. For example, dieting is a primary factor in triggering binge eating. In addition, dieting helps encourage rigid rules about food, which when broken can lead to loss of control and overeating.

4.Biology:There may be genes that make some people more vulnerable to developing eating disorders. People with first-degree relatives — siblings or parents — with an eating disorder may be more likely to develop an eating disorder too, suggesting a possible genetic link. It’s also possible that a deficiency in the brain chemical serotonin may play a role in the development of bulimia.

The cause of bulimia is not clear, but it probably results from a combination of family history, social values (such as admiring thinness), and certain personality traits (such as perfectionism).

Your risk for developing bulimia increases if your parent, sister, or brother has the condition. But family history may be only part of the cause.

Stressful life events such as moving, divorce, or the death of a loved one can trigger bulimia in some people.

Many young women, such as those in college or high school, have unhealthy attitudes toward eating and toward their bodies. Socially, they may accept and encourage destructive behaviors like extreme dieting or binging and purging. These beliefs and behaviors are not normal or healthy. They can play a part in developing eating disorders that need treatment. Women who begin to severely restrict their diets in order to lose weight are at risk for bulimia.

Bulimia, like all eating disorders, is a complex physical and psychological condition. Recovery requires treatment that helps you change your behavior and also deals with the deeper attitudes and feelings that cause you to binge and purge.