weight and tend to feel fat even when emaciated; there is an intense fear of becoming obese. And even though the foregoing symptoms may seem obvious to others, most individuals with the disorder stubbornly deny that they have an illness and express either lack of interest or outright resistance to therapy.
Thus, the development of anorexia nervosa is facilitated by denial of emaciated body conditions and abetted by a disturbed cognizance of body size. There is also an unusual ability to suppress or tolerate hunger feelings and to remain physically energetic and active despite the advanced weight loss (Habermas, 1989).
DSM III (1980) diagnostic criteria for bulimia consist of:
1. Recurrent episodes of binge eating (rapid consumption of a large amount of food in a discrete period of time usually less than two hours).
2. At least three of the following:
a) consumption of high-caloric, easily ingested food during a binge
b) inconspicuous eating during a binge
c) termination of such eating episodes by abdominal pain, sleep, social interruption, or self-induced vomiting
d) repeated attempts to lose weight by severely restrictive diets, self-induced vomiting, or use of cathartics or diuretics
e) frequent weight fluctuations greater than 10 pounds due to alternating binges and fasts
3. Awareness that the eating pattern is abnormal and fear of not being able to stop eating voluntarily
4. Depressed mood and self-deprecating thoughts following eating binges
5. The bulimic episodes are not due to anorexia nervosa or any known physical disorder.
Although bulimia is considered to be a common problem, the secretiveness with which bulimics surround their illness makes it difficult to compile prevalence figures. However, current studies suggest that bulimia nervosa comprises about 70 percent of the eating disorder population, with about 13 percent of the normal population re
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