Bulimia, also known as Bulimia nervosa, is categorized as an eating disorder. In this disorder, the person binge eats and purges soon after. Bulimia is also associated with a mental disorder as the person who suffers from it feels the constant need of losing weight and has the fear of becoming fat even though they are excessively skinny and weigh abnormally less. To stay thin, many indulge themselves in exercising, water fasting, diuretics, and stimulants.

To understand the signs of bulimia, it is important to know some facts about it:

You will find that women are more affected by bulimia than men. It is not limited to any race or ethnicity and can happen to any woman across the world. It starts affecting women at a younger age when they are girls or are in their teens. However, older women too get affected by the same.

There is no sure reason or cause of bulimia. It does, however, have a psychological reason behind it. The person who suffers from bulimia develops suicidal tendencies and are often depressed. The psychological problem could have its links with the person’s life events and thought processes while growing up.

In majority of cases, people who suffer from bulimia are thin, but, that is not the case always. Overweight or normal weight person can have bulimia as well or can develop the condition of bulimia nervosa. It is difficult to find out initially if someone has developed this condition or disorder as the binge eating and purging is often done when no one is watching. It is only when this thing goes on for a while do people see the signs of bulimia in a person. Those signs and symptoms include swollen cheeks and jaw area, discoloring of the teeth because of excess vomiting, red eyes due to broken blood vessels in the eyes, acid reflux, constipation, and severe dehydration.

There are behavior changes that act as the signs of bulimia and those are:
– Visiting the bathroom right after consuming food
– Excessive exercising
– Being moody and often gloomy or sad
– Being overly angry or having problems with showing anger
– Being reserved all of a sudden

These signs of bulimia could also be similar to the signs of depression as it is one of the causes of bulimia. People who are not mentally healthy often develop these disorders. Drug abuse can be another cause of this disorder.

It is important to look out for signs of bulimia so adequate help can be provided to the person who is getting in the process of developing this disorder. The warning signs of bulimia include a sudden change of behavior when it comes to food, constant dehydration (can be checked by noticing the fluid intake), fear of putting on weight despite being thin, dental issues, scars on fingers and knuckles, sudden social withdrawal, and excessive exercising. When these signs of bulimia are addressed, the person who is about to get this disorder can be saved with the right medical and psychological help.