Bulimia Nervosa

· Behavioural characteristics

Obsession with food, calories and recipes.
Restrictive eating behaviour alternating with sporadic episodes of binge eating.Self-induced vomits; abuse of laxative and diuretics with the objective of controllingand/or loosing weight.
Frequent visits to the bathroom after eating to vomit. Episodes of undercover eating.Self-mutilations.

· Psychological characteristics

Rapid mood swings, from depression to euphoria, from self-demanding to carelessness.
Irritability, crying spells, anxiety and suicidal ideation.
Low self-esteem, criticism and constant blaming of oneself.
Tendency to isolation (fear of social situations, mainly those involving eating).

· Physiological characteristics

Important weight fluctuations.
Menstrual irregularities.
Fatigue and lack of energy, dizziness, headaches and dehydration.
Constipation or diarrhoea, gastritis.
Loss of hair.
Teeth enamel erosion.
Parotid gland enlargement (due to the effort to vomit).
Russell´s sign (Knuckle calluses caused by the teeth on the fingers when they areintroduced in the mouth to vomit)
Cardiac arrest and death.