Some people may feel that they are fat, no matter how thin they actually are. Or they might feel guilty when they eat too much food. The guilt and shame from eating makes the person vomit up all their food. These people have bulimia nervosa, or bulimia, an eating disorder. The disorder has nothing to do with the digestive system, but rather with the mind. And though everybody with bulimia can share the identical guilt and shame about food, and the same patterns of bingeing and purging, bulimia has many causes. Doctors have not identified any one cause of bulimia, but do know of several factors that might contribute to developing bulimia.

Bulimia might be caused by a genetic component. Certain genes might predispose a person to developing bulimia. Bulimia appears to run in familiespeople with relatives suffering from bulimia have a higher frequency of developing bulimia. This may, however, have more to do with family influences and role models than genetics.

Brain chemistry might also cause bulimia. Research indicates that all the people with bulimia tend to have different levels of a chemical in the brain called serotonin. Altered levels of serotonin might also contribute to clinical depression.

Social pressures may contribute to bulimias development. People who want to please others may feel compelled to keep thin and fit. Women in particular receive daily messages to be thin. This drive might turn into an eating disorder.

Emotional stress from family problems or being a perfectionist can also contribute to a human developing bulimia.

A human with bulimia will first binge, meaning that he or she will eat more than 1,000 calories in one sitting. Sometimes, to a human with an eating disorder like a bulimia, eating a cookie might constitute a binge. The binge then triggers intense feelings of self-disgust and the human will induce vomiting, exercise excessively, or abuse laxatives to remove the perceived excess weight.

Bulimia is caused by numerous, subtle factors, and all everybody suffering from bulimia absolutely need treatment from a psychiatrist and therapy to break the binge-and-purge cycle. Bulimia is completely treatable.