I am doing a research paper on eating disorders and I know there is two types of anorexia nervosa. Restrictive type & Binge/Purge type. But how does binge/purge type anorexia differ from bulimia?
Can someone explain?
AN b/p type aka AN subtype II is diagnosed instead of bulimia when the individual’s weight falls below a certain level (bmi 17.5, or 85% or less ideal body weight – doctors differ on which criteria they use as the DSM specifies both, sorta).
Someone with AN-b/p may binge and purge (ie, "like bulimia") or just purge wihout bingeing.
But the PRIMARY and ONLY difference between the two diagnoses: Weight, as well as fitting the other dx criteria for Anorexia Nervosa, which is loss of menses of 3+ months. So when someone fits dx criteria for AN but they b/p, they are dx as that instead of BN. Make sense?? One cannot have 2 simultaneous diagnoses, so that’s why the DSM was adapted to include the b/p subtype of anorexia nervosa.
The restrictive type is where someone will not eat anything. They just limit their food intake and starve themselves.
The binge/purge type is where someone binges, or has a field day and eat whatever they want, only to force themselves to puke it out immediately after gorging on food.
References :
psych. major, research
A binge/purge anorexic tends to restrict most of the time, but will occasionally binge with they will follow with a purge.
Bulimics can eat normally, but have a pattern of binge eating then purging.
Basically what separates the two is what type of eating (or lack there of) they do a majority of the time.
References :
Past experience
AN b/p type aka AN subtype II is diagnosed instead of bulimia when the individual’s weight falls below a certain level (bmi 17.5, or 85% or less ideal body weight – doctors differ on which criteria they use as the DSM specifies both, sorta).
Someone with AN-b/p may binge and purge (ie, "like bulimia") or just purge wihout bingeing.
But the PRIMARY and ONLY difference between the two diagnoses: Weight, as well as fitting the other dx criteria for Anorexia Nervosa, which is loss of menses of 3+ months. So when someone fits dx criteria for AN but they b/p, they are dx as that instead of BN. Make sense?? One cannot have 2 simultaneous diagnoses, so that’s why the DSM was adapted to include the b/p subtype of anorexia nervosa.
References :
Personal experience