Why does food become a mortal enemy for some people? Well, society continues to send the message to young women and even a small number of young men (more and more men these days are victims of eating disorders) that in order to be happy and successful , you have to be thin, which leads them to starve and starve to death. /or bingeing and purging in an attempt to achieve what the media considers to be an ideal figure. The media is full of “toothpick” thin models that women want to look like. Women often need to feel in control, it's a constant battle that they fight with perfection. Bulimia nervosa is a disorder with psychological and physiological effects. It is an eating disorder, common especially among young women of normal weight, characterized by episodic bouts of bulimia. Binge eating is defined as the rapid consumption of a large amount of food. Often, a person with bulimia will eat more in two hours than a normal person would in an entire day. Binges are often followed by feelings of guilt, shame, loss of control, anxiety and depression. These negative feelings, including anxiety and shame, lead to bulimic behaviors, such as purging. The most common purging behavior is vomiting, which is a means of eliminating ingested calories and fats that cause weight gain orally. The other way to eliminate calories and fat is through the use of laxatives, which is not as common as vomiting. There is more pain caused to the anus when using laxatives and then to the throat when vomiting, which is why laxatives are a less common way and vomiting is a more common way. The exact causes of bulimia nervosa are unknown although in studies there. There is evidence that a chemical in the brain can influence eating behaviors because it is linked to the regulation of food intake. Increasing and constant peer pressure also contributes greatly to causing bulimia, as well as low self-esteem. Young women who have an older sister, mother or even friend with an eating disorder are ten times more likely to develop one themselves than any other child alone. There are psychological factors of body dissatisfaction, self-esteem (as previously noted), perfectionism and abuse associated with bulimia nervosa and women. While perfectionism and abuse have been risk factors in patterns of bulimia, body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem appear to contribute more to bulimic behavior...