Because the fact is that there's no single, simple answer to explain how and why anorexia and bulimia develop. Researchers suspect that the disorders involve a complex web of factors, with heredity and emotional conflict playing important roles in both anorexia and bulimia. And increasingly, research has focused on brain chemistry and the role of neurotransmitters in the regulation of both appetite and self-image. And we all know how pervasive cultural influences can be, especially in the media, and its narrow-profile definition of beauty. For whatever reasons, people with eating disorders feel powerless.
Anorectics often see dieting as a form of personal control.
Breaking a diet, even to sip water or swallow a few bites, can seem a shattering sign of weakness. Bulimics are different, and are more likely to binge on food after a period of dieting. Guilty and depressed about eating, they purge to get rid of calories. Still, the main problem involves a breakdown in self-image and the resulting inability to see one's body as it really is. People with eating disorders typically overestimate their body size by 25-50 percent.