The sudden loss of a close individual, break up of a relationship, marital distress, infidelity, change of place of residence, the onset of puberty may all be situations causing emotional stress and havoc. When a person finds him inadequate to handle any of this, he might tend to become obsessed with eating and dieting leading to bulimia.

Consumption of alcohol is often accompanied by strong hunger pangs. This might lead to gorging on food followed by throwing it all up. Drug abuse is often followed by bouts of depression which leads to food craving and then purging. Both alcohol and narcotics are addictive tendencies which are accompanied by bulimia.

Men may want a fit physique as part of the job criteria and may be suffering from manorexia. Actors, models, ballet dancers, gymnasts, fitness experts, fashion designers, runners, cyclists and wrestlers may all fall into this category. Such men are more susceptible to bulimia.

Women with a history of child or sexual abuse are often not able to forget the past and are haunted by memories of shame and guilt. Such women become depressed and may become bulimic.

Some people tend to have a very poor opinion of their external appearance. They set a high standard of personal beauty and rate themselves poorly, thinking themselves to be ugly and unattractive. This can lead to depression and, eventually, bulimia. They might gorge on food to appease their mood or to remedy their appearance but might end up making it worse.

Some people have an imbalance in the level of a neurotransmitter called serotonin. This causes clinical depression leading to overeating to satiate the spirits. This might be followed by purging or vomiting to overcome the guilt. Serotonin imbalance clearly leads towards bulimia.

Being an adolescent itself means allowing new ideas to surf through your brain and dieting may be just one of them. Most teenagers tend to diet to conform to their peer group and then suddenly binge to satisfy their appetite. This alternating between overeating and dieting leads to an unhealthy eating pattern and, subsequently, bulimia. Adolescents are also subject to unpredictable mood swings which lead to bingeing and purging. College students come under the influence of alcohol and narcotics which too can induce bulimia.

In the misguided quest for a thin body, some people succumb to the dread illness of anorexia. Some women are into professions that demand a trim and slim figure and may be anorexic. Women who are obsessed with the hourglass figure concept tend to diet. Such women are found to also binge and buckle to bulimia. Some other people boast of being perfectionists and aim for a perfect physique. Such people tend to diet and then suddenly hog food due to hunger cravings, and then again purge or vomit to get back to their fit physique regimen. This causes bulimia and other related problems.

Living in a society where an hour glass figure or a fit and firm physique is the norm of the day could well incline you towards bulimia. When your surrounding social and peer group strongly advocate figure consciousness, you are bound to be influenced by it too. These societal and cultural factors are the main reason behind actors, celebrities, models, fashion designers and people in front of the silver screen being more susceptible to bulimia.

Surprisingly, bulimia is found to be hereditary. Individuals with relatives already suffering from bulimia are found to be more prone to the disease. Family environment is found to be a strong triggering factor for bulimia. Genetic make up also contributes to this illness with the tendency towards bulimia being strongly imprinted in the chromosomes.