DP#2 AB The psychological disorder that I have selected to explain from a variety of causal perspectives is bulimia. Bulimia is a condition in which people engage in the act of binge eating, and eat a lot more than is necessary or even healthy for an allotted period of time. Granted, there are certain physiological aspects of this sort of maladaptive behavior, in which individuals can train their bodies to trigger a specific reaction to help them purge themselves of the food. Most often purging involves either vomiting or exiting one's stool. Regardless, there are a number of different causal factors that can contribute to this sort of abnormal behavior (Laureate Education, 2007) -- some more so than others.

As defined within Abnormal Psychology written by Butcher et al., the causal pattern of any sort of abnormal behavior is etiology (Butcher et al., p., 2012). Oftentimes, the etiology for bulimia can involve feelings of physical inadequacy. People may believe that they are not pretty enough, or not small enough, or not developed in certain places enough...

These types of causal factors are referred to as contributory causes for a condition such as bulimia. Feelings of inadequacy alone do not directly result in someone engaging in bulimic behavior. However, these factors can substantially increase the likelihood for an individual to consider engaging in bulimic behavior. Feelings of physical inadequacy alone are not enough to make someone eat too much and then feel better about it by throwing up, but such feelings can make them feel more vulnerable to maladaptive behaviors such as bulimia.
Other contributory causes to bulimia include psychological feelings of inadequacy. These feelings may be based on physical factors, such as weight or hair color, but they can also be more psychological in nature. For instance, comments from people can significantly change a person's perception about him or herself. Young girls who grow up with fathers who consistently disparage women due to their weight (especially those who are overweight) may have a degree of sensitivity ingrained at them from a…